The Eminem Show

The Eminem Show
Studio album by Eminem
Released	May 28, 2002
Recorded	2001–2002 in New York City
Genre	Hip hop, Hardcore rap
Length	77:17
Label	Aftermath, Interscope
Producer	Dr. Dre Eminem Jeff Bass
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link Vibe link Rap Reviews link Slant Magazine link Entertainment Weekly (B+) NME link HipHopDX.com link
Eminem chronology
The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) The Eminem Show (2002) Encore (2004) Singles from The Eminem Show "Without Me" Released: May 12 2002 "Cleanin' Out My Closet" Released: September 17 2002 "Sing for the Moment" Released: February 25 2003 "Business" Released: July 22 2003

The Eminem Show is Eminem's third album after signing to a major label, Aftermath Entertainment and is once again executive produced by his mentor Dr. Dre. The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002, with 7.6 million copies by the end of the year. At the Grammy Awards of 2003 it was nominated for Album of the Year and became Eminem's third straight LP to win the award for Best Rap Album. It has been certified 9x Platinum by the RIAA and has sold 20 million albums worldwide to date. In 2003, the album was ranked number 317 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Release

The album was intended to be released in June 2002, but Interscope decided to release the album early on May 28 when pirated copies of the tracks began to pop up on popular peer-to-peer file sharing networks and even played on the radio for the first time on the popular Opie and Anthony radio show. In the U.S. however, many stores actually began selling on Sunday, May 26, 2002. Despite the confusion over the exact date the album was released, it had a wildly successful debut on the charts with over 1,320,000 records sold in its first full week.

Content

Subject matter

The Eminem Show is a reflective album, featuring a more personal and serious side of Eminem. This change gives the album a lighter tone, a departure from the hardcore and controversial nature of his previous albums. Over the course of the album, he touches on the issues of race in hip-hop ("White America"), his childhood ("Cleanin' Out My Closet"), his 2000-assault on a nightclub bouncer and his following conviction ("Soldier", "Say Goodbye Hollywood"), his status as a both a hip-hop and pop superstar ("Sing for the Moment"), and his relationship with his ex-wife Kim and daughter Hailie ("Hailie's Song"). Unlike The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show's release came off without significant complaints about misogyny or homophobia. This is likely due to the fact that the album does not prominently feature the word "faggot", or any other derogatory terms directed towards homosexuals. Also, no tracks are explicitly offensive or misogynistic in the mold of "Kill You" or "Kim" from the previous album. Some shock-oriented lyrics are still present, but they are for the most part toned down. Also references to the occult (which were prevalent in Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP) are notably absent, except for the "I've sold my soul to the Devil" lyric (from Say Goodbye Hollywood). Q Magazine's May, 2006 review of the album explains "His two first albums aired dirty laundry, then the world's most celebrated rapper examined life in the hall of mirrors he'd built for himself."

Production

The album also saw Eminem take a substantially more predominant production role; most of it was self-produced, with longtime collaborator Jeff Bass co-producing several tracks. Dr. Dre, in addition to being the album's executive producer, produced three individual tracks: "Business", "Say What You Say", and "My Dad's Gone Crazy."

Track listing

1. "Curtains Up" – 0:29
   • Produced by Eminem
2. "White America" (M. Mathers, J. Bass, Luis Resto, S. King) – 5:24
   • Produced by Eminem and Jeff Bass
   • Additional vocals by Dina Rae
3. "Business" (Mathers, A. Young, R. Feemster, M. Elizondo) – 4:11
   • Produced by Dr. Dre
   • Additional vocals by Traci Nelson, Barbara Wilson, Shy Felder, and Conesha Monet Owens
4. "Cleanin' Out My Closet" (Mathers, Bass) – 4:57
   • Produced by Eminem and Jeff Bass
5. "Square Dance" (Mathers, Bass, Resto) – 5:23
   • Produced by Eminem
6. "The Kiss" (Mathers, Bass) – 1:15
   • Produced by Eminem
7. "Soldier" (Mathers, Resto) – 3:46
   • Produced by Eminem
8. "Say Goodbye Hollywood" (Mathers, Elizondo, Resto) – 4:32
   • Produced by Eminem
9. "Drips" (Mathers, O. Trice, D. Porter, Bass) – 4:45
   • Featuring Obie Trice
   • Produced by Eminem
10. "Without Me" (Mathers, K. Bell, Bass, M. McLaren, A. Dudley, T. Horn) – 4:50
    • Produced by Eminem and Jeff Bass
11. "Paul" – 0:22
    • Performed by Paul D. Rosenberg, Esq.
12. "Sing for the Moment" (S. Tyler, Mathers, Bass, Resto, King) – 5:39
    • Produced by Eminem and Jeff Bass
13. "Superman" (Mathers, Bass, King) – 5:50
    • Featuring Dina Rae
    • Produced by Eminem
14. "Hailie's Song" (Mathers, Resto) – 5:20
    • Produced by Eminem
15. "Steve Berman" – 0:33
    • Performed by Eminem and Steve Berman
16. "When the Music Stops" (Mathers, O. Moore, Porter, V. Carlisle, R. Johnson, Feemster) – 4:29
    • Featuring D12
    • Produced by Eminem and Denaun Porter
17. "Say What You Say" (Mathers, Young, Feemster, Elizondo) – 5:09
    • Featuring Dr. Dre
    • Produced by Dr. Dre
18. "'Till I Collapse" (Mathers, N. Hale, Resto) – 4:57
    • Featuring Nate Dogg
    • Produced by Eminem
19. "My Dad's Gone Crazy" (Mathers, Young, Feemster, Elizondo) – 4:27
    • Produced by Dr. Dre
20. "Curtains Close" – 1:01
    • Performed by Ken Kaniff

Charts & certification

Other Chart Certifications

• Hungary Album Charts - 2x Platinum (12,000+)
• Italian Album Charts - Platinum (170,000)
• Japanese Album Charts - Platinum (405,000)
• Netherlands Album Charts - Platinum (70,000)
• Portuguese Album Charts - 2x Platinum (40,000+)
• Korean Album Charts - 6x Platinum (202,390)
• Ukraine (confirmed by Ukrainian Music Association) - Platinum (50, 000+)

Singles chart positions

Credits

• Dr. Dre & Sims - Executive producer, Producer

References

External links

• Eminem — Official Web Site
• Eminem Show Lyrics