History Music / TheMarshallMathersLP

** "The Way I Am" and "Criminal" address Eminem's feelings about the media controversy over his lyrics and the accusation that he is just "some wigger who tries to be black." He also references the [[UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} pupils who shot other pupils in the Columbine High School in Ohio in the spring of 1999]].

** On the original cover Eminem was sitting on the porche of the house where he lived during teenagehood.

->--'''"Kill You"'''

By the time '''''The Marshall Mathers LP''''' was released just before summer 2000, Music/{{Eminem}} was already on top of the world. His previous release, ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP'', made him an overnight sensation and got as much attention from the media as he did from MoralGuardians who were practically having heart attacks at the idea of this guy possibly controlling the innocent youth through his rhymes.

The album was released to even more critical and commercial success than ''SSLP'', with critics hailing it to this day as one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, let alone in the hip-hop genre. It gave Em his second consecutive UsefulNotes/GrammyAward win for Best Rap Album as well as a nomination for Album of the Year. It also sold more than 1.76 million copies in America in ''the opening week'', solidifying it as the fastest-selling studio album by any American solo artist in history. The album later went on to be certified Diamond in 2011 for selling 10 million copies in America, and it went on to sell a grand total of 32 million copies around the world (by 2012). It is ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s 244th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime greatest album of all time]], and was included in Magazine/TimeMagazine's 2006 list of [[TimeAllTime100Albums 100 timeless and essential albums.]] The album is generally considered to be his MagnumOpus.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The black-and-white album cover.

** One rather infamous example is the censoring of a certain line from "I'm Back" in the Marshal Mathers LP, where Eminem raps; "I Take seven kids from UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} stand 'em all in line, add an AK-47 a revolver, a nine, a Mac-11 and that oughta solve this problem of mine, and that's a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time". An uncensored version is completely unavailable, "Kids" and "Columbine" are edited out even in the explicit version. However, 13 years later he repeats the line on "Rap God" from the [=MMLP2=], and gets away with it this time.

** The line on "Kill You" about the Columbine shooting also has bits and pieces censored even on the uncensored version.

# "Stan" (feat. Dido) (6:44)

* SpecialGuest: Music/{{Dido}} plays Stan's girlfriend in the music video of "Stan", a song that also samples her number "Thank You". During "Bitch Please II" Music/SnoopDogg, Music/DrDre, Music/{{Xzibit}} and Music/NateDogg are featured on guest vocals. "Remember Me?" has guest appearances from [=RBX=] and Sticky Fingaz, "Amityville" by Bizarre and "Under the Influence" by D12.

* LyricalColdOpen: "Kill You".

[[caption-width-right:320:''Now will the real Shady please stand up / and put one of those fingers on each hand up'']]

->''[[EstablishingCharacterMoment "They said I can't rap about being broke no more.]]''\\
''[[EstablishingCharacterMoment They ain't say I can't rap about coke no more!"]]''

By the time '''''The Marshall Mathers LP''''' was released just before summer 2000, Music/{{Eminem}} was already on top of the world. His previous release, ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP'', made him an overnight sensation and got as much attention from the media as he did from MoralGuardians who were practically having heart attacks at the idea of this guy possibly controlling the innocent youth through his rhymes.

If ''Slim Shady LP'' was Em's inner psyche on drugs, then ''Marshall Mathers LP'' is his inner psyche on the hardest alcohol you can imagine. This album took all of the demented insanity of its predecessor and cranked it UpToEleven, while mishmashing it with a personal and introspective account of Em's reaction and coping with his sudden, newfound fame. Darker fantasies, more disturbing parts of his childhood, and more venomous responses to critics were all implemented on the album.

The album was released to even more critical and commercial success than ''SSLP'', with critics hailing it to this day as one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, let alone in the hip-hop genre. It gave Em his second consecutive UsefulNotes/GrammyAward win for Best Rap Album as well as a nomination for Album of the Year. It also sold more than 1.76 million copies in America in ''the opening week'', solidifying it as the fastest-selling studio album by any American solo artist in history. The album later went on to be certified Diamond in 2011 for selling 10 million copies in America, and it went on to sell a grand total of 32 million copies around the world (by 2012). It is ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s 244th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime greatest album of all time]], and was included in Magazine/TimeMagazine's 2006 list of [[TimeAllTime100Albums 100 timeless and essential albums.]] The album is generally considered to be his MagnumOpus.

