The Eminem Show
The Eminem Show is the fourth studio album by rapper Eminem, released on May 28, 2002 by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. It was released early to combat bootlegging. It was the best-selling album of 2002 in the United States, with sales of 7.6 million copies.
Eminem said: “Songs like “White America” and “Cleanin’ out my Closet,” those aren’t really Shady. So I thought, “I’m going to call this album The Eminem Show. This is me as the rapper, not as the character.”
The Eminem Show is the fourth studio album by rapper Eminem, released on May 28, 2002 by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. It was released early to combat bootlegging. It was the best-selling album of 2002 in the United States, with sales of 7.6 million copies.
Eminem said: “Songs like “White America” and “Cleanin’ out my Closet,” those aren’t really Shady. So I thought, “I’m going to call this album The Eminem Show. This is me as the rapper, not as the character.”
Tracks:
1.Curtains Up (skit):
Eminem announcing that it’s time for the show to begin.
2.White America:
Eminem’s success brought with it a vicious assault against him — some from the highest levels of American government. The attempts to censor Eminem were based on the fear of his influence on American children and came mostly from white, suburban people who had not paid attention to rap before. This song was part of Eminem’s response to the bitter controversy, Congressional hearing and censorship his lyrics caused when they hit the mainstream White American audience.
3.Business:
Eminem and Dre use the superhero theme to get rid of the real villain, bad lyricism. Dr. Dre and Eminem take on the roles of Batman and Robin. Em parodies Robin’s famous statement, “Holy (insert funny word here), Batman!”, where Dre parodies the famous, “to the Batmobile!” (but it’s the Rapmobile, which incidentally is a yellow Lamborghini that can be seen in the music video to “Without Me”.)
4.Cleanin’ Out My Closet:
Eminem raps about his father abandoning him as a child, his turbulent affair with his ex-wife Kim, and his irreparably damaged relationship with his mother Debbie. He mentions this song on his later album, Marshall Mathers LP II in the song “Headlights”. “But I’m sorry momma for “Cleanin' Out My Closet"/ At the time I was angry, rightfully maybe so /Never meant that far to take it though /Cause, now I know it’s not your fault and I’m not making jokes / That song I no longer play at shows and I cringe every time it’s on the radio”
5.Square Dance:
Em always calls himself “trailer trash” and he’s making fun of that with a fake accent and talk of square dancing. Eminem said about this song: “I like going on stage to this beat. I don’t even know if people care that much about me producing things. It’s fun for me to make a beat, but it doesn’t give me the same feeling or gratification as rapping.”
6.The Kiss (skit):
This a real scenario, Eminem was arrested on June 3rd, 2000 on an assault charge after he allegedly assaulted John Guerrera (a bouncer) in the parking lot of Hot Rock Cafe after he saw Kim kissing Guerrera. Guerrera claimed Eminem pistol whipped him. Eminem did deny it in court and does deny it in the song “Sing for the Moment”(“You’re full of shit too Guerrera, that was a fist that hit you.”) admitting that he did assault Guerrera but not with a pistol. However, in this skit it does suggest that Eminem had an unloaded gun and he also makes a reference to pistol whipping a bouncer in the next song “Soldier”.
7.Soldier:
Eminem talks about his dealings with the law because of his weapons charges, and how he isn’t afraid to use a gun. Despite all the talk about shooting people and his love for guns, Eminem has never claimed in a song that he is actually a thug. He never claimed he actually was, he just acted like one on his songs. This pistol whipping incident was the first real act of violence he had done.
8.Say Goodbye Hollywood:
The song is the conclusion of the story started with “The Kiss” and “Soldier”. This acts as the aftermath of the incidents of the two previous tracks. The term “Hollywood” is just generally used for fame. So what he really means is that he’s saying goodbye to all the fame.
9.Drips: featuring Obie Trice
Due to the song’s explicit subject matter the song was removed from the album’s clean version. The song is about how both Obie Trice and Eminem had sex with this girl that gives them both AIDS.
10.Without Me:
Eminem realizes his importance to the rap game, and claims that it wouldn’t be the same without him. First single of The Eminem Show. The music video shows Em and Dre dressed up as Batman and Robin, journeying through town trying to catch a kid who bought an explicit copy of The Eminem Show before he listens to it. In the end they catch him and Em yells out “kids!”, then shows the explicit content label, implying kids shouldn’t listen to him.
11.Paul Rosenberg (skit):
Eminem has a history of having problems with guns and getting trouble with them. He pulled out guns at the wrong times and got probation and fines for them. Paul is telling him to leave his gun at home.
12.Sing for the Moment:
Eminem said about this song: “This is where I was dealing with critics who didn’t understand why people were identifying with me. I realized I was becoming like the rappers that I looked up to as a kid. I identified with and loved LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys. I felt like if everybody didn’t understand their music, it didn’t matter — they were speaking to me. So that’s what I was trying to make people realize on this track. I may not be shit to you, but there’s a kid in fucking Nebraska, or somewhere, that I’m talking to. I don’t care if you’re listening, because he’s listening. That’s who I’m directing my material at” Eminem interpolates “Dream On” by Aerosmith, and has their guitarist Joe Perry play the guitar solo towards the end of the song.
