It's almost 20 years since Eminem welcomed the world to his beautiful, dark, and twisted fantasy of The Marshall Mathers LP. From Kendrick Lamar to Elton John to the late Juice WRLD, musicians from across genres have been consistently noting this album as one of their inspirations.
Even to this day, Eminem always seems to try to catch the momentum of rage, frustration, and anger that fulfills the enter MMLP project. "I'mma keep it 100% honest: I feel like, and I've felt like this for a long time – I've always been chasing The Marshall Mathers LP," Eminem told Sway Colloway in 2019. "Because I know that captured a moment, you know what I'm saying? It's kind of like a time capsule when I look back at it. The times that it was back then and the turmoil in my life that was happening."
This May, The Marshall Mathers LP will officially turn 20. While we wait for that, let's take a train of time and look back at 15 facts about Eminem's classic album.
15 The Marshall Mathers LP Was Initially Titled 'Amsterdam'
Little did we all know, but The Marshall Mathers LP was initially titled 'Amsterdam.' The capital of the Netherlands is well-known for its free use of drugs and marijuana, and that inspired Eminem to write a big chunk of the album there. Some Dutch journalists also inspired the album. Mike Rubin of SPIN wrote in 2000, "The questions he was asked by Dutch journalists irked him so much that he wrote four songs about them on the plane ride home [from his tour there]."
14 There Are 49 Name-Drops On The Album
From his own mentor Dr. Dre to Vanilla Ice, nobody is safe from Marshall 'Mr. Potty Mouth' Eminem. XXL Magazine summed in 2015 that there are at least 49 namedrops on the album, from hip-hop figures, actors, pop stars, to the 42nd president of United States, Bill Clinton. That list also included the prez' First Lady, Hillary Clinton.
13 Kim Was The First Song On The Album To Be Recorded Shortly After Finishing Work On The Slim Shady LP In 1998
One of the songs that describe the whole dark and morbid concept of the album is Kim. It was the first song of the album that he recorded shortly after wrapping up work on The Slim Shady LP in 1998. "I asked her to tell me what she thought of it," Eminem recalls. "I remember my dumb ass saying, 'I know this is a f***d-up song, but it shows how much I care about you. To even think about you this much. To even put you on a song like this."
12 The Way I Am Has A Lesser-Known Remix Version Featuring Danny Lohner & Marilyn Manson
Marshall Mathers and Marilyn Manson is the collaboration we've never thought we needed. Eminem fuels the fire even more with the album's second single, The Way I Am, with angst-ridden lyrics and hostile, aggressive delivery. Marilyn Manson, whom Eminem namedrops on the song, appears on its remix version. Most fans might only know the original version of the record, but the remix version captures the anger and aggression better.
11 There's Another Twist To Stan's Story
"There was a verse where [Stan] got out of the water," Eminem said in 2011. "He escaped and came to my house to kill me. Then I had to kill him first, [but] I missed him, and he was in the hospital for like three weeks. Then he was pissed off that I didn’t write him get-well cards, so he came to kill me again, and in the last verse finally I just blew his head off."
10 Dido's Album, 'No Angel', Which Features The Original Chorus Of Stan, Has Sold Over 15 Million Copies
Stan features the angelic chorus, delivered by English singer Dido, which features on her song Thank You from her 1999 debut album, No Angel. Following the enormous success with Stan, Dido's No Angel album sold over 15 million copies worldwide four years after its initial release on June 1, 1999. As per 2015, the album secures the 27th spot of the best-selling albums in UK chart history.
9 Steve Berman Is A Real Person
Legend has it: Slim Shady makes you laugh, Eminem makes you motivated, Marshall Mathers makes you cry, and Steve Berman makes you want to quit making music. Skit Steve Berman appears as an intro to The Way I Am, and it features an actual President of Sales and Marketing at Interscope Records, Steve Berman. He complains about Eminem's dark lyrics. The prez was also featured on his next album, The Eminem Show, and 2009's Relapse. Can you imagine how crazy that recording session was like?