Keeping with tradition, the album garnered even more controversy than its predecessor with its DarkerAndEdgier approach to Em's life. Many people, including Dick Cheney's wife, of all people, were up in arms about Em's lyrics. This caused a significant amount of protesting and debating, which only seemed to [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity propel the album's]] [[StreisandEffect fame further.]]

# "Public Service Announcement 2000" (0:25)
# "Kill You" (4:24)
# "Stan" (feat. Dido) (6:44)
# "Paul" (skit) (0:10)
# "Who Knew" (3:47)
# "Steve Berman" (skit) (0:53)
# "The Way I Am" (4:50)
# "The Real Slim Shady" (4:44)
# "Remember Me?" (feat. RBX and Sticky Fingaz) (3:38)
# "I'm Back" (5:10)
# "Marshall Mathers" (5:20)
# "Ken Kaniff" (skit) (1:01)
# "Drug Ballad" (feat. Dina Rae) (5:00)
# "Amityville" (feat. Bizarre) (4:14)
# "Bitch Please II" (feat. Dr. Dre, Music/SnoopDogg, Xzibit, and Nate Dogg) (4:48)
# "Kim" (6:17)
# "Under the Influence" (feat. D12) (5:21)
# "Criminal" (5:15)
# "The Kids" (bonus track) (5:06)

!!''They ain't say I can't rap about TROPES no more!''

** "Kill You".
--> ''I invented violence, you vile venomous volatile bitches\\
Vain Vicodin, vrin vrin vrin!''
** "The Way I Am"
--> ''I do not got the patience''
--> ''To deal with these cocky Caucasians''
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: "The Real Slim Shady"
--> ''Feminist women love Eminem''
--> ''Chicka-chicka Slim Shady, I'm sick of him''
--> ''Look at him, walking around, grabbing his you-know-what''
--> ''Flippin' the you-know-who''
--> ''Yeah, but he's so cute though''

* AloneWithThePsycho: "Stan" and "Kim" both have somebody [[spoiler: kidnap a spouse and murder her.]]
* AntiLoveSong: "Kim", though he says that he loves her too, right as he's driving her out the woods to slit her throat. It's an [[SlapSlapKiss angry love]].
* ArtImitatesLife and LifeImitatesArt: "Stan" is an example of both.
* AudienceParticipationSong: "Kill You" is used for this purpose during concerts.
* AxCrazy: Slim Shady and Stan on this album are both psycho's.
* BadassBoast: Common in his work, but particularly this bit from "The Real Slim Shady":
--> ''I'm like a head trip to listen to\\
'Cause I'm only giving you things you joke about with your friends inside your living room\\
The only difference is I got the balls to say it in front of y'all\\
And I don't gotta be false or sugarcoat it at all\\
I just get on the mike and spit it\\
And whether you like to admit it, I just shit it\\
Better than 90% of you rappers out can\\
Then you wonder "[[ThinkOfTheChildren How can kids eat up these albums like Valiums?]]"''