13.Superman: featuring Dina Rae
At this point Eminem is single and divorced from Kim. This song is about his interacts with women. This song contains the beginning of a long list of references between him and Mariah Carey. Em claims that the 2 dated and a lot more, which Mariah denies saying they only hung out a few times. Eventually Mariah writes the song “Obsessed” which is believed to be about Eminem. Em fires back with “The Warning” and Mariah has been quiet since. A reference to his tattoo is also made in this song. The tattoo is of ex-wife, Kim’s gravestone with the words “Rot in Pieces” below it.
14.Hailie’s Song:
After a tough battle, Em won custody of his beloved daughter Hailie over her mother, his ex-wife Kim. That battle and the joy he felt in winning was the inspiration for this song. This track was actually never supposed to be released. Marshall recorded it for Hailie and had planned on locking it away until she was older and then giving it to her. Dr. Dre loved the track so much he played it for two women, who upon hearing it, actually cried. Their reaction is what made Dre tell him he needs to release it and so they did. This is also the reason for the censored words in the third verse.
15.Steve Berman (skit):
Eminem is poking fun at his gun charges again by shooting the President of Marketing at Interscope before he can tell Eminem that he actually likes the album.
16.When the Music Stops: featuring D12
D12, the rap group Eminem was a part of at the time, is featured in this song. This song is about how people take rap too seriously, and need to realize it’s just lyrics. The main message of the song is to stop “confusing hip hop with real life”
17.Say What You Say: featuring Dr. Dre
This Song is a diss to Jermaine Dupri and a diss to The Source Magazine, and The Source’s Benzino after Benzino claimed in 2002 that Em was just a product of the machine that sought to discredit black and Latino artists' contributions to hip-hop. It is also Dr.Dre saying that he is not out of the rap game yet.
18.Till I Collapse: featuring Nate Dogg
The drums in this song are taken almost directly from Queen’s anthem “We Will Rock You”.
19.My Dad’s Gone Crazy: featuring Hailie Jade
This song is actually featuring Em’s daughter, Hailie Jade. Eminem says that he let Hailie come to the studio with him one day, she said “My dad’s gone crazy” into the mic, and he decided to put it into one of his songs. He was criticized for putting his young daughter’s voice into a song with such vulgar language, but in his defense, Hailie Jade Mathers was not present during the recording of the actual song, she merely provided inspiration. He also makes the Clyde Mathers and Bonnie Jade reference again, which is alluding to the song “97 Bonnie and Clyde” on The Slim Shady LP where he compared him and Hailie to the outlaws. At that point Eminem said Hailie had not even heard the song, even though she was featured in it.
20.Curtains Close (skit):
The closing skit of The Eminem Show with Ken Kaniff.
1.Curtains Up (skit):
Eminem announcing that it’s time for the show to begin.
2.White America:
Eminem’s success brought with it a vicious assault against him — some from the highest levels of American government. The attempts to censor Eminem were based on the fear of his influence on American children and came mostly from white, suburban people who had not paid attention to rap before. This song was part of Eminem’s response to the bitter controversy, Congressional hearing and censorship his lyrics caused when they hit the mainstream White American audience.
3.Business:
Eminem and Dre use the superhero theme to get rid of the real villain, bad lyricism. Dr. Dre and Eminem take on the roles of Batman and Robin. Em parodies Robin’s famous statement, “Holy (insert funny word here), Batman!”, where Dre parodies the famous, “to the Batmobile!” (but it’s the Rapmobile, which incidentally is a yellow Lamborghini that can be seen in the music video to “Without Me”.)
4.Cleanin’ Out My Closet:
Eminem raps about his father abandoning him as a child, his turbulent affair with his ex-wife Kim, and his irreparably damaged relationship with his mother Debbie. He mentions this song on his later album, Marshall Mathers LP II in the song “Headlights”. “But I’m sorry momma for “Cleanin' Out My Closet"/ At the time I was angry, rightfully maybe so /Never meant that far to take it though /Cause, now I know it’s not your fault and I’m not making jokes / That song I no longer play at shows and I cringe every time it’s on the radio”
5.Square Dance:
Em always calls himself “trailer trash” and he’s making fun of that with a fake accent and talk of square dancing. Eminem said about this song: “I like going on stage to this beat. I don’t even know if people care that much about me producing things. It’s fun for me to make a beat, but it doesn’t give me the same feeling or gratification as rapping.”
6.The Kiss (skit):
This a real scenario, Eminem was arrested on June 3rd, 2000 on an assault charge after he allegedly assaulted John Guerrera (a bouncer) in the parking lot of Hot Rock Cafe after he saw Kim kissing Guerrera. Guerrera claimed Eminem pistol whipped him. Eminem did deny it in court and does deny it in the song “Sing for the Moment”(“You’re full of shit too Guerrera, that was a fist that hit you.”) admitting that he did assault Guerrera but not with a pistol. However, in this skit it does suggest that Eminem had an unloaded gun and he also makes a reference to pistol whipping a bouncer in the next song “Soldier”.
