The result was a sound that reached beyond hip-hop into the heart of suburban America: rap not as social reportage but as primal-scream therapy punk for a generation addled by reality TV. Dark, funny and frequently violent, his breakthrough albums (1999’s The Slim Shady LP and 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP) established him as pop culture’s premier bogeyman, a bleach-blond devil traumatised by circumstance who rapped about killing everyone from his mentor to his mother with such ferocity and wit that you’d almost forget he had the wrong idea. Dre only months before, he had been fired from his job as a line cook, where he worked nearly 60 hours a week to support his infant daughter-an origin story that set the tone for his career. Raised in working-class Detroit, the artist born Marshall Mathers in 1972 got his start as a battle rapper, reaching the ears of then-Interscope Records CEO Jimmy Iovine and future mentor Dr. These are the best Eminem songs.On 1999's “My Name Is”, Eminem entered the public imagination with a mandate: “God sent me to piss the world off.” From his provocative early work to the redemption narratives of 8 Mile and beyond, he’s more or less stayed true to form, holding a mirror to the American psyche-and his own-with an incisiveness rarely matched before or since. is a story best told in verses, so with Slim Shady's next album soon upon us, Complex felt it was the perfect time to compile 100 of Eminem's best sonic scriptures to tell the tale of this rapper/producer, shit-starter, loving father, and survivor. Take a listen and you'll see Eminem's saga is as much about where he's from, where he's been and where he's at-back on top. How the Great White Hope became possibly the G.O.A.T. But, above all else, it's the passion that burns within his competitive nature that has set him apart from many of his peers.
Deep eminem songs full#
His rise to fame is a real-life drama full of protests, court cases, and a duel with drugs, all echoed in his songs, videos, and albums. Every lyrical war he waged, whether it was against kin, rap rivals, or the media, every confrontational and/or funny remark he made on record-it could all be traced back to his humble beginnings as a battle rapper from the wrong side of the tracks.
Controversy aside, at the essence of all his music there has always existed an artist's deep-rooted respect for hip-hop.
It's his compulsive willingness to share his raw feelings in inspired lyrics and wide-ranging flows that has struck a chord with fans.īut even before his breakthrough, Em was a promising MC looking for his chance to blow.
Ever since, the Dre-signed rap superstar has attempted to keep his private life private, a task he himself makes difficult by always being so brutally honest in his songs. OK, maybe he's not so regular, seeing how the man also known as Eminem has rhymed himself into Greatest Of All Time contention-not to mention that his every move has been publicized and scrutinized since 1999, when The Slim Shady LP donkey-punched the game silly, making it unsafe for pop stars, moms, and anybody else who pissed off the Detroit representer. He's just a regular guy who happens to have a few alter egos, some skeletons in his closet, and a way with words.