The Eminem Show

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The Eminem Show
The Eminem Show cover
Studio album by Eminem
Released May 28, 2002
Recorded 2001–2002 at Encore Studios, Marshall's house, 54 Sound
Genre Hip hop
Length 77:17
Label Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records
Producer Dr. Dre
Eminem
Jeff Bass
Professional reviews
Eminem chronology
The Marshall Mathers LP
(2000)		 The Eminem Show
(2002)		 Straight Out The Lab EP
(2003)
Singles from The Eminem Show
  1. "Without Me"
    Released: May 12, 2002
  2. "My Dad's Gone Crazy"
    Released: 2002 (Airplay only)
  3. "Cleanin' Out My Closet"
    Released: September 17, 2002
  4. "White America"
    Released: 2002
  5. "Superman"
    Released: 2003 (U.S. only)
  6. "Sing for the Moment"
    Released: February 25, 2003
  7. "Business"
    Released: July 22, 2003

The Eminem Show is the third studio album by Eminem, released in 2002.

The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002, with 7.6 million copies by the end of the year. At the Grammy Awards of 2003 it was nominated for Album of the Year and became Eminem's third straight LP to win the award for Best Rap Album. It has been certified 8x Platinum by the RIAA, has sold over 9 million copies in the U.S., and over 20 million albums worldwide to date[1]. In 2003, the album was ranked number 317 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Contents

[edit] Release

The Eminem Show was first scheduled for a June 2002 release, however pirated and bootleg copies appeared online on peer-to-peer networks. Interscope decided to release the album early on May 28. In the US, however many stores began selling early on Sunday May 26.

[edit] Content

[edit] Subject matter

The Eminem Show is a reflective album, featuring a more personal and serious side of Eminem. This change gives the album a lighter tone, a departure from the hardcore and controversial nature of his previous albums. Over the course of the album, he touches on the issues of race in hip-hop ("White America"), his childhood ("Cleanin' Out My Closet"), his 2000-assault on a nightclub bouncer and his following conviction ("Soldier", "Say Goodbye Hollywood"), his status as a both a hip-hop and pop superstar ("Sing for the Moment"), and his relationship with his ex-wife Kim and daughter Hailie ("Hailie's Song"). Unlike The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show's release came off without significant complaints about misogyny or homophobia. This is likely due to the fact that the album does not prominently feature the word "faggot", or any other derogatory terms directed towards homosexuals. Also, no tracks are explicitly offensive or misogynistic in the mold of "Kill You" or "Kim" from the previous album. Some shock-oriented and extremely explicit lyrics are still present (for example, "Drips" was so explicit that it was completely removed in the clean version of the album), but they are for the most part toned down. Also references to the occult (which were prevalent in The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP) are notably absent, except for the "I've sold my soul to the Devil" lyric (from Say Goodbye Hollywood). Q Magazine's May, 2006 review of the album explains "His two first albums aired dirty laundry, then the world's most celebrated rapper examined life in the hall of mirrors he'd built for himself."

[edit] Production

The album also saw Eminem take a substantially more predominant production role; most of it was self-produced, with longtime collaborator Jeff Bass co-producing several tracks. Dr. Dre, in addition to being the album's executive producer, produced three individual tracks: "Business", "Say What You Say", and "My Dad's Gone Crazy."

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Curtain Up"
  2. "White America"
  3. "Business"
  4. "Cleanin' Out My Closet"
  5. "Square Dance"
  6. "The Kiss" (skit)
  7. "Soldier"
  8. "Say Goodbye Hollywood"
  9. "Drips" (feat. Obie Trice)
  10. "Without Me"
  11. "Paul Rosenberg" (skit)
  12. "Sing for the Moment"
  13. "Superman"
  14. "Hailie's Song"
  15. "Steve Berman" (skit)
  16. "When the Music Stops" (feat. D12)
  17. "Say What You Say" (feat. Dr. Dre)
  18. "'Till I Collapse" (feat. Nate Dogg)
  19. "My Dad's Gone Crazy" (feat. Hailie Jade)
  20. "Curtain Close"

