0907. Eminem
The Slim Shady LP

Eminem's second album on the list is also his second album released (yes, I'm still counting Infinite) and this is where he broke it big with a combination of first and foremost three factors.

1. He's got heavy backup in the form of Dr. Dre doing some producing and also appearing on a track.
2. He's the great white hope for a "serious" white rapper with some street cred (no, Kid Rock doesn't count).
3. He's pushing boundraries with the lyrical content. Now and then it's like hearing Alex rapping from the pages of A Clockwork Orange.

While some of the stuff's still valid mostly it's past its consume by-date, and tracks like If I Had are just plain bad, whether you look at the production, lyrics, or delivery. It's a wonder it made the cut.

Lyrically it's violent, grisly and rather blunt (for a more eloquent approach to the over-the-top violence, try some PST/Q from the same year or earlier - in Swedish, but hey, you got to learn it some time, so why not now).

Problematic in that Eminem revels in misogynist fantasies about murdering his babymama in '97 Bonnie And Clyde (and at the same time referencing Will Smith's hit in the hook) and random outbursts of homophobia, but also problematic due to the shades of racism flashing by (yes, like in the hook on Bad Meets Evil) - maybe nothing considered eyebrow-raising, but I still notice.