** "Stan" received an ''infamous'' serving of this. Not only that, but there are TWO versions of the music videos for the song, with the most recent Fuse "version" of the song more censored than the last two. While MTV's short version of "Stan" is heavily censored (also removing scenes of a [[DrivenToSuicide murder/suicide]]), the long version, however, isn't much better. Though Dido (singer of "Thank You" who played Stan's pregnant girlfriend in the music video) admitted in the interview that [[PregnantHostage she was the one who was]] BoundAndGagged and [[PunkInTheTrunk struggling in the trunk of the car to get the gag out and to scream while trying to breathe]] in the third verse, only fewer versions of the video's long version showing some scenes with her tied up and struggling, as well as a scene with Stan (played by actor [[FinalDestination Devon Sawa]]) drinking while driving, are shown. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks The rest of the versions show only one brief clip of her at the trunk while removing a scene of Stan drinking and censoring the words]] [[FrothyMugsOfWater "drank", "vodka",]] [[DrugsAreBad "downers",]] [[BigShutUp "Shut up,]] [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch",]] [[PunkInTheTrunk "screaming in the trunk",]] "slit", [[BoundAndGagged "tied her up",]] "suffocates" and [[NeverSayDie "die"]]. In the last verse, [[HideYourPregnancy the censors remove all mentions of the girlfriend in the trunk]], as well as the lyric, [[HideYourLesbians "And what's this shit about us meant to be together?"]]
** One of the best examples was by Eminem himself, in his UsefulNotes/GrammyAward performance of "Stan" with Music/EltonJohn, when he changed "You're like his fucking idol" to "You're like his ''favorite'' idol."
** One rather infamous example is the censoring of a certain line from "I'm Back" in the Marshal Mathers LP, where Eminem raps; "I Take seven kids from UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} stand 'em all in line, add an AK-47 a revolver, a nine, a Mac-11 and that oughta solve this problem of mine, and that's a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time". An uncensored version is completely unavailable, "Kids" and "Columbine" are edited out even in the explicit version. However, 13 years later he repeats the line on "Rap God" from the [=MMLP2=], and gets away with it this time.
** A similar thing happened with "Marshall Mathers", off the same album. One line in particular was censored because, in the event you are being sued by your mother, insulting their lawyer is [[{{TooDumbToLive}} not a particularly clever idea.]]
--> ''So which is it, [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch]], Mrs. Briggs or Mrs. Mathers?''
--> ''It doesn't matter, [your attorney, Fred Gibson's a] faggot! ''
--> ''Talking about how I fabricated my past.''
--> ''He's just aggravated I won't ejaculate in his ass.''
** The "four-year-old little boy laying dead with a slit throat in your living room" line on "Kim" censors "four" and "boy", even on the explicit version.
** The line on "Kill You" about the Columbine shooting also has bits and pieces censored even on the uncensored version.
** Eminem even references radio censorship in "The Way I Am"
--> ''Radio won't even play my jam''
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: In "Marshall Mathers":
--> ''Yo, you might see me jogging. You might see me walking. You might see me walking a dead rottweiler dog with it's head chopped off in the park with a spiked collar, hollering at him 'cause the son-of-a-bitch won't stop barking.''
* CallAndResponseSong: "Kim", a dialogue between Eminem and an impersonation of his wife.

** "The Real Slim Shady", "The Way I Am", and "Stan" all reference "My Name Is".
*** "Real Slim Shady" has a line mirroring the "and Dr. Dre said..." line from "My Name Is", only for Dre to not say anything and for Em to announce that Dre is dead and locked in his basement.
*** "Stan" has the title character tauntingly reciting the "I just drank a fifth of vodka, dare me to drive?" line while driving under the influence of alcohol.
** "Kim" is a prequel to "97' Bonnie & Clyde" from ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP''.
** In "The Way I Am" Eminem references "Guilty Conscience" and "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", also from his previous album:
--> ''I'm gonna name her Bonnie''
--> ''The song "Guilty Conscience" has gotten such rotten responses''
* CarefulWithThatAxe: Em doesn't as much rap "Kim" as he does ''scream'' it, and it reaches an ultimate peak by the very end, where he lets out one last "BLEEEEED!" that is inhumanly [[NightmareFuel terrifying]].
* CelebrityIsOverrated: "The Way I Am"
--> ''But at least have the decency in you''
--> ''To leave me alone, when you freaks see me out''
--> ''In the streets when I'm eating or feeding my daughter''
--> ''To not come and speak to me, I don't know you and no''
--> ''I don't owe you a mothafuckin' thing''
--> ''I'm not Mr. [[Music/{{NSync}} N'Sync]], I'm not what your friends think''
--> ''I'm not Mr. Friendly, I can be a prick''
--> ''If you tempt me my tank is on empty''
--> ''No patience is in me and if you offend me''
--> ''I'm lifting you 10 feet in the air''
--> ''I don't care who was there and who saw me just jaw you''
--> ''Go call you a lawyer, file you a lawsuit''
--> ''I'll smile in the courtroom and buy you a wardrobe''
--> ''I'm tired of all you, I don't mean to be mean''
--> ''But that's all I can be is just me''
--> ''(...) And I'm thankful for every fan that I get''
--> ''But I can't take a shit in the bathroom without someone standing by it''
--> ''No I won't sign you an autograph''
--> ''You can call me an asshole''
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Referenced in "Real Slim Shady".
--> ''Pinching nurse's asses when I'm jacking off with Jergens''
--> ''And I'm jerking but this whole bag of Viagra isn't working''
* DeathSong: "Kill You", where Eminem threatens women in a BlackComedy fashion. "Stan" is a more dramatic tale, where a LoonyFan drives his car off a bridge in an attempt to kill his girlfriend. In "Kim" Eminem murders his then-wife and places her corpse into the trunk of his car and drives her off a bridge.
* {{Deconstruction}}: "Kill You", of his signature "let's try to offend people with really unnerving lyrics" songs.
-->''"And I'ma be another rapper dead, for poppin' off at the mouth with shit I shouldn't have said"''