[edit] Charts & certification

Chart Provider(s) Peak
position		 Certification Sales/
shipments
U.S. Billboard 200[2] Billboard/RIAA 1 8x Platinum[3] 9 million+
U.S. Billboard Top Internet Albums[2] 13
European Albums Chart[4] IFPI 1 4x Platinum[5] 4 million+
Argentinian Albums Chart CAPIF N/A Gold[6] 20,000+
Australian Albums Chart ARIA 1 8x Platinum[7] 560,000+
Austrian Albums Chart Media Control Europe 1 2x Platinum[8] 60,000+
Brazilian Albums Chart ABPD N/A Gold[9] 50,000+
Canadian Albums Chart[2] Nielsen SoundScan 1 Diamond[10] 1,000,000+
Dutch Albums Chart NVPI/Megacharts 1 Platinum[11] 70,000+
Finnish Albums Chart GLF 1 2x Platinum[12] 62,212
French Albums Chart[13] SNEP/IFOP 2 2x Platinum[13] 600,000+[13]
German Albums Chart Media Control 1 2x Platinum[14] 600,000+
Mexican Albums Chart[15] AMPROFON 3 Gold[16] 75,000+
Mexican International Chart Position[15] 1
New Zealand Albums Chart[17] RIANZ 1 9x Platinum[17] 135,000+
Norwegian Albums Chart VG Nett 1 Platinum[18] 30,000+
Swedish Albums Chart GLF 1 2x Platinum[19] 120,000+
Swiss Albums Chart Media Control 1 3x Platinum[20] 120,000+
UK Albums Chart[21] BPI/The Official UK Charts Company 1 4x Platinum[22] 1.2 million+

[edit] Other chart certifications

  • Hungary Album Charts - 2x Platinum (12,000+)
  • Italian Album Charts - Platinum (170,000)
  • Japanese Album Charts - Platinum (405,000)
  • Portuguese Album Charts - 2x Platinum (40,000+)
  • Korean Album Charts - 6x Platinum (202,390)
  • Ukraine (confirmed by Ukrainian Music Association) - Platinum (50, 000+)

[edit] Singles chart positions

Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 UK Top 40 Hot Rap Singles Rhythmic Top 40 Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 Tracks
2002 "Without Me" #2 #1 #5 #1 #1 #1
2002 "My Dad's Gone Crazy" #115 - - - - -
2002 "Cleanin' Out My Closet" #4 #4 #5 #2 #7 #5
2002 "Hailie's Song" #113 #9 - - - -
2003 "Business" - #6 - - - -
2003 "Superman" #15 - #10 #5 #10 #9
2003 "Sing for the Moment" #14 #6 #10 #18 #5 #5

[edit] Credits

  • Dr. Dre - Executive producer, Producer

[edit] Trivia

  • In the Outro the voice used is that of the character Ken Keniff from The Slim Shady Show. Ken does a parody of "Without Me".
  • In the skit "Steve Berman" the song "Ain't Nuttin' But Music" by D12 from Devil's Night is playing in the background.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Amter, Charlie (November 4, 2004). Eminem's Early "Encore". Yahoo! Music. Accessed December 13, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Eminem: Charts & Awards. Billboard magazine. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  3. ^ Recording Industry Association of America Recording Industry Association of America.
  4. ^ European Albums Chart. Music.AllOfMp3.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  5. ^ European Certification (IFPI). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  6. ^ Argentinian Certification (CAPIF). Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  7. ^ Australian Certification (ARIA). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  8. ^ Austrian Certification (IFPI). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  9. ^ Brazilian Certification (ABPD). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  10. ^ Canadian Certification (CRIA). Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  11. ^ Dutch Certification (IFPI). IFPI. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  12. ^ Finnish Certification (IFPI). IFPI. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  13. ^ a b c French Chart, Sales & Certification. FanOfMusic.Free.fr. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  14. ^ German Certification (IFPI). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  15. ^ a b Mexican Top 100 Albums Chart. AMPROFON. Retrieved on 2002-06-10.
  16. ^ Mexican Gold Certification AMPROFON.
  17. ^ a b New Zealand Certification (RIANZ). Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  18. ^ Norwegian Certification (IFPI). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  19. ^ Swedish Certification (GLF). GLF. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  20. ^ Swiss Certification (IFPI). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  21. ^ UK Albums Chart (Search). Everyhit.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  22. ^ UK Certification (BPI). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
P. Diddy and Bad Boy Records Present...
We Invented the Remix, Vol. 1 by Various artists		 Billboard 200 number-one album
June 8 - July 12, 2002
September 7 - September 13, 2002		 Succeeded by
Nellyville by Nelly
v • d • e
Eminem
Studio albums
Extended Plays
Compilations
Soundtracks
Singles
Other songs
"Role Model" · "My Fault" · "Kim" · "Mosh"
Guest singles
Other guest appearances
Filmography
Tours
Video releases
and box sets
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