Slim Shady EP

Last updated
Slim Shady EP
Eminem - The Slim Shady EP CD cover.jpg
EP by
ReleasedDecember 10, 1997
RecordedJuly 1997
StudioStudio 8 (Ferndale, Michigan)
Genre
Length28:33
Label WEB Entertainment
Producer
Eminem chronology
Infinite
(1996)
Slim Shady EP
(1997)
The Slim Shady LP
(1999)
Singles from Slim Shady EP
  1. "Just Don't Give a Fuck"
    Released: October 13, 1998

Slim Shady EP is the only extended play by American rapper Eminem, released on December 10, 1997, through Web Entertainment. Unlike his debut album Infinite (1996), Slim Shady EP helped Eminem gain the interest of CEO Jimmy Iovine (co-founder of Interscope Records) and West Coast hip-hop rapper and producer Dr. Dre, who subsequently signed Eminem to his Aftermath Entertainment record label, and served as executive producer on his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP (1999).

Contents

The EP introduces Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady. Since the EP was released before he was signed to Interscope and Aftermath, original copies are now highly valued. His lyrics are a marked departure from those found on Infinite, featuring constant references to drug use, sexual acts, mental instability, and over-the-top violence. Another departure was his exploration of more serious themes of dealing with poverty, his direct and self-deprecating response to criticism, and of marital and family difficulties. His flow is also noticeably different from Infinite where critics claimed he sounded too much like Nas and AZ. Eminem also began utilizing story telling on this EP. The production value of the music on the tracks—from previous collaborators DJ Head, the Bass Brothers, and Mr. Porter—was also noticeably higher than on prior album efforts. According to Billboard , at this point in his life Eminem had "realized his musical ambitions were the only way to escape his unhappy life".

Background and production

In 1996, his debut album Infinite , which was recorded at the Bassmint, a recording studio owned by the Bass Brothers, was released under their independent label Web Entertainment. [1] Infinite achieved little commercial success and was largely ignored by Detroit radio stations, such as WJLB (97.9 FM in Detroit), and in specific tracks Eminem raps explicitly about this problem, like in "Just Don't Give a Fuck" "If I Had" and "Low Down, Dirty". The disappointment from this experience greatly influenced his lyrical style: "After that record, every rhyme I wrote got angrier and angrier. A lot of it was because of the feedback I got. Motherfuckers was like, 'You're a white boy, what the fuck are you rapping for? Why don't you go into rock & roll?' All that type of shit started pissing me off." [2] After the release of Infinite, Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in a suicide attempt: all these troubles became main themes of Slim Shady EP. [3]

The disappointment of Infinite inspired Eminem to create the alter ego Slim Shady: "Boom, the name hit me, and right away I thought of all these words to rhyme with it". [2] Slim Shady served as Eminem's vent for his frustrations, and he released the horrorcore extended play entitled Slim Shady EP simultaneously on cassette, vinyl, and CD. [4] During this time, Eminem and his wife Kim Scott lived in a high-crime neighborhood with their newborn daughter Hailie, where their house was burglarized numerous times. [2] After being evicted from his home, Eminem traveled to Los Angeles to participate in the Rap Olympics, an annual nationwide rap battle competition. [2] He placed second, and the staff at Interscope Records who attended the Rap Olympics sent a copy of the Slim Shady EP to company CEO Jimmy Iovine. [2] Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment. Dr. Dre recalled, "In my entire career in the music industry, I have never found anything from a demo tape or a CD. When Jimmy played this, I said, 'Find him. Now.'" [2] Eminem and Dr. Dre subsequently began work on his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP.

Artwork

The cover depicts the opening intro as well as the first track, in which Slim Shady awakens Eminem and orders him to look in the mirror to see that he is "nothing without him". Eminem resists and screams in the background while Slim Shady yells back and laughs at Eminem's horror. By the second track, Eminem and Slim Shady become the same person. Eminem is also ordered by "Slim Shady" to look into the mirror, and the sound of glass breaking is heard, alluding once again to the cover. [4] The art also bears a similarity to Black Flag's 1981 debut album, Damaged .

Release and reception

According to an interview with Zane Lowe, Eminem made 500 copies of the EP, but sold only slightly more than 250. [5] Though rare, reviews of the EP were generally mixed to positive. AllMusic gave the EP two and a half out of five stars without a written review. [6] XXL , despite originally giving the EP three out of five stars "L" rating, [7] listed it on their "100 Most Essential Rap EPs of All Time – The Best of the Short & Sweet" list. Eminem was featured in the March 1998 edition of The Source magazine's (#102), "Unsigned Hype" column. The author of the column highlighted two tracks from Eminem's Slim Shady EP: "Just the Two of Us", and "Murder, Murder". [1]

Track listing

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Intro (Slim Shady)"Eminem1:05
2."Low Down, Dirty"4:44
3."If I Had..."DJ Rec4:03
4."Just Don't Give a Fuck"Denaun Porter4:04
5."Mommy" (skit) 0:39
6."Just the Two of Us" DJ Head 4:20
7."No One's Iller" (featuring Swifty McVay, Bizarre and Fuzz Scoota)DJ Head4:58
8."Murder, Murder"DJ Rec4:40
Total length:28:33
Bonus tracks
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
9."If I Had..." (radio edit)DJ Rec4:01
10."Just Don't Give a Fuck" (radio edit)Denaun Porter4:03
Total length:36:36

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. Dre</span> American record producer and rapper (born 1965)

Andre Romell Young, known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of Death Row Records. Dre began his career as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru in 1984, and later found fame with the gangsta rap group N.W.A. The group popularized explicit lyrics in hip hop to detail the violence of street life. During the early 1990s, Dre was credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a subgenre of hip hop characterized by a synthesizer foundation and slow, heavy production.

