The Slim Shady LP

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The Slim Shady LP
The Slim Shady LP cover
Studio album by Eminem
Released February 23, 1999
Recorded 1997-1998
Genre Hip hop
Length 59:48
Label Aftermath/Web/Interscope
Producer Marky & Jeff Bass (exec.)
Dr. Dre (exec.)
Mel-Man
Eminem
Professional reviews
Eminem chronology
The Slim Shady EP
(1997)		 The Slim Shady LP
(1999)		 The Marshall Mathers LP
(2000)
Special Edition cover
Special Edition cover
Singles from The Slim Shady LP
  1. "Just Don't Give a Fuck"
    Released: October 13, 1998
  2. "My Name Is"
    Released: February 23, 1999
  3. "Guilty Conscience"
    Released: June 8, 1999

The Slim Shady LP is the major debut album from American rapper Eminem, released in 1999. It was Eminem's first album released under Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. The album was met with critical and commercial success. It debuted at #2 on the charts behind TLC's Fanmail with 283,000 sold in its opening week. The album went on to be certified 5x platinum by the RIAA. To date, it has moved over 9 million units worldwide. "Just Don't Give a Fuck" was the first and only underground single from the album. The first official single was "My Name Is".

In 2003, the album was ranked number 273 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It placed higher than Eminem's second album The Marshall Mathers LP on the list, despite the fact that it originally received 3.5/5 stars compared to Marshall Mathers's 4/5 star rating. While many fans and music critics regard The Marshall Mathers LP as Eminem's definitive album, the The Slim Shady LP received critical acclaim as well.

Contents

[edit] The Music

[edit] Lyrical content

Upon its release, there were several complaints about The Slim Shady LP's lyrical content. The song "Guilty Conscience" (the album's second single) ends with Eminem and Dr. Dre apparently succeeding in encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover. "Guilty Conscience" was also the birth of Dr. Dre and Eminem's powerful and beloved duo. In "97' Bonnie & Clyde," Eminem raps about disposing of his wife's body while his baby daughter rides along in his car, which the album cover alludes to.

The introduction of the CD [Public Service Announcement] is a disclamimer saying that the CD has a lot of violent and drug references, as well as numerous swearing and some sexual references. It is much like the disclaimer of the MTV series Jackass, which was released a year later that has the same meaning: Don't try this at home.

Most songs feature substantial amounts of swearing, numerous references to sex and drugs, and over-the-top, cartoonish descriptions of violence. It even contains numerous references to the occult and Satanic ritual abuse. Fans of the album have generally defended it by saying that the lyrics are not to be taken seriously. Eminem himself has referenced "Slim Shady" as an exaggerated persona. In several songs, it is clear that the Slim Shady persona does not accurately represent Eminem's real life and many lyrics are meant as a joke, in contrast to his more serious second effort The Marshall Mathers LP. On the "clean" version of the album, "shit", "ass", and sometimes "bitch" are left uncensored while drug and violent references are edited out. The album edit of "Guilty Conscience" is much different from the video version, being less censored and with slightly different lyrics, as well as having a different narrator. Eminem's The Slim Shady LP was released on February 23, 1999.

The songs "Just Don't Give A Fuck", "If I Had" and "97' Bonnie & Clyde" previously appeared on Eminem's independent album, Slim Shady EP, in 1997. Dr. Dre was so impressed by the EP that he wanted to use some of the tracks on The Slim Shady LP. "Just Don't Give A Fuck" was given sharper and more impressive production, with additional instruments and sound effects, as well as cuts by Kid Rock. "97' Bonnie & Clyde" was given new keylines. The EP version, which was originally called "Just The Two Of Us", featured a sample from a song of the same name by Grover Washington Jr.

[edit] Production

In addition to executive-producing the album, Dr. Dre produced both of its singles ("My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience") and also produced "Role Model" with Aftermath co-producer Mel-Man. The rest of the album was produced by the Bass Brothers for the Detroit-based FBT Productions, who had been close collaborators with Eminem since Infinite.

[edit] Track listing

# Title Featuring artist(s) Producer(s) Length
1 "Public Service Announcement" 0:33
2 "My Name Is" Dr. Dre 4:28
3 "Guilty Conscience" Dr. Dre Dr. Dre 3:19
4 "Brain Damage" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 3:46
5 "Paul" (Skit) 0:15
6 "If I Had" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 4:05
7 "97' Bonnie & Clyde" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 5:16
8 "Bitch" (Skit) 0:19
9 "Role Model" Dr. Dre, Mel-Man 3:25
10 "Lounge" (Skit) 0:46
11 "My Fault" Marky & Jeff Bass 4:01
12 "Ken Kaniff" (Skit) 1:16
13 "Cum on Everybody" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 3:39
14 "Rock Bottom" Marky & Jeff Bass 3:34
15 "Just Don't Give a Fuck" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 4:02
16 "Soap" (Skit) Jeff Bass 0:34
17 "As the World Turns" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 4:25
18 "I'm Shady" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 3:32
19 "Bad Meets Evil" Royce Da 5'9" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 4:13
20 "Still Don't Give a Fuck" Marky & Jeff Bass, Eminem (co) 4:12

In the clean version of the album, track 8, track 13, track 15 and track 20 are called respectively "Zoe", "Come on Everybody", "Just Don't Give" and "Still Don't Give."

[edit] Samples/Interpolations

Cum On Everybody

  • "Gimme What You Got" by Le Pamplemouse

Murder Murder

  • "50 Ways to Leave your Lover" by Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel

Guilty Conscience

I'm Shady

My Name Is

'97 Bonnie & Clyde

Rock Bottom

[edit] Special edition tracks

  1. "Hazardous Youth" (Acapella version) - 0:44
  2. "Get You Mad" Sway & King Tech feat. Eminem - 4:22
  3. "Greg" (Acapella version) - 0:54

[edit] Album chart positions

Year Album Chart positions
Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Top Canadian Albums
1999 The Slim Shady LP #2 #14 #24

[edit] Singles chart positions

Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles Modern Rock Tracks Rhythmic Top 40 Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 Tracks
1998 "Just Don't Give a Fuck" - #62 #5 - - - -
1999 "Guilty Conscience" - #56 - - - - -
1999 "My Name Is" #36 #18 #10 #37 #5 #29 #39
1999 "Role Model" - #111[1] - - - - -


[edit] External links

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Eminem
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"Role Model" · "My Fault" · "Kim" · "Mosh"
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