* DepravedHomosexual: Ken Kaniff, who is now been given a blow job by members of Music/InsaneClownPosse, who have a feud with Eminem. In "The Real Slim Shady" Eminem makes a homophobic comment: ''But if we can hump dead animals and antelopes/then there's no reason that a man and another man can't elope'', while in the music video he illustrates this scene by breaking up a gay marriage just as the two men are about to kiss each other and expressing disgust.
* DidntThinkThisThrough [=/=] OhCrap: The title character in "Stan" has both when he realizes that [[spoiler:he won't be able to send Eminem the tape he's making before he drowns himself and his pregnant girlfriend, precisely because he's about to... well, yeah]].

** "Kim": [[spoiler:Marshall takes Kim out to a remote area in the woods against her will, where he slits her throat in the woods. Afterwards, the same sound effects from the beginning of "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" - namely, him dragging her corpse to a car and tossing it in the trunk.]]
** "Stan": [[spoiler:The obsessed fan of the song's title commits murder-suicide, killing himself, his pregnant girlfriend, and their unborn child, all because Shady didn't answer his letters in time.]]
* DramaticIrony: The final verse of "Stan" creates some for the listener, since Em tries to write back to the title character (a LoonyFan of his) saying that he hopes the letter reaches him in time. [[spoiler:Just prior to Em's verse, Stan had driven his car off a bridge and killed himself, his wife, and their unborn kid.]]
* DreamTeam: Eminem and Music/{{Dido}} on "Stan".
* DrivenToSuicide: The climax of "Stan" has the title character talking to Em while drunk driving on a bridge with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk. [[spoiler:The scenario ends with Stan driving the car off the bridge.]]
* DrugsAreBad: The [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped moral]] of "The Kids", taught by Em to a class of kids straight out of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''.
* EpicRocking: 8 out of the 18 tracks on this album are over 5 minutes long, with the longest being "Stan", which is 16 seconds shy of 7 minutes. Second longest is the 6:17 "Kim".
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The page quote, which comes from the opening lines of "Kill You", the first song on the album (but not the first track; track 1 is a public service announcement, just like ''SSLP''). Em explains this set of lines more in his autobiography ''Angry Blonde''.
--> ''I wanted to start the album with that song because everybody in the press was like, "what’s he gonna rap about? He’s not miserable anymore. [...] The whole idea of this song was to say some of the most fucked-up shit. Just to let people know that I’m back. That I didn’t lose it. That I wasn’t compromising nothing and I didn’t change. If anything...I got worse.''

* EvilLaugh: Eminem's chuckling during "Kill You".
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: The ending lines of "Stan" have Em talking about a recent death in the news that he found sickening. As he explains the death more, he realizes that [[spoiler:it was Stan who died]].
* FaceOnAMilkCarton: The music video to "The Real Slim Shady" shows Eminem's {{Mentor|s}} Dr. Dre on a milk carton (with a very beleaguered expression) just as the lyrics go ''And Dr. Dre said[[{{Beat}} ...]]/Nothing you idiots! Dr. Dre's dead/He's locked in my basement!''

