The Eminem Show
By Aftermath Records
2002

A good man, loyal father and sensitive human being; or a mean, hateful rapper?

Eminem entered the world on Oct. 17, 1972. Though he was born in Kansas City, Missouri, he was raised primarily in Detroit. Eminem had an extremely challenging childhood, his father left when he was a small child and the rapper has no memory of him. He started rapping at a very early age in his life, he said it kept his mind off of everything he was dealing with; problems at home, bullying, racism, etc.

Eminem has participated in rap battles since elementary school. He used to get teased and made fun of a lot because rapping is considered a black domain, but this didn't discourage the young rap star. He used to sneak over to another school during lunch and take part in competitions, and won nearly all of them. Later, he moved on to performing for mostly black crowds, getting rejected and even booed off stage at times, tearing apart his self esteem, but still with no intention of giving up. As time went on, he earned their respect and support, helping further him in his dream to become a famous rapper. Today, Eminem is a huge success with three incredible albums to show for all of his hard work and determination.

Eminem's music is studio recorded and of very high quality. The rapper has no trouble coming up with lyrics for his songs, he sings about what's real and what a lot of people are scared to say. Whether you love him or you hate him makes no difference, everyone knows who Eminem is, from your little cousin to your grandmother. He says that without the disrespect and controversy about the language and content of his music, he would get bored and have nothing to say. He enjoys hearing what the public has to say about him and has no trouble defending it.

The main concern with Eminem is his music, is it suitable and appropriate for the listening audiences? Well if you listen closely to his songs, you would learn that he can be a very sensitive person, and he is very passionate about his music. Eminem's lyrics are very strong and he often includes his devotion to his daughter in his songs. People tend to only hear his swearing, rather than what he's really saying. Many of his songs are actually very sad, and if you could take the time to read them and ignore the foul language, you would gain a lot of respect for him. He shows that no matter what obstacle he's been faced with as a child, he's remained a strong person. In his song 'Say Goodbye To Hollywood', he talks about how hard it has been for him to get where he is, and that he's thought many times of ending everything' worked for. "If I could swallow a bottle of Tylenol I would, and end it for good, just to say goodbye to Hollywood, cus all I wanted was to give Hailie the life I never had but instead I forced us to live alienated." These are only some of the subjects Em touches in this album, others are much more serious.

Overall, "The Eminem Show" is an incredible album, with very intense lyrics. He is a very talented rapper and all of the tough times he's been through have only helped to make him a stronger person and the huge success he is today. People say that rap isn't a real talent, that it's just talking, but Em has proved that there's a lot more to rapping then just putting words together. Not just anyone, in fact very few people, can freestyle rap at all, let alone sound good doing it. It takes talent, skill and determination, and Eminem's the full package.