8 The Story Behind The Notorious Skit On 'Criminal'
"Only f****d-up thing was that it took almost a whole day to do that bank robbery skit," Eminem explains in his 2000 autobiography Angry Blonde. "Even when Dre walked out of the studio like "F**k it, I'm out." We had to get Mel-Man to get his lines right, 'cause he was so drunk. He just had to say' 'don't kill nobody.' But what really took so long was the noise in the background. I did the skit by myself. I learned how from Dre when we hooked up on Guilty Conscience."
7 Eminem Got Pissed Off So Much By So-Called Music Execs Because They Said That The Album Sounds 'Too Dark,' And That's How The Real Slim Shady & The Way I Am Were Born
Eminem is unstoppable when he switches his Angry Blonde mode on. When he first handed his masterpiece, The Marshall Mathers LP, Interscope CEO Jimmy Iovine felt like 'the album was spectacular… they needed a song to introduce the album'.
"I felt like pressure. I felt like, 'F**ck, what am I gonna do?" Eminem says.
Then, Eminem went back to the lab and came back with two singles we know today as The Real Slim Shady and The Way I Am.
6 Jagged Edge Is Eminem's Favorite R&B Group
Eminem raps on Criminal, his satirical fire back against critics, "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/ That'll stab you in the head, whether you're a fag or lez," a subtle homage line to R&B group Jagged Edge. The group consisted of Brian and Brandon Casey, Richard Wingo, Kyle Norman, and signed to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. They made their breakthrough in 1997 with their debut album, A Jagged Era. Eminem shows his love for the group on his Genius page, "JE 4 Life!!!"
5 12 People Were 'Killed' On The Album, And Could Be More, Including Dr. Dre
In 2015, XXL Magazine listed 12 people Eminem kills on The Marshall Mathers LP, and it ranges from you (yes, the one reading this) to his very own mentor Dr. Dre. The full list goes from Dr. Dre (twice), Stan and his wife, Kim and his husband and son, 'a school full of bullies, boyband N Sync, the bank teller lady on Criminal, Bizarre's Mother, and you.
4 With 21 Million Copies Sold, It's One Of The Best-Selling Albums Of All Time
To this date, The Marshall Mathers LP, as well as The Slim Shady LP (1999) and The Eminem Show (2002), become the holy trinity of Eminem's discography. It sold 1.76 million copies within the first week, making it the fastest-selling album by a solo to reach that milestone until Adele surpassed it in 2015 with her 25 album. Now, the album has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide, making it one of the highest-selling albums of all time.
3 'The Kids' Replaces 'Kim' On The CD's 'Clean' Version
Eminem replaces the over the top horrorcore song Kim with The Kids for the clean version of The Marshall Mathers LP. The song is featured on the clean, the deluxe, the UK and Australian versions of the album. He playfully encourages kids to stay off drugs in 5 minutes of the Bass Brothers' beats, "Drugs are just bad, drugs are just bad / So don't do drugs! / So there'll be more for me."
2 The Story Behind The Album's Cover
Eminem sits on the porch of his childhood house in 19946 Dresden St., Detroit, for the cover of the album. "I had mixed feelings because I had a lot of good and bad memories in that house. But to go back to where I grew up and finally say, 'I've made it,' is the greatest feeling in the world to me," Eminem reflects on the photoshoot. He re-visited the house 13 years later for the cover of The Marshall Mathers LP 2, but soon after its release, the house completely demolished.
1 This Album Gave Birth To One Of The Most Iconic Grammy Performances
Not only did this album give birth to one of Eminem's signature songs, Stan, but it also did give us one of the most iconic Grammy performances of all time. Back in the early 2000s, Eminem was heavily accused of homophobia and misogynistic for his lyrics, but he answered it beautifully by performing Stan with a legendary singer who is openly gay, Elton John. The pair received enormous applause from the crowd, and years later, their friendship remains strong. The Rocket Man became Eminem's sponsor when the rapper got off the drugs in 2008 and reunited 12 years later at the backstage of the Oscar Awards after Eminem's surprise rendition of Lose Yourself.