* FanDisservice: The Ken Kaniff skit on this album is a rare audio example of this, considering it has one of the most disquieting-sounding oral sex scene ever heard in a song. And it's between Ken and some members of the Music/InsaneClownPosse, no less.
* FlippingTheBird: In most of the music videos. Also, in "The Way I Am", Eminem lampshades this:
--> ''And it seems like the media immediately\\
Points a finger at me ''(finger at me)''\\
So I point one back at them, but not the index or the pinkie\\
Or the ring or my thumb, it's the one you put up\\
When you don't give a [[WorldOfPun fuck]]''
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Stan", the titular character mentions how his little brother Matthew is even more of a fan of Em than himself. After we see the events that unfold in the song, we are left with the question of how much larger is Matthew's love for Em over Stan's. [[spoiler:We find out the answer in "Bad Guy" off of ''Marshall Mathers LP 2'', where Matthew kidnaps Em, planning to bury him alive, but winds up committing a murder-suicide in the exact same manner as his big brother]].
* GrossUpCloseUp: In the music video of "The Real Slim Shady" Eminem spits in an onion ring he delivers to an obese woman, from which she takes a disgusting looking bite as she walks away.
* {{Horrorcore}}: "Kim" is a definite example of this genre, with a very graphic and PlayedStraight story of Eminem murdering his wife in the forest.

** "The Real Slim Shady".
** "The Way I Am" is one of the darker examples of this trope in his discography.

** To such an extent that the name "Stan" is actually used in some communities to refer to a megasuperobsessive fan.
* LocationSong: "Amityville" is a song about Detroit, where the rapper discusses the city's crowning as murder capital of the United States.
* TheLoinsSleepTonight: "The Real Slim Shady" foresees a time when Slim is in the nursing home chasing nurses, but even Viagra isn't able to help him.
* LoonyFan: Stan is a famous example in hip-hop, so much so that all obsessive fans are now referred to as "stans".
* LyricalColdOpen: "Kill You".
* ManlyTears: Eminem cries in "Kim" because she was supposed to love him, then he strangles her.

* {{Mondegreen}}: At the climax of "Stan", the title character incorrectly refers to Music/PaulCollins' "In the Air Tonight" as "In the Air of the Night". However, he was drunk, so there is reasoning.

** "Kim" starts with Em softly talking to her baby daughter Hailie, but as he shifts his attention to Kim his voice is raised and it all goes downhill from there.
** In one particular bit of "Stan", the title character goes from talking about how much he loves Em (even getting his name tattooed across his chest) to talking about how he enjoys the adrenaline he gets from the pain of slitting his wrists.
* MurderBallad: Practically every other song, "Kim" is the best example, despite not being a song and more of an audioplay.
* ObsessionSong: "Stan", written from the perspective of a LoonyFan of Em.
* OdeToIntoxication: "The Way I Am"
--> ''I sit back with this pack of Zig-Zags and this bag''
--> ''And this weed it gives me the shit needed to be''
--> ''The most meanest MC on this, on this Earth''
* OneManSong: "Stan", "Paul", "Steve Berman", "Ken Kaniff", "The Real Slim Shady" and "Marshall Matters".
* OneWomanSong: "Kim"
* OneWordTitle: "Criminal", "Paul", "Stan", "Amityville"
* ParentalIncest: "The Way I Am" and "Kill You" both have lines where Eminem rapes his own mother.
* ParentalNeglect: "The Way I Am"
--> ''Sometimes I just feel like my father''
--> ''It hate to be bothered with all of this nonsense''
* PetTheDog: In the final verses of "Stan", Marshall shows a caring and compassionate side almost completely absent in most of his work.
* PopCulturalOsmosis: To the younger generation the line "Will the real X please stand up?" is associated more with "The Real Slim Shady" than the quiz show where it originated from: ''Series/ToTellTheTruth''
* PrecisionFStrike: Like in most of Eminem's songs. However in "The Way I Am" he gives an explanation:
--> ''Since birth I've been cursed with this curse to just curse''
--> ''And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works''
--> ''And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve''
--> ''This tension dispensing these sentences''
* ProductPlacement: "The Real Slim Shady"
--> ''He could be workin' at Burger King, spitting on your onion rings''
* QuestioningTitle: "Who Knew?" and "Remember Me?"

** "Drug Ballad" is about his drug use. "Stan", "I'm Back" and "Marshall Matters" are about his struggles with superstardom, while "Remember Me" and "Bitch Please II" are about his return and effect on the music industry.
** "The Way I Am" and "Criminal" address Eminem's feelings about the media controversy over his lyrics and the accusation that he is just "some wigger who tries to be black." He also references the [[UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} pupils who shot other pupils in the Columbine High School in Ohio in the spring of 1999]].
--> ''When a dude's getting bullied and shoots up his school''
--> ''And they blame it on Marilyn and the heroin''
--> ''Where were the parents at and look where it's at''
--> ''Middle America, now it's a tragedy''
--> ''Now it's so sad to see, an upper-class city''
--> ''Havin' this happening''
** "Kim" expresses Eminem's hate for his then-wife. In the song he imagines killing her and dumping her body in a car from a bridge.

