Eminem Shows New Face, Same Accuracy

The Slim Shady LP from 1999, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP and now 2002's The Eminem Show have provided the nittiest and grittiest on-going documentary of a public figure since.

Slim Shady is the comically violent, larger-than-life side of the controversial rapper. He was brought onto the scene by the godfather of G-funk, Dr. Dre, as a white boy whose talent was great enough to thrive in a predominantly black industry.

Marshall Mathers is the man behind the guises, the boy abandoned by his father, the son whose mother battled him in court and the husband whose relationship with his ex-wife has deteriorated beyond repair or remorse.

It's time for Eminem, his most public and visible shade, to succeed Shady and Mathers as the main speaker for this three-headed monster.

Recent history has brought Mr. Mathers a number of events and situations to inspire his rants. After opening the summer of 2000 with Mathers, performing a duet with Elton John at the 2001 Grammys and getting probation for pistol-whipping a man kissing his wife, he has a lot to write and rap about.

The latest chapter in his saga is full of simple yet solid beats and eerie yet funkdafied production -- once again courtesy of Dr. Dre. The music does its duty well by diversifying each track, but it's Em's voice, squeaky and authoritative at the same time, that fills any and all voids.

As usual, his words drip with anger and aggression. As usual, Eminem is on the attack -- flinging spiked rhymes at the folks who he feels have wronged him (his mother, father and ex-wife, to name a few), the rap industry and U.S. society in general. And as usual, he hits the mark with surprising accuracy.

Eminem starts spitting ugly truths from the get-go. In "White America," the album's first cut, he notes that if he was black, he wouldn't be half as successful as he is and that more suburban teens are hearing and admiring his music than parents would like to admit.

His detractors will be able to use The Eminem Show to get more fuel for their fire -- the album is full of the bashing and bitterness that has marked the rapper's previous work. But misogyny, homophobia and violent nonsense aside, he is the perfect analyst of his own career.

While Em gets points for having the guts to dissect aloud his personal life and psyche, he is also completely unafraid to take on the recent reaction to his public persona.

This album is a scathing response to the aggravated call of concerned media members and offended interest groups nationwide.

But, he does lighten up on occasion. "Hailie's Song" -- yes, he sings, and doesn't break glass doing so -- is Em's declaration of hope, an ode that cites his 6-year-old daughter as his primary reason for living.

There's also the lead single, "Without Me," in which he takes his skill to its gleeful and semi-deranged peak. It's incredibly catchy -- and just like "The Real Slim Shady" did two years ago, this track will plant a giant hook in your brain if you give it any leeway.

Throughout The Eminem Show, Eminem maintains that rap would be more empty without him -- and he's right. He has proven with each record that he is one of the genre's leaders, both commercially and creatively.

All this is not to say that The Eminem Show is perfect. There are the occasional lapses in quality. Many people -- self-respecting women, for example -- will once again be quite put off by the rapper and his new supply of verbal venom. He certainly seems content to take on anything and anyone.

He repeatedly boasts about his own prowess on the mic and disrespects other stars of the music industry, as well as his peers -- but that doesn't stop such tactics from getting tired.

But as much as many would hate to admit, The Eminem Show's cons are few and far between. Despite its near-overwhelming negativity, the album is another startling body of work for a man who is akin to Lenny Bruce and Sinead O'Connor in starting intense and vital debate about free speech and censorship.

Let's face it -- the guy's a true poet, a master wordsmith and a human hotbed of dope rhymes with incredible flow. The Eminem Show is art.

Whether you like it or not.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.