On this day 26 years ago, Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP, an album that remains his magnum opus. It was dark, disturbing, and dexterous in how he rapped about the subject matter. It’s certainly uneasy to listen to records like “Kim”, a violent screaming match that just so happened to be a rap song. But it’s a singular vision that only the Detroit legend could’ve pulled off.
“Eminem could be the Axl Rose of hip-hop, a rage-filled, drug-addled, homicidal, charismatic talent and bona fide megastar. The Marshall Mathers LP is a car-crash record: loud, wild, dangerous, out of control, grotesque, and unsettling. It’s also impossible to pull your ears away from,” writer Touré wrote for Rolling Stone at the time.
Entertainment Weekly argued it’s equally irresistible and hard to earnestly defend in a review. “The Marshall Mathers LP is indefensible and critic-proof, hypocritical and heartbreaking, unlistenable and undeniable,” writer Will Hermes wrote of Eminem at the time. “It’s a disposable shock-rap session and the first great pop record of the 21st century. It plays to a culture obsessed with celebrity gossip and talk-show voyeurism at the same time it rails against that culture. It is, one predicts, going to sell like penny lemonade on a hot day.”
However, not all critics embraced this unsettling masterpiece. Some found its subject matter and its language to be completely unacceptable.
Some Critics Tried To Fight Against Eminem and ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’
Slant Magazine went against the popular grain and rated The Marshall Mathers LP a flat one and a half stars. Records like “Stan” and “Kim” registered as worthwhile in order to gain insight about Slim Shady. But besides that, the publication was largely dismissive of Eminem’s intentions as an artist.
“For the remainder of the album, Eminem comes off as an undeveloped adult who’s still trying to get his parents’ attention. The only thing worse than Eminem’s homophobia is the immaturity with which he displays it,” journalist Sal Cinquemani wrote.
The Los Angeles Times was a bit more charitable, arguing that Eminem was critiquing and satirizing society as much as he’s lashing out at it. Still, writer Robert Hilburn found the language Eminem used to be too deplorable to ignore. “This is a four-star album that is docked a half star because of the recurring homophobia,” he wrote. “Something that may be de rigueur in commercial rap, but which still is unacceptable.”
The post On This Day 26 Years Ago, Eminem Released ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’, a Classic Hip-Hop Album That Rubbed Some Critics the Wrong Way appeared first on VICE.
