The Rap God’s official return to the game is less than 24 hours away. The follow-up to 2010’s quintuple-platinum Recovery is supposed to be a revisit of the rapper’s 2000 classic, The Marshall Mathers LP. With this in mind, much like we did with Yeezy, we’ve decided to rank Eminem’s discography.

Even with the acceptance of Em’s legendary status in the rap game at this point, the quality of his body of work remains highly debated. His catalogue ranges from classics to critical duds, though no real commercial duds. Some of the material can easily be choked up to battles with drug addiction, however that does not excuse many records which Em himself has said belong “in the trash.” Thankfully, we’ve seen a resurgence in the past few years of a true-to-form Marshall Mathers. Note: Infinite is not listed here, given the fact that it would most likely be considered a simple mixtape if it were to drop in today’s market. So where does your favorite – and least favorite – Eminem album rank? Read on.

6) Encore (2004)

Eminem’s much-maligned pre-hiatus, pre-overdose album is a veritable hodgepodge. The album has flashes of the brilliance many fans had come to expect over the first three albums, such as “Like Toy Soldiers,” “Yellowbrick Road” and “Mockingbird,” but is ruined by head-scratchers like “Big Weenie,” “Ass Like That” and “Rain Man” (sorry, Danny Brown). Encore went on to be Em’s lowest-selling album out of his first four, and eventually led to a five-year disappearance while he battled a pill addiction. Album sales typically only tell some of the story, sometimes none of the story at all, but in this case, there’s a reason it didn’t take off.

5) Recovery (2010)

Think of Recovery as Eminem’s White Album. It’s conservative, safe, and may even feel overtly-satirical when played next to his earlier work. Despite demonstrating some much-needed growth in his song making, which you can see in songs likes “Going Through Changes” and “Talkin’ 2 Myself,” the majority of the album veered into the pop lane and it felt oh-so-wrong for an Eminem LP. Nevertheless, Recovery was a mainstay on the charts and racked up seven total weeks at #1 while spawning hit singles in “Not Afraid” and “Love the Way You Lie.” But again, the charts don’t lie, but they don’t really tell the truth either.

4) Relapse (2009)

Eminem’s return to the rap game after five years proved to be as polarizing as ever. The loosely-conceptual Relapse found his grim alter-ego Slim Shady running more freely than ever before. Endless serial killer verses turned many people off, and the album failed to birth a true hit single (despite “Crack a Bottle” hitting #1). However, the rapping on Relapse is nothing short of masterful. Eminem said he had to teach himself how to truly rap again following his overdose and if you listen to the album with that in mind, you know he’d get rave reviews on RateMyProfessor. “Stay Wide Awake” and “Must be the Ganja” are vintage Slim and contain head-spinning flows and structure, while “My Mom” and “Same Song & Dance” bring the listener back to the late ’90s without feeling stale. We also get a vividly-detailed portrait of Em’s hiatus on “Deja Vu.” Complex’s EIC, Noah Callahan-Bever, compiled a hybrid Relapse/Refill playlist that should certainly change minds on the album’s quality.

3) The Slim Shady LP (1999)

We were introduced to Marshall Mathers with a simple greeting on “My Name Is…” and the world would never be the same. The Slim Shady LP gave us a man who could certainly rap, but who was angry at the world, had more than his fair share of childhood baggage and had an intoxicatingly dark sense of humor. Records like “Role Model” and “My Fault” had parents in an uproar and kids in a tissy, while records like “Brain Damage” and “Rock Bottom” showed critics that we had barely scratched the surface on what was to come.

2) The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

Eminem had shocked the world a year prior, but on the Marshall Mathers LP he was out to prove that he was more than a flash in the pan. Most of the humor from his debut was gone, and the masses were introduced to Marshall as a man. That man was dark and constantly battling demons. He was also pretty good at rapping. The album would go on to launch Eminem into another stratosphere, spawning three massive singles and eventually going diamond. The album also spawned one of the darkest and most haunting songs in the genre, with “Kim.” Em’s sophomore effort led to more public drama between he and his wife, his mother, and even GLAAD for its lyrical content. No matter the scrutiny, the album still received rave reviews and went on to be considered a classic.

1) The Eminem Show (2002)

We examined this album in depth upon its 10-year-anniversary. While most would list MMLP as Em’s best work, it simply is not. His sophomore album may be his most loved and talked about, but it is his junior effort that is the essence of Marshall Mathers. At this point in time, Eminem was the king of the ring. He was successful beyond his wildest dreams, he was a respected emcee and he was even starring in a major motion picture about his life. One would imagine an album made during this time period would reflect the bright side of fame, however it did just the opposite. The Eminem Show found the Detroiter at his most vulnerable and struggling with the limelight. Records like “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” found Marshall already plotting his exit, while “Cleaning Out My Closet” and “Hailie’s Song” put his life on display more than ever before. Throughout the album, we are also treated with moments of humor, which solidifies it as Em’s most well-rounded. With 8 Mile just a few months away, fans were handed a second classic album for the summer.

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 arrives in stores tomorrow. Where do you think it will be ranked?

The post Ranking Eminem’s Albums From Worst to Best appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Today marks the tenth anniversary of Eminem’s fouth studio album, the Eminem Show. In March of 2011, the project was certified diamond in the United States. A month later, the Marshall Mathers LP would achieve that same milestone.