* RefugeInAudacity: Oh yeah. He even ''acknowledged'' it in "The Real Slim Shady":
--> ''The only difference is I got the balls to say it''
* ResistanceIsFutile: During "Kim" [[spoiler: Eminem kidnaps his wife. As she tries to run away in the forest he follows her, catches her again and tells her there is no way to run too. To taunt her even more he screams along with her for help, to emphasize nobody's there to help her.]]

** "Kill You" features an interpolation of "Pulsion" performed by Jacques Loussier.
** "Stan" contains a sample of Music/{{Dido}}'s "Thank You".

** The three verses of "Stan" written by the title character show his mental state progressively deteriorating as he starts getting more and more fed up with Em not replying to his letters.
** "The Way I Am"
--> ''And I just do not got the patience''
--> ''To deal with these cocky Caucasians who think''
--> ''I'm some wigger who just tries to be Black''
--> ''Cause I talk with an accent, and grab on my balls''
--> ''So they always keep asking the same fucking questions''
--> ''What school did I go to, what hood I grew up in?''
--> ''The why, the who, what, when, the where and the how''
--> '''til I'm grabbing my hair and I'm tearin' it out''
--> ''Cause they drivin' me crazy, I can't take it''
* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: Eminem imitates a chain saw by saying "vin-vin-vin" in "Kill You".

* SequelEscalation: People who thought ''SSLP'' was crass and over-the-top would be shocked shitless by the album, considering how Em's lack of fucks to give is only increasing, and it shows through the music.

** "The Real Slim Shady" refers to Creator/PamelaAnderson and the alledged abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, rocker Tommy Lee.
--> ''Jaws all on the floor, like Pam, like Tommy just burst in the door''
--> ''And started whoopin' her ass worse than before''
--> ''They first were divorced, throwin' her over furniture''
** "The Real Slim Shady" namedrops Creator/TomGreen and his song "Lonely Swedish"
--> ''Sometimes, I wanna get on TV and just let loose, but can't''
--> ''But it's cool for Tom Green to hump a dead moose''

--> ''Of course, they're gonna know what intercourse is by the time they hit fourth grade''
--> ''They got the Discovery Channel, don't they?''
** In the music video of "The Real Slim Shady" one of the asylum patients is seen laughing at a scene from the ''WesternAnimation/FlipTheFrog'' cartoon "Fiddlesticks".
** "The Way I Am"
--> ''I am not Mr. Music/{{NSYNC}}''
--> ''I am not Mr. Friendly''
--> ''I am not what your friends think''
** "The Real Slim Shady" became such a pop culture phenomenon that it was parodied by Music/EmilyEllis as "Will The Ral Slim Shady Please Shut Up?".
** "The Way I Am" provides a shout-out to "As The Rhyme Goes On" from Music/EricBAndRakim's ''Music/PaidInFull''
--> ''If I wasn't then why would I say I am?''
** "The Way I Am" also references UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} and MoralGuardians putting the blame on Music/MarilynManson. In the music video of this song Manson makes a cameo appearance.
** "The Kids" is essentially a great big love letter to ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''.
** "Kill You" mentions [[Film/{{Psycho}} Norman Bates]]; quite appropriate, as both Norman and the Em depicted in the song are both killers.
--> ''A bloodstain is orange after you wash it 3 or 4 times in a tub\\
But that's normal, ain't it, Norman?''
* SpecialGuest: Music/{{Dido}} plays Stan's girlfriend in the music video of "Stan", a song that also samples her number "Thank You". During "Bitch Please II" Music/SnoopDogg, Music/DrDre, Music/{{Xzibit}} and Music/NateDogg are featured on guest vocals. "Remember Me?" has guest appearances from [=RBX=] and Sticky Fingaz, "Amityville" by Bizarre and "Under the Influence" by D12.

