The Marshall Mathers LP

The Marshall Mathers LP is the sophomore major-label album from American rapper Eminem.

"The Real Slim Shady," the first single and a huge hit, was written back in the United States, as the deadline neared and no radio-friendly singles were yet written.

In the week following its release, it sold 1.7 million copies, becoming the fastest-selling rap album in history, more than doubling the previous record held by Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut Doggystyle. Notably, both albums were executive-produced/produced by Dr. Dre. The Marshall Mathers LP would eventually be certified 9x Platinum, and is still Eminem's best-selling album.

While the album received a great deal of praise from most music critics, its enormous popularity also provoked a backlash from gay-rights activists (primarily GLAAD), feminist groups, and socially conservative political figures such as Lynne Cheney, who all claimed that many of the album's lyrics were extremely misogynistic, homophobic, and vulgar. Unlike his previous album, Eminem uses the words "fag" and "faggot" multiple times throughout The Marshall Mathers LP, and the tracks "Kill You" and "Kim" were commonly cited as examples of hateful lyrics against women.

Protests against the album's content reached a climax when it was nominated for four Grammy awards in 2001 including Album of the Year, marking the first time a hardcore rap album was ever nominated in this category. At the ceremony, Eminem performed "Stan" in a duet with famous homosexual artist Elton John playing piano and singing the chorus, in an attempt to silence GLAAD and others who claimed his lyrics were homophobic, though GLAAD did not change its position and spoke out against Elton John's decision. Despite significant protests and debate, The Marshall Mathers LP went on to win Best Rap Album of the Year, but lost to Steely Dan's Two Against Nature for Album of the Year.

As evidenced by Eminem's decision to include his real name in the album's title, this is a more serious and personal album than his major-label debut, The Slim Shady LP, which predominantly featured his exaggerated Slim Shady persona. Much of the CD is spent addressing his rise to fame and attacking those who criticized his first album. Other themes include his relationship with his family, most notably his mother and Kim Mathers, his wife who he subsequently divorced but has remarried in 2006, but divorced again after only 86 days of marriage. The album is considerably darker than his debut; its famous "The Real Slim Shady" single is one of the only upbeat and comical tracks.

Much of the first half of the album is produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man, who typically employ sparse, stripped-down beats, allowing Eminem's rapping to take center-stage. F.B.T. Productions and Eminem produced most of the second half, which ranges from the laid-back guitars of "Marshall Mathers" to the gritty atmosphere of "Amityville." The only outside producer on the album is The 45 King, who provides a haunting beat for the famous "Stan" single that samples Dido's "Thank You" with the addition of a slow bassline.

The Marshall Mathers LP was both Eminem's most commercially successful and critically-acclaimed album. In 2005 Pitchfork Media and Stylus Magazine named the album #93 and #24 respectively in their best albums of 2000-2004. Many fans consider it to be a classic album, although this is a topic of significant debate within hip-hop circles.

This is Eminem's first album to be rated by XXL Magazine. It is also Eminem's first album to have an XXL Rating. 

Despite popular belief, the 'clean' version of the album is only moderately censored and leaves the words "shit", "ass", "bitch", and "damn" uncensored making it one of the most lightly censored albums ever released. The only content significantly edited were offensive and violent parts that were aimed at police, gays, and schools such as Columbine.

Track listing

 * 1) "Public Service Announcement 2000" (Performed by Eminem and Jeff Bass) – 0:25
 * 2) "Kill You" (Bradford/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 4:24
 * 3) "Stan" (Armstrong/Herman/Mathers) (Produced by The 45 King) – 6:43
 * 4) "Paul (skit)" (Performed by Paul Rosenberg) – 0:10
 * 5) "Who Knew" (Bradford/Elizondo/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 3:47
 * 6) "Steve Berman (skit)" (Performed by Eminem and Steve Berman) – 0:53
 * 7) "The Way I Am" (Mathers) (Produced by Eminem) – 4:44
 * 8) "The Real Slim Shady" (Coster/Elizondo/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 4:50
 * 9) "Remember Me?" (featuring Sticky Fingaz and RBX) (Collins/Jones/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 3:38
 * 10) "I'm Back" (Bradford/Elizondo/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 5:10
 * 11) "Marshall Mathers" (Bass/Bass/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 5:20
 * 12) "Ken Kaniff (skit)" – 1:01
 * 13) "Drug Ballad" (Bass/Bass/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 5:00
 * 14) "Amityville" (featuring Bizarre of D12) (Bass/Bass/Johnson/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 4:14
 * 15) "Bitch Please II" (featuring Dr. Dre, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, and Xzibit) (Bradford/Broadus/Elizondo/Joyner/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Richard "Segal" Huredia) – 4:48
 * 16) "Kim" (Bass/Bass/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T.) – 6:17
 * 17) "Under the Influence" (featuring D12) (Carlisle/Holton/Johnson/Mathers/Moore/Porter) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 5:22
 * 18) "Criminal" (Bass/Bass/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 5:19

Personnel

 * Dr. Dre - Executive producer/Producer/Performer
 * DJ Mark the 45 King - Producer
 * Snoop Dogg - Performer
 * Jeff Bass - Producer/Performer
 * Steve Berman - Performer
 * John Bigham - Guitar
 * Chris Conway - Engineer, Mixing
 * Richard Huredia - Engineer, Mixing
 * Steven King - Engineer
 * Joe Martin - Production Coordination
 * Lance Pierre - Engineer
 * Michelle Lynn Forbes - Engineer, Mixing
 * Xzibit - Performer
 * Tom Coster, Jr. - Keyboards
 * Mark Bass - Producer
 * Mike Elizondo - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
 * Larry Chatman - Project Coordinator
 * Aaron Lepley - Engineer
 * Eminem - Vocals, Producer, Mixing
 * Camara Kambon - Keyboards
 * Rick Behrens - Engineer, Mixing
 * Joe Mama-Nitzberg - Photography, Art Coordinator
 * Mel-Man - Producer
 * Sticky Fingaz - Performer
 * RBX - Performer
 * Bizarre - Performer
 * D12 - Performers
 * Les Scurry - Production Coordination
 * Kirdis Tucker - Project Coordinator
 * Jason Noto - Art Direction, Design
 * James McCrone - Engineer
 * Mike Butler - Engineer, Mixing
 * Rob Ebeling - Engineer, Mixing
 * Akane Nakamura - Engineer, Mixing
 * Jeff Bass - Producer