The Marshall Mathers LP

Though it’s still relatively unknown to casual music listeners, Eminem’s first true album came in 1996 and was called Infinite. Despite attempts at radio singles on it, it sold no more than a thousand copies in its first week, all of which were out of the back of Em’s car, and he was disappointed with its reception. Just three years later, he was a star, and The Slim Shady LP had sold 283,000 copies first week. Em’s rise was rapid and relatively unexpected, even for the rapper himself.

I was in high school when this album came out. When it did, I was in that phase in my life where pain and rage were two words that were too obvious for people not to notice in me. There was anguish within me that Eminem excavated effectively when he released The Marshall Mathers LP. Some of my friends who know me would wonder why I’m writing about an album with explicit content where it’s not just sexual but it’s also full of hatred and violent themes. For a guy whose playlist is mostly Hillsong United, For King and Country and Travis Greene among others, the reason why I’m writing about one of Eminem’s most talked about album is this: at some point in our lives, there are tracks that remind us of our deep, dark pits that to look back would make us grateful of how God has carried us through. And we get to say, we made some good progress.