** "Bitch Please" on this album is a sequel to "Bitch Please", a 1999 song by Music/SnoopDogg.
** The 2013 album ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2''.
* SpokenWordInMusic: "Kim" is not a song, but more a sort of AudioPlay, complete with sound effects.
* StalkerWithACrush: "Stan" is a rare [[HoYay male/male]] version. Not only is there "My girlfriend's jealous 'cos I talk about you 24/7", but Stan also says that he and Eminem should be together. The video actually shows Stan taking a photo of himself and his girlfriend and covering her up with a picture of Eminem cut out of a magazine.
* StockSoundEffects: Rain, thunder, car sounds, a car dumped in the river,... are used in "Stan" and "Kim".

** "Kill You"
--> ''You don't... wanna fuck with Shady''
--> ''Cause Shady... will fucking kill you''
--> ''...''
--> ''[[EvilLaugh Haha!]]''

** "The Real Slim Shady" is one giant rant against the rappers who try to copy him and also targets Music/WillSmith, [[UsefulNotes/GrammyAward the Grammy's]], Music/BritneySpears, Music/ChristinaAguilera, [[Music/LimpBizkit Fred Durst]], Carson Daly [[note]] a MTV veejay [[/note]] and boy and girl bands in general. The music video also has Creator/KathyGriffin appearing as a nurse.
--> ''Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records''
--> ''Well, I do. So fuck him and fuck you too.''
--> ''(...) You think I give a damn about a Grammy?''
--> ''Half of you critics can't even stomach me, let alone stand me''
--> ''But Slim, what if you win, wouldn't it be weird?''
--> ''Why? So you guys could just lie to get me here?''
--> ''So you can sit me here, next to Britney Spears?''
--> ''Shit, Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs''
--> ''So I can sit next to Carson Daly and Fred Durst''
--> ''And hear 'em argue over who she gave head to first?''
--> ''I'm sick of you, little girl and boy groups all you do is annoy me''
--> ''So, I have been sent here to destroy you''
** "Ken Kaniff" is a diss back to Music/InsaneClownPosse for writing an diss track aimed at Eminem. In this skit the band members engage in homosexual oral gratification.
* TakeThatAudience: The "public service announcement" at the beginning of the album proudly informs listeners that "by purchasing this album, you have just kissed [Eminem's] ass."
* TrappedInASinkingCar: [[spoiler:In "Stan", Stan purposely drives his car off a bridge into a body of water, drowning himself and his pregnant girlfriend (who he has locked in the trunk).]]
* UnreliableNarrator: Eminem often twists fact and fantasy in his songs, explaining why so many real-life people felt the need to sue him for slander. He lampshades this himself in the song "Criminal" from ''Music/TheMarshallMathersLP''.
--> ''A lot of people ask me.. stupid fucking questions''
--> ''A lot of people think that.. what I say on records''
--> ''or what I talk about on a record, that I actually do in real life''
--> ''or that I believe in it''
--> ''Or if I say that, I wanna kill somebody, that..''
--> ''I'm actually gonna do it''
--> ''or that I believe in it''
--> ''Well, shit.. if you believe that''
--> ''then I'll kill you''
* UrbanLegends: Discussed in "Stan" when the title character talks about the misinterpretation of the lyrics of Phil Collins' song "In the Air Tonight".
* WhamLine: From "Kill You" - "Just bend over and take it like a slut, [[spoiler:'''OKAY MA?''']]"
* WholeSomeCrossDresser: He dresses up like Music/BritneySpears in the music video of "The Real Slim Shady".
* WretchedHive: "Amityville" describes Detroit as this kind of place.
* {{Yandere}}: A rare male example in "Kim." Although Eminem repeatedly states his extreme hatred for his ex-wife in the song, it is also pretty clearly implied that he remains obsessed with her and that at least part of his anger is out of jealousy that she left him for another man:
--> "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO LOVE ''ME!!!''"

!!''Won't the real Slim Shady's tropes please stand up?''

* ResistanceIsFutile: During "Kim" [[spoiler: Eminem kidnaps his wife. As he tries to run away in the forest he follows her, catches her again and tells her there is no way to run too. To taunt her even more he screams along with her for help, to emphasize nobody's there to help her.]]

* OneWordTitle: "Criminal"
* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler: "The Way I Am" has a line where Eminem rapes his own mother.]]

