The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem stood in a Detroit studio on the 23rd of May, 2000, holding an album that would redefine his life. The Marshall Mathers LP emerged from the shadow of his debut success, The Slim Shady LP, which had sold 283,000 copies in its first week and won Best Rap Album at the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000. Yet fame brought isolation. He married Kimberly Ann Scott, the mother of his daughter Hailie, in June 1999 despite lyrics about killing her appearing on his previous record. "I don't trust nobody now because everybody I meet is meeting me as Eminem," he said, fearing people only wanted him for his celebrity status. His drug use intensified after a trip to Amsterdam where he observed heavy substance abuse among friends. This experience inspired open discussions of drugs in his music. He considered naming the new album Amsterdam but ultimately chose a title reflecting his real name, Marshall Mathers. The transition from underground rapper to global icon left him uncomfortable with the level of attention he received.
A two-month creative binge shaped the album's sound. Studio sessions stretched to twenty hours daily as Eminem worked to map out each song without public distraction. Dr. Dre recalled their process: "We don't wake up at two in the morning, call each other, and say, 'I have an idea.' We just wait and see what happens when we get there." Many tracks evolved spontaneously. The song Marshall Mathers developed while watching Jeff Bass strum guitar. Criminal emerged from a piano riff Eminem heard Bass playing next door. Kill You formed when he heard the track playing during a phone conversation with Dre before writing lyrics at home. Kim was recorded shortly after finishing work on The Slim Shady LP. Eminem wrote it while separated from his wife, intending to create a horror story rather than a love song. Stan differed significantly; he sat down with everything mapped out beforehand. Dido later received a letter stating they used her sample Thank You for the track. She responded, "Wow! This track's amazing." Label executives pressured him to deliver another hit like My Name Is. He returned to write The Way I Am as proof of his limits, then created The Real Slim Shady by giving Dre a hook and writing new lyrics.
The album blended introspection with transgressive horrorcore elements. Songs addressed family trauma including his mother and ex-wife Kim Mathers alongside struggles with superstardom. Kill You discussed nightmares of ladies' screams and being raised by a single mother. It also contained lines about raping his mother. Stan told the story of an obsessive fan who committed suicide with his pregnant girlfriend after receiving no response from the rapper. Who Knew criticized media hypocrisy regarding school shootings like Columbine High School in April 1999. The Way I Am lamented negative attention following tragedies such as the Westside Middle School shooting in 1998. Criminal featured homophobic lyrics that drew condemnation from GLAAD. Eminem admitted using the word faggot more frequently to provoke people further. Drug Ballad described experiences under the influence of ecstasy making him sentimental. Amityville served as a bass-heavy ode to Detroit's reputation as murder capital of the United States. Bitch Please II showcased Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Nate Dogg with g-funk elements. Kim ended with Eminem killing his wife while taunting her to bleed. These themes blurred distinctions between reality and fiction according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine.
The album sold 1.76 million copies in its first week, becoming the second-highest single-week sales figure at the time behind NSYNC's No Strings Attached. It surpassed Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle which had sold 806,000 copies in 1993. Sales continued strong: over 800,000 copies in week two, 600,000 in week three, and 520,000 in week four totaling 3.65 million within one month. The record spent eight weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart. By 2000 it became the best-selling album in Canada with 679,567 copies sold. Total US sales reached 10.2 million during the decade making it fourth-best selling overall. Worldwide figures hit 25 million copies certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. Singles performed well too. The Real Slim Shady peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped UK charts. Stan became a number-one hit in both the United Kingdom and Australia. As of 2022 the album ranked among fifteen best-performing twenty-first-century albums without any singles reaching number one on the Hot 100.
Lynne Cheney criticized Eminem at a United States Senate hearing for promoting violence against women. She cited lyrics from Kill You claiming he talked about murdering and raping his mother. She linked Columbine High School massacre to violent music featuring artists like Marilyn Manson. Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty argued Canada should stop Eminem at the border before an October 26 concert in Toronto's SkyDome. He stated personally not wanting anyone advocating violence against women entering the country. Fans countered that this violated free speech rights. A study by Edward Armstrong found eleven out of fourteen songs contained violent misogynistic lyrics depicting killing women through choking or stabbing. One fifteen-year-old boy in Fresno California was arrested in September 2015 after sharing Columbine-related lyrics from I'm Back on Instagram. Elton John performed Stan with Eminem at the Grammys despite protests from GLAAD regarding homophobic content. Christina Aguilera called lines from The Real Slim Shady disgusting though they later reconciled backstage at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. Jacques Loussier filed a ten-million-dollar lawsuit over stolen beats for Kill You which settled out of court.