It is the Eminem Show, however, that truly encapsulated Marshall Mathers’ state of mind during the peak of his fame. Having racked up over 1.3 million sales during its first full week, the album built off Em’s astonishing first-week numbers for The Marshall Mathers LP (1.7 million, in case you were wondering). This was Eminem at his apex. His semi-autobiographical film debut, 8 Mile, would come in November of that year and include arguably his biggest hit ever — “Lose Yourself.” The soundtrack to the film has been certified over four times platinum in the U.S.

Following all this success, however, Marshall’s career would take a well-documented downturn. Though his follow-up solo album, Encore, would fare well commercially, it was a far cry from his previous two efforts and proved to be a critical dud. Though no outside fan or critic could foresee all of Em’s personal tribulations which lay ahead, many subtle warnings were left sprinkled throughout The Eminem Show. In retrospect, Encore would serve as the dark augury of a man’s breakdown, but it is in Marshall’s fourth LP which showed the cracks.

This album showed Eminem in his barest state up to that point. It was not as dark as the Marshall Mathers LP nor as lighthearted as the Slim Shady LP; it was Marshall examining topics in-depth which he had simply brushed on prior. “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” not only deals with his fractured relationship with his mother but also touches on his feelings towards his absentee father: “I wonder if he even kissed me goodbye, no I don’t, on second thought, I just fuckin’ wished he would die.” This would also come back on “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” where Em raps: “All I know is I don’t want to follow in the footsteps of my dad, ‘cause I hate him so bad the worst fear that I had was growin’ up to be like his fuckin’ ass.”

Eminem’s relationship with his mother is the cornerstone of many of the issues explored in the Eminem Show, from a failed relationship of his own with Kim to struggles of fatherhood with Hailie. The anger he feels towards her leaves him with an ingrained distrust towards other women which he continues to try and rectify. Furthermore, his dedication to Hailie is made only stronger through his will to correct the abandonment he felt from his father: “I look at Hailie and I couldn’t picture leavin’ her side, even if I hated Kim, I’d grit my teeth and I’d try, to make it work with her at least for Hailie’s sake.”

On “Say Goodbye to Hollywood,” we are given a glimpse into the frustration Em feels with life . Over a fierce flow, there are sprinkles of self-doubt and depression in one of the most revealing verses on the album:

Bury my face in comic books, cause I don’t want to look at nothin’, this world’s too much. I’ve swallowed all I could. If I could swallow a bottle of Tylenol I would, and end it for good, just say goodbye to Hollywood. I probably should, these problems are piling all at once, ‘cause everything that bothers me, I got it bottled up. I think I’m bottoming out, but I’m not about to give up, I gotta get up. Thank God, I got a little girl.

The thread of Marshall’s life has always been his daughter Hailie. He mentions on “Going Though Changes,” off Recovery, that the only face he feared seeing during his darkest stage of addiction was Hailie’s. With that, his anchor was given her own tribute on the Eminem Show, “Hailie’s Song.” The only rapped verse on the song (the others were sung) encapsulates everything perfectly:

“There’s a lot of shit I keep bottled that hurts deep inside of my soul and just know that I grow colder the older I grow. This boulder on my shoulder gets heavy and harder to hold, and this load is like the weight of the world and I think my neck is breaking. Should I just give up or try to live up to these expectations? Now look, I love my daughter more than life in itself, but I got a wife that’s determined to make my life livin’ hell. But I handle it well, given the circumstances I’m dealt. So many chances, man, it’s too bad, coulda had someone else. But the years that I’ve wasted are nothing to the tears that I’ve tasted. So here’s what I’m facing: 3 felonies, 6 years of probation. I’ve went to jail for this woman, I’ve been to bat for this woman, I’ve taken bats to peoples backs, bent over backwards for this woman. Man, I shoulda seen it comin’, what’d I stick my penis up in? Woulda ripped the pre-nup up if I’d seen what she was fuckin’. But fuck it, it’s over, there’s no more reason to cry no more, I got my baby, baby the only lady that I adore, Hailie. So sayonara, try tomorra, nice to know ya. My baby’s travelled back to the arms of her rightful owner. And suddenly it seems that my shoulder blades have just shifted. It’s like the greatest gift you can get. The weight has been lifted.”

Throughout all of Marshall’s eventual problems and near-death addiction, he eventually rose back to the top thanks, at least in part, to his daughter.

Below, you can watch Eminem accept the Grammy for the Best Rap Album:

The post The Eminem Show, 10 Years Later appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Obie Trice recently did an interview over at GlobalGrind and he had one particularly interesting comment regarding his former boss. When asked if he felt he bested Eminem on any of their collaborations, Obie responded with: “I body him all the time! I feel like every song we did I bodied him. That’s how I feel!”

Is that how you feel? Let’s lay out the collabs to refresh everyone’s memories, shall we? Obie Trice and Eminem collaborated on:

–Drips (The Eminem Show)

–Lady (Cheers)

–Hands on You (Cheers)

–Shit Hits the Fan (Cheers)

–Richard (Bottom’s Up)

Omitted due to multiple features: “We All Die One Day,” “Outro,” “There They Go,” “Go To Sleep” and “Love Me.”

With all these in mind, how many Ws has Obie racked up?

The post Obie Trice Says He Bodied Eminem on Every Track appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.