** "The Real Slim Shady", "The Way I Am" and "Stan" both reference "My Name Is".
*** The former has a line mirroring the "and Dr. Dre said..." line from "My Name Is", only for Dre to not say anything and for Em to announce that Dre is dead and locked in his basement.
*** The latter has the title character tauntingly reciting the "I just drank a fifth of vodka, dare me to drive?" line while driving under the influence of alcohol.

Notably,

The album was released to even more critical and commercial success than ''SSLP'', with critics hailing it to this day as one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, let alone in the hip-hop genre. It is ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s 244th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime greatest album of all time]], and it also gave Em his second consecutive GrammyAward win for Best Rap Album as well as a nomination for Album of the Year. It also sold more than 1.76 million copies in America in ''the opening week'', solidifying it as the fastest-selling studio album by any American solo artist in history. The album later went on to be certified Diamond in 2011 for selling 10 million copies in America, and it went on to sell a grand total of 32 million copies around the world (by 2012).

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: From "Kill You".
-->I invented violence, you vile venomous volatile bitches\\
Vain Vicodin, vrin vrin vrin!

** One of the best examples was by Eminem himself, in his GrammyAward performance of "Stan" with Music/EltonJohn, when he changed "You're like his fucking idol" to "You're like his ''favorite'' idol."

-->So which is it, [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch]], Mrs. Briggs or Mrs. Mathers?
-->It doesn't matter, [your attorney, Fred Gibson's a] faggot!
-->Talking about how I fabricated my past.
-->He's just aggravated I won't ejaculate in his ass.

-->Yo, you might see me jogging. You might see me walking. You might see me walking a dead rottweiler dog with it's head chopped off in the park with a spiked collar, hollering at him 'cause the son-of-a-bitch won't stop barking.

** "The Real Slim Shady" and "Stan" both reference "My Name Is".

-->''Pinching nurse's asses when I'm jacking off with Jergens''\\
''And I'm jerking but this whole bag of Viagra isn't working''

* EpicRocking: 8 out of the 18 tracks on this album are over 5 minutes long, with the longest being "Stan", which is 16 seconds shy of 7 minutes.

-->"I wanted to start the album with that song because everybody in the press was like, "what’s he gonna rap about? He’s not miserable anymore. [...] The whole idea of this song was to say some of the most fucked-up shit. Just to let people know that I’m back. That I didn’t lose it. That I wasn’t compromising nothing and I didn’t change. If anything...I got worse."

* MurderBallad: Practically every other song.

** "Stan" contains a sample of Dido's "Thank You".
* SanitySlippage: The three verses of "Stan" written by the title character show his mental state progressively deteriorating as he starts getting more and more fed up with Em not replying to his letters.

-->A bloodstain is orange after you wash it 3 or 4 times in a tub\\
But that's normal, ain't it, Norman?

The album was released to even more critical and commercial success than ''SSLP'', with critics hailing it to this day as one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, let alone in the hip-hop genre. It is ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s 244th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime greatest album of all time]], and it also gave Em his second consecutive GrammyAward win for Best Rap Album as well as a nomination for Album of the Year.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Stan", the titular character mentions how his little brother Matthew is even more of a fan of Em than himself. After we see the events that unfold in the song, we are left with the question of how much larger is Matthew's love for Em over Stan's. [[spoiler:We find out the answer in "Bad Guy", where Matthew kidnaps Em, planning to bury him alive, but winds up committing a murder-suicide in the exact same manner as his big brother]].

[[caption-width-right:320:''Won't the real Slim Shady please stand up?'']]

The album was released to even more critical and commercial success than ''SSLP'', with critics hailing it to this day as one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, let alone in the hip-hop genre. It is ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s 244th [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime greatest album of all time]], and it also gave Em his second consecutive GrammyAward win for Best Rap Album.

* IAmSong: "The Way I Am" is one of the darker examples of this trope in his discography.

* SequelEscalation: People who thought ''SSLP'' was crass and over-the-top would be shocked shitless by the album, considering how Em's lack of fucks to give is only increasing, and it shows through the music

In Em's autobiography ''Angry Blonde'', he quite graciously summed this album up: "...everybody in the press was like "What’s he gonna rap about? He’s not miserable anymore." [...] Just to let people know that I’m back. That I didn’t lose it. That I wasn’t compromising nothing and I didn’t change. If anything...I got worse."