At the same time, these subjects give his songs a grit and intensity that many other bestselling emcees lacked around the turn of the century. In retrospect, some of the controversy surrounding the artist may have been warranted - the man has a serious lyrical penchant for holding women captive, particularly in his trunk. That sense of realism is what makes MathersвЂ™ music at that time even more disturbing. Dre playing the occasional comic relief) in a family drama that served as a metaphor for MathersвЂ™ own self-examination.

These women became a recurring cast of characters (with Dr. ItвЂ™s fitting that one of the skits on The Slim Shady LP is called вЂњSoapвЂќ - EmвЂ™s songs mythologized not only himself, but his mother, his ex-wife Kim, and even his daughter Hailie. His greatest strength was probably autobiography. At the height of his career - roughly between 19 - Mathers was all these things at once. Which Mathers would you like? ThereвЂ™s the crass, below-the-belt comedian, the homicidal misogynist psychopath, the talented battle-emcee, the spokesperson for Rust Belt America, and the sensitive rapper-storyteller. Mathers doesnвЂ™t easily lend himself to dissection - like all good pop-culture icons, he wears many masks but, unlike David Bowie or Prince, he passes between them in rapid succession. All of EmвЂ™s releases since have been marred in some way: Even its only worthy successor, The Eminem Show, strayed just a bit too far into pop sentimentality. It represents the definite creative apex of his career. Concordantly, the best thing about MMLPII (besides the technicality of вЂњRap God,вЂќ and the left hook of вЂњBad Guy) is that it prompted me to revisit the original Marshall Mathers LP.Д¬learly Mathers himself has been looking back at that album, as well. The best thing about Prometheus was that it reminded me of how brilliant the original Alien is.

At this point, I propose the music-loving community respectfully consider The Marshall Mathers LP II to be hip-hopвЂ™s version of the film Prometheus - both are decent efforts that, had they not been made by such esteemed artists (Eminem and Ridley Scott, respectively), and not been sequels to masterpieces, probably would have garnered more critical acclaim.

Greatest eminem songs