Lyrical content
The Marshall Mathers LP contains more autobiographical themes in comparison to The Slim Shady LP.[28] Much of the album is spent addressing his rise to fame and attacking those who criticized his previous album. Other themes include his relationship with his family, most notably his mother and Kim Mathers, his former wife.[29] The Marshall Mathers LP was released in both clean and explicit versions. However, some lyrics of the album are censored even on its explicit version. Some songs are censored because of events surrounding the album's release, mostly theColumbine High School Massacre. Unlike Eminem's debut, The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP is more introspective in its lyrics and less of the Slim Shady persona. Its lyrical style has been described as horrorcore,[2][3] with Stephen Thomas Erlewine writing that the album's lyrics "[blur] the distinction between reality and fiction, humor and horror, satire and documentary".[30]
Most songs cover Eminem's childhood struggles and family issues, involving his mother ("Kill You"),[31] the relationship struggles with his wife ("Kim"),[31] his struggles with his superstardom and expectations ("Stan", "I'm Back", & "Marshall Mathers"),[31] his return and effect on the music industry ("Remember Me?", "Bitch Please II"),[31] his drug use ("Drug Ballad"),[31] his effect on the American youth and society ("The Way I Am", "Who Knew"),[31] and reactionary barbs to critical response of his vulgarity and dark themes ("Criminal").[31] Despite the large amount of controversy regarding the lyrics, the lyrics on the album were overwhelmingly well received among critics and the hip hop community, many praising Eminem's verbal energy and dense rhyme patterns.[32][33]
The album contains various lyric samples and references. It features a number of lines mimicking songs from Eric B. & Rakim's album Paid in Full. The chorus to "The Way I Am" resembles lines from the song "As the Rhyme Goes On",[34] and the first two lines from the third verse of "I'm Back" are based on lines from "My Melody".[35] Two lines in "Marshall Mathers" parody the song "Summer Girls" by LFO. Bitch Please II is the only compisition that Eminem and Snoop Dogg did together.
The record also contains lyrics that have been considered to be homophobic.[36] The song "Criminal" features the line, "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/That'll stab you in the head whether you're a fag or les...Hate fags?/The answer's yes."[36] The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) condemned his lyrics and criticized the album for "encourag[ing] violence against gay men and lesbians".[37] However, writing for the LGBT interest magazine The Advocate, editor Dave White writes, "If he has gay-bashed you or me, then it logically follows that he has also raped his own mother, killed his wife, and murdered his producer, Dr. Dre. If he's to be taken literally, then so is Britney Spears' invitation to 'hit me baby, one more time'."[36] Eminem noted that he began using the word "faggot" more frequently when "people got all up in arms about it...to piss them off worse", but added that "I think its hard for some people to understand that for me the word 'faggot' has nothing to do with sexual preference. I meant something more like assholes or dickheads."[38]
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