The Slim Shady LP

Cringeball

There's probably an essay on how 'in character' all the misogyny and hate there is in this record compares with the murder ballads of Nick Cave and the outlaws of Bruce Springsteen and older country music stars, and how when that kind of writing is intepreted through a hip hop lens it tends to be received in a more dismissive way than those other (more respected?) artists. But I can't be bothered to write it, or to Google if it has been written by someone more invested in the subject.

Anyway, an undeniably great rap style, genuine wit and some impressive production. Although, I would be ashamed to listen to much of it in company in 2026, which I guess says a lot.

Yo, The Slim Shady LP ain’t dark, it’s try-hard in a trench coat,
Like a kid yelling “I’m insane!” just to stay afloat.
Every line begging shock like “please give a shit,”
But it’s edgelord spam over a half-decent beat kit.

Whole album sound like a tantrum that got signed to a deal,
Like Dr. Dre found a headache and said “this’ll sell, it’s real.”
But real ain’t just screaming every thought in your skull,
Half this shit sound like your brain buffering on null.

You ain’t breaking no rules, you just farming reactions,
Turnin’ outrage into streams, that’s transactional rapping.
If controversy was talent, you’d be Mozart-tier,
But take that away and it’s a void we hear.

Yeah, it made waves, but so does a loud-ass crash,
Don’t mean it’s art, sometimes it’s just trash.
Aged like milk in the sun with the cap screwed loose,
Now it’s more awkward than dangerous - truth.

Slim Shady LP? More like Slim Shady OD,
Too much bullshit, not enough actual MC.

I had Eminem's other album a few months ago, so I have an idea of what to expect from him. Of course, it's technically excellent rap, with some of the most tightly packed rhymes and masterful flow of any rapper. However, the lyrics are dumb and awful as usual. Seriously, can this guy shut up about violently killing people and shoving his penis into them? Such is the dichotomy of Eminem; awful lyrics delivered very well. I liked this better than his other one, though.

This album is ranked #5 of 23 albums for 1999. Other 1999 albums rated by me:
Californication(1/23)-2
Play(2/23)-1
The Soft Bulletin(4/23)-4
Central Reservation(9/23)-3
The Man Who(10/23)-1
HMS Fable(17/23)-1

Not quite October yet, but this is a good spooky season album.

Prior to getting this, felt like I would have given it a 3 since I don't think it's as good as Marshall Mathers LP, but honestly this is hitting today for me. Could be the season, could just be it's better than I remember, either way, today's a good day.

I'm just going to ignore the skits. Most of them are pretty short anyways, and I typically don't count skits against an album.

It's interesting how out of place My Name Is on the album, given how upbeat it (And it's sample, Labi Siffre's I Got The) and weird it is when the rest of the tracklist is so dark with it's horrorcore styles.

Still fantastic and classic song, but yeah. Beyond that, this album is just filled with great flows and beats. Guilty Conscious is good, but the breaks to introduce the next character really slam the breaks on the momentum of the song. Brain Damage is fantastic with it's plinky guitars giving it that spooky vibe. If I Had is a more dark R&B style track that vibes, but I do think the lyrics/flow aren't as strong as some of his other stuff on the record.

Then you have '97 Bonnie & Clyde, the sequel to the absolutely harrowing Kim on the Marshall Mathers LP. Knowing Kim, this song kinda loses some of it's horror when you know that it gets so much worse. This song is kinda quaint in comparison, although still solid.

Role Model brings back some plinky guitars that gives that Halloween in Detroit vibe that I love. Couple that with an insane flow from Eminem, just a fantastic song. Classic Slim Shady song.

After that, the album does start to drag a tad with My Fault and Cum on Everybody, two songs that I would honestly drop from the album. Side note: If you dropped the skits (I'd leave Public Service Announcement) and those two songs, this could honestly be a really tight 50 minute album that might be a 5/5.

But Em brings it back with Rock Bottom, probably on of the best tracks on the entire record. Guitars on this album are just bringing the horror vibes and I love it.

Just Don't Give A Fuck is a solid track. The the screaming bell sound does get old by the end of the song, but a great flow from Eminem keeps it interesting. As the World Turns, I'm Shady, Bad Meets Evil, and Still Don't Give A Fuck just keeps things moving though and finish off the album nicely. Feel like I could appreciate those songs more if My Fault and Cum On Everybody were dropped, just because the runtime does exhaust a little by the end.

But yeah. Classic record from Em, better than I remembered. I'm sure some of my praise of this and MMLP are due to me being from Detroit and kinda feeling like I need to hype up artists from my area (Especially as Eminem's reputation has kinda took a hit with his later albums not being that great), but SSLP and MMLP are legitimately great albums.

I'lll have to relisten to MMLP again. I do remember it having similar issues with it kinda having a few songs that aren't up to snuff, but the highs are definitely higher than on SSLP.

This has a fun, juvenile energy missing from his later records. Still a bit tedious after awhile.

lots of talent here but most of it is going towards making some "LOL are you triggered bro?! XD" type shit and i'm not an edgy 12 year old boy so it doesn't do much for me. 2.5

The Slim Shady LP by Eminem is a brilliant album. I don't think it's quite as good as The Marshall Mathers LP, but it's the record that introduced the world to Slim Shady and changed hip-hop forever.

When this album came out, there really wasn't anything else like it. It was funny, shocking, controversial and incredibly creative. Eminem's storytelling is exceptional throughout, switching effortlessly between dark humour, satire and more emotional moments. Whether you like the subject matter or not, there's no denying his talent as a writer.

The production is excellent too, with catchy beats that perfectly complement his style. Every track feels different, keeping the album fresh from beginning to end. Beneath the outrageous lyrics and controversial character is a hugely talented artist with an incredible ear for melody, rhythm and rhyme.

