Much like I did with Paramore’s Riot!, I’m going to be judging on a song-by-song basis, ignoring all notions of assessing the album’s overall flow and sonic cohesion and instead grading each song on a scale from one to five. That’s right-I’m bringing math into this. In the interest of not being the guy that says “it’s an Eminem album, of course it sucks”, I’m going to approach it with the softest kids glove I can find. Which brings me to The Slim Shady LP, a beloved album from a beloved artist that is widely considered a notch below the artist’s proper “masterpiece”, a masterpiece I’m already on record as not caring much for. I have my reasons for dismissing his work in those write-ups and I stand by those assessments, but even I’m getting tired of sounding like the uncle who just doesn’t get it. While I’ve not always cared for West’s music, however, all of my write-ups about Eminem’s music have seen me come out against his work, and I can understand how that could make me sound like some fuddy-duddy that doesn’t enjoy a vitriolic rant every once in a while. Not counting write-ups on works he has influenced or how he figures into my year-end columns, the only artist whose music I’ve dedicated more articles to covering than Eminem for this website, to date, has been Kanye West. I’ve written plenty enough about Eminem’s music.
I’d not trust a student to grade their own essay-why trust an artist to tell me how good their work is? There’s plenty to be said about bad-faith critics that aren’t willing to engage with an artist’s work, not to mention the wisdom of the old adage “you are your own (best/)worst critic”, but if art is your occupation and not your hobby, sooner or later, you’re going to expect compensation for your contributions to the world, and that means you need to answer to someone.
Journalist, novelist, and all-around alright writer Ron Brackin is quoted as saying “The artist is the only one qualified to criticize his art, because only the artist knows what he was trying to express and how satisfied he is with the attempt.” Brackin seems like the sort who has a decent head on his shoulders, so it’s anyone’s guess how he ended up saying the most headass thing I’ve heard this week, and that includes the proposition that utilizing a Constitutional Amendment would invoke a Constitutional crisis. With Eminem's latest album on everyone's mind, we go back to his breakout effort to see if it holds up.
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