Rolling Stone magazine named it best album of 2000 alongside Melody Maker. Touré described it as a car-crash record loud wild dangerous grotesque unsettling yet captivating. Steve Sutherland of NME praised its misanthropic gruelling assault course of lyrical genius. Chuck Eddy from The Village Voice noted emotionally complex witting quality unlike previous work. Robert Christgau declared it exceptionally witty musical discernibly thoughtful good-hearted indubitably dangerous full of shit. Will Hermes wrote it indefensible critic-proof hypocritical heartbreaking unlistenable undeniable. Greg Kot said reactions were mixed reluctantly positive among critics praising verbal skills transgressive humor but decriing subject matter. Robert Hilburn docked half a star due to recurring homophobia unacceptable even if commercial rap often includes such elements. Sal Cinquemani found raps extremely distasteful citing immaturity in displaying homophobia. Despite criticism Rolling Stone ranked it number thirty on Top 100 Albums of Decade and Complex placed it fourth. Q listed it number eighty-five highest position held by any hip-hop album globally. Time included it among hundred greatest albums ever made while Pitchfork ranked it one-hundred-nineteenth. In 2024 Damien Scott of Billboard called it definitive Eminem album one by which all others measured.
The term stan entered the Oxford English Dictionary thanks to the song detailing an obsessed fan who committed suicide. It became one of best-selling albums of all time with twenty-five million copies sold worldwide. Rolling Stone moved its ranking from three-hundred-two to one-hundred-forty-five across editions published between two-thousand-three and two-thousand-twenty. IGN named it twenty-fourth greatest rap album ever in two-thousand-four. The album influenced white rappers like Action Bronson G-Eazy Mac Miller according to Max Bell of Spin. Mike Elizondo compared Marshall Mathers LP to Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction Reservoir Dogs noting incredible graphic imagery painted through storytelling. Dan Ozzi of Vice highlighted how high school kids connected blindly rage misguided rebellion adolescent frustration represented everything youth years involved. He described Eminem as human middle finger X-rated Dennis Menace dial-up modem generation. Tyler the Creator Earl Sweatshirt Kendrick Lamar Juice WRLD cited influence from this record. In two-thousand-ten Rhapsody ranked it number-one among ten best albums by white rappers. As of two-thousand-six Q placed it eighty-fifth globally highest for hip-hop. Two-thousand-twenty saw inclusion at sixty-ninth on Stacker's hundred-best albums list twenty-first century. Damien Scott concluded definitively that if someone never listened to Eminem begin here.
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Common questions
When was The Marshall Mathers LP released and how many copies did it sell in its first week?
The album sold 1.76 million copies in its first week after emerging from the shadow of his debut success. It became the second-highest single-week sales figure at the time behind NSYNC's No Strings Attached.
Who wrote the lyrics for the song Stan on The Marshall Mathers LP?
Eminem wrote the lyrics for Stan while sitting down with everything mapped out beforehand before Dido received a letter stating they used her sample Thank You for the track. The song tells the story of an obsessive fan who committed suicide with his pregnant girlfriend after receiving no response from the rapper.
What controversy surrounded Kill You regarding violence against women and family trauma?
Kill You discussed nightmares of ladies' screams and being raised by a single mother while containing lines about raping his mother. Lynne Cheney criticized Eminem at a United States Senate hearing for promoting violence against women citing these specific lyrics claiming he talked about murdering and raping his mother.
How did The Marshall Mathers LP perform commercially compared to other albums in 2000?
Sales continued strong with over 800,000 copies in week two totaling 3.65 million within one month. By 2000 it became the best-selling album in Canada with 679,567 copies sold and worldwide figures hit 25 million copies certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Why was the term stan added to the Oxford English Dictionary due to this album?
The term stan entered the Oxford English Dictionary thanks to the song detailing an obsessed fan who committed suicide. It became one of best-selling albums of all time with twenty-five million copies sold worldwide influencing white rappers like Action Bronson G-Eazy Mac Miller according to Max Bell of Spin.