While The Marshall Mathers LP would go on to refine and improve the formula, The Slim Shady LP deserves enormous credit for how original it sounded at the time. Even today, it still feels inventive and exciting.

Favourite tracks: "Guilty Conscience" is the standout for me. It's clever, funny and brilliantly put together, with great chemistry between Eminem and Dr. Dre.

Least favourite tracks: There isn't really a weak song here. Some tracks aren't quite as memorable as the biggest hits, but the album is consistently entertaining throughout.

Album artwork: A good cover that perfectly captures the dark humour and chaotic personality of the Slim Shady character.

It's crass but definitely worth a listen.

I didn't feel the need to re-listen to the last Eminem album, and I'm wondering if I need to do it for this one. As a white kid who was really into hip hop in the late 90s, I know this record pretty well. I don't have to hear it again to know that the lyrics don't hold up at all, A QUARTER CENTURY LATER?!? (Jesus, where did that time go?)

At the time, he was doing some wordsmithing that nobody else was doing (see other reviews for more on that), and it's regrettable that he chose to be the most provocative edgelord that he could possibly be with that talent. It worked though, he managed to get attention for something other than the novelty of being a white rapper. I'm sure there's some privilege to unpack there, but I won't turn this into a thinkpiece.

I can't, in good conscience, give this any more thank 3 stars but I also can't ignore the technical skill or my personal history with this record and give it less than 3 stars. So here we are.

Woof, three stars for Dre and zero for Em.

It’s hard to overstate how this album dominated pop culture for a while in 1999. I thought then and now that there are a couple good tracks and a bunch of filler. Some of the lyrics haven’t aged so well.

"The Slim Shady LP" established Eminem's reputation as an exceptional rapper. In the role of his alter ego Slim Shady, he tackles controversial topics such as violence, drugs and sex, usually in a highly exaggerated manner. In doing so, he employs direct, at times vulgar language and misogynistic, violent clichés, yet a certain ironic distance from Shady’s posturing is clearly evident. If one wishes to peer into the hopeless, embittered, brutalised soul of the marginalised ‘white trash’ in the American heartland, this album offers an excellent insight into a social class that has been left to its own devices for years. Drugs, violence, sex, and hatred of everything and everyone are portrayed here in very graphic terms. In doing so, Eminem proves himself to be a highly skilful wordsmith who has far more to offer than just a string of swear words. Musically, however, it naturally remains rather limited. A few beats, a bassline, a couple of funky chords – none of it is worth mentioning. But I understand why this album was so important and why it remains highly relevant even today. But musically speaking, though – and for me, despite all the street poetry, this is what matters most – there simply isn’t much to be found here.

The fact that this record continues to shock and upset the reviewers of this site almost thirty years after it's release proves Eminem (and his alt-ego Slim Shady) achieved what they set out to do. And now, in an era of cancel culture - and whilst a convicted felon and known sexual abuser actually sits in the White House Presidential office - Em manages to lean in to the past controversy and confront it. It's a sort of bizarre genius. And although it wasn't until the next record where Em asks "and you blame it on Marilyn - but where were the parents at?" he is already asking the questions; are you going to hold pop music to blame for the behaviours in society or is there perhaps a hypocrisy in that? In the opening hit track, Em confesses "99% of my life I was lied to - I just found out my mom does more drugs than I do". He is a product of his upbringing, not the music he listens to.

Its no mistake that this record is puerile, violent and misogynistic - it's purposefully designed to outrage the mainstream. And it's easy to say "it's dated" (it is) because of the lyrical content but I will remind you it was already all of these things back in 1999. We didn't hear this in the 90's and think it was high-art. It was passed around the classroom like a nudie magazine. Snotty, bratty childish - both the listeners and the album.

But if you ask me 'Is this a good record?' well... Its a bit like a super aggressive cartoon. It's entertaining and naughty fun but doesn't offer any real musical sustainance. It's contribution to modern pop culture, whether deemed as good or bad, is where it's value lies.

Eminem is a pretty good rapper and the production by Dr Dre is great, but my god the actual lyrics just make this hard to listen to

Violent, absurd, dark, weirdly comedic.
The guy has talent as a wordsmith but is totally fucked up.
I'm ashamed that I smiled at some of the absurd comedic violence.
Maybe that's what he was aiming for? I fear he wasn't though.
2½

eh melhor que o outro que passou por aqui, uns beats mais interessantes e tal.

mas que isso, slim shady envelheceu MUITO mal. cê tá doido. meia boca DEMAIS credo

Not as good as I remembered it. A lot of just okay songs with the couple bangers that everyone knows.

I find it almost funny how people use things like violence and misogyny in rap music as an excuse to be racist when one of the most extreme cases of it is from a pasty ass white dude.

So less than 10 minutes in and this is already rife with misogyny, violence, homophobia, and every single stereotype that makes hip hop bad music. I mean who writes a song about drugging and raping a 15 year old? I honestly don't know how people listen to this and connect with it at all, much less praise it as one of the best albums ever. Yes, he can rhyme things with other things, that's not genius. This is a 13 year old kid who found out he can swear and say shocking things and get famous for it.
I was really hoping that I'd find a hip hop album that I genuinely liked while doing this project, and this one was one that I had heard way back in the day and kind of hoped I would like it now. No dice. This is awful and aged worse than milk in a plastic cup placed in the sun. If this album was released now, it would be so widely panned we'd never hear from Eminem again. Well, that might not be true, he'd probably be playing with Kid Rock at GOP events.
I'm 600+ albums in and this is the first one I had to turn off (that I remember) before it was over. 0/5 and please god let's strike this from the record of Humanity's creative output.