7.Soldier:
Eminem talks about his dealings with the law because of his weapons charges, and how he isn’t afraid to use a gun. Despite all the talk about shooting people and his love for guns, Eminem has never claimed in a song that he is actually a thug. He never claimed he actually was, he just acted like one on his songs. This pistol whipping incident was the first real act of violence he had done.
8.Say Goodbye Hollywood:
The song is the conclusion of the story started with “The Kiss” and “Soldier”. This acts as the aftermath of the incidents of the two previous tracks. The term “Hollywood” is just generally used for fame. So what he really means is that he’s saying goodbye to all the fame.
9.Drips: featuring Obie Trice
Due to the song’s explicit subject matter the song was removed from the album’s clean version. The song is about how both Obie Trice and Eminem had sex with this girl that gives them both AIDS.
10.Without Me:
Eminem realizes his importance to the rap game, and claims that it wouldn’t be the same without him. First single of The Eminem Show. The music video shows Em and Dre dressed up as Batman and Robin, journeying through town trying to catch a kid who bought an explicit copy of The Eminem Show before he listens to it. In the end they catch him and Em yells out “kids!”, then shows the explicit content label, implying kids shouldn’t listen to him.
11.Paul Rosenberg (skit):
Eminem has a history of having problems with guns and getting trouble with them. He pulled out guns at the wrong times and got probation and fines for them. Paul is telling him to leave his gun at home.
12.Sing for the Moment:
Eminem said about this song: “This is where I was dealing with critics who didn’t understand why people were identifying with me. I realized I was becoming like the rappers that I looked up to as a kid. I identified with and loved LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys. I felt like if everybody didn’t understand their music, it didn’t matter — they were speaking to me. So that’s what I was trying to make people realize on this track. I may not be shit to you, but there’s a kid in fucking Nebraska, or somewhere, that I’m talking to. I don’t care if you’re listening, because he’s listening. That’s who I’m directing my material at” Eminem interpolates “Dream On” by Aerosmith, and has their guitarist Joe Perry play the guitar solo towards the end of the song.
13.Superman: featuring Dina Rae
At this point Eminem is single and divorced from Kim. This song is about his interacts with women. This song contains the beginning of a long list of references between him and Mariah Carey. Em claims that the 2 dated and a lot more, which Mariah denies saying they only hung out a few times. Eventually Mariah writes the song “Obsessed” which is believed to be about Eminem. Em fires back with “The Warning” and Mariah has been quiet since. A reference to his tattoo is also made in this song. The tattoo is of ex-wife, Kim’s gravestone with the words “Rot in Pieces” below it.
14.Hailie’s Song:
After a tough battle, Em won custody of his beloved daughter Hailie over her mother, his ex-wife Kim. That battle and the joy he felt in winning was the inspiration for this song. This track was actually never supposed to be released. Marshall recorded it for Hailie and had planned on locking it away until she was older and then giving it to her. Dr. Dre loved the track so much he played it for two women, who upon hearing it, actually cried. Their reaction is what made Dre tell him he needs to release it and so they did. This is also the reason for the censored words in the third verse.
15.Steve Berman (skit):
Eminem is poking fun at his gun charges again by shooting the President of Marketing at Interscope before he can tell Eminem that he actually likes the album.
16.When the Music Stops: featuring D12
D12, the rap group Eminem was a part of at the time, is featured in this song. This song is about how people take rap too seriously, and need to realize it’s just lyrics. The main message of the song is to stop “confusing hip hop with real life”
17.Say What You Say: featuring Dr. Dre
This Song is a diss to Jermaine Dupri and a diss to The Source Magazine, and The Source’s Benzino after Benzino claimed in 2002 that Em was just a product of the machine that sought to discredit black and Latino artists' contributions to hip-hop. It is also Dr.Dre saying that he is not out of the rap game yet.
18.Till I Collapse: featuring Nate Dogg
The drums in this song are taken almost directly from Queen’s anthem “We Will Rock You”.
19.My Dad’s Gone Crazy: featuring Hailie Jade
This song is actually featuring Em’s daughter, Hailie Jade. Eminem says that he let Hailie come to the studio with him one day, she said “My dad’s gone crazy” into the mic, and he decided to put it into one of his songs. He was criticized for putting his young daughter’s voice into a song with such vulgar language, but in his defense, Hailie Jade Mathers was not present during the recording of the actual song, she merely provided inspiration. He also makes the Clyde Mathers and Bonnie Jade reference again, which is alluding to the song “97 Bonnie and Clyde” on The Slim Shady LP where he compared him and Hailie to the outlaws. At that point Eminem said Hailie had not even heard the song, even though she was featured in it.
20.Curtains Close (skit):
The closing skit of The Eminem Show with Ken Kaniff.