<i>The Marshall Mathers LP</i> 2000 studio album by Eminem

The Marshall Mathers LP is the third studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on May 23, 2000, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Production on the album was handled by Dr. Dre, Mel-Man, F.B.T., Eminem, and The 45 King. The album spawned three hit singles: "The Real Slim Shady", "The Way I Am" and "Stan", and features guest appearances from Dido, RBX, Sticky Fingaz, Bizarre, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Paul Rosenberg and D12.

<i>The Slim Shady LP</i> 1999 studio album by Eminem

The Slim Shady LP is the second studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released through Aftermath Entertainment, WEB Entertainment, and Interscope Records on February 23, 1999. Recorded in Ferndale, Michigan following Eminem's recruitment by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, the album features production from Eminem himself, alongside Dr. Dre and the Bass Brothers. Featuring West Coast hip-hop, G-funk, and horrorcore musical styles, the majority of The Slim Shady LP's lyrical content was written from the perspective of Eminem's alter ego, named Slim Shady. The alter ego was introduced on his 1997 extended play Slim Shady EP, and concluded on his 2024 studio album The Death of Slim Shady . The album contains cartoonish depictions of violence and heavy use of profanity, which Eminem described as horror film-esque, in that it is solely for entertainment value. Although many of the lyrics on the album are considered to be satirical, Eminem also discusses his frustrations of living in poverty.

Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Music Group and Interscope Communications, it differed from most record labels by letting A&R staff control decisions and allowing artists and producers full creative control. Interscope's first hit records arrived in under a year, and it achieved profitability in 1993. Chair and CEO until May 2014, Iovine was succeeded by John Janick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Iovine</span> American entrepreneur and former music executive (born 1953)

James Iovine is an American entrepreneur, former record executive, and media proprietor. He is best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records and became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M, an umbrella music unit formed by Universal Music Group in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aftermath Entertainment</span> American record label

Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre in 1996. It operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, and is distributed through Interscope Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Game (rapper)</span> American rapper (born 1979)

Jayceon Terrell Taylor, better known by his stage name the Game or simply Game, is an American rapper. Born in Compton, California, he initially released a series of mixtapes under the wing of fellow West Coast rapper JT the Bigga Figga. After releasing his debut album Untold Story independently in 2004, he was discovered by record producer Dr. Dre and signed to his Aftermath Records label imprint. The Game rose to fame in 2005 following the release of his major-label debut album The Documentary, which peaked the Billboard 200 along with its 2006 follow-up, Doctor's Advocate. The former album received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and two Grammy Award nominations—Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for its single, "Hate It or Love It".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shady Records</span> American record label

Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg in 1999, following the commercially successful release of The Slim Shady LP that same year. The label's name comes from the last name of Eminem's alter ego, Slim Shady.

Stanley Bernard Benton, better known by his stage name Stat Quo, is an American rapper and record producer. Benton worked his way to college and attended University of Florida, where he majored in economics and international business in 2000. He was contemplating law school, until veteran Southern rapper Scarface encouraged him to rap professionally. In February 2003, Stat Quo released his first installment of the Underground Atlanta Mixtapes and caught the attention of Aftermath Entertainment associate Mel-Man. When Stat Quo was in L.A. performing at Encore, Mel-Man invited him to Record One Studios where he met Dr. Dre. That night at Record One, Stat Quo recorded the song "The Future" with Dr. Dre and released it on the second volume of his Underground Atlanta mixtape in 2004. The tape made its way by a different route to Eminem and led to Stat Quo's record deal with Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment. Stat Quo is currently managing Young Aspect, and formerly managed Lil Xan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Meets Evil</span> American hip hop duo

Bad Meets Evil is an American hip hop super duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5′9″ ("bad") and Eminem ("evil"). Formed in 1997, the duo's name comes from the namesake song from Eminem's The Slim Shady LP (1999), which featured Royce da 5'9". They debuted the same year with the release of the double single, "Nuttin' to Do" and "Scary Movies", the latter of which for the soundtrack to the 2000 horror comedy parody film Scary Movie. A decade later, the duo reunited to release an extended play (EP) to critical and commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WEB Entertainment</span> Detroit-based record label

WEB Entertainment was a Detroit-based record label run by the Bass Brothers. It is best known for producing both of Eminem's independent albums, Infinite and the Slim Shady EP, before he signed to Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eminem</span> American rapper (born 1972)

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip-hop in Middle America and is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. His success is considered to have broken racial barriers to the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. While much of his transgressive work during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him a controversial figure, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass and has been cited as influencing many musical artists. His most successful songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 include "The Real Slim Shady", "Without Me", "Lose Yourself", "Not Afraid", "Love the Way You Lie", "The Monster", "Godzilla", and "Houdini".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Rosenberg (manager)</span> American music manager

Paul Rosenberg is an American talent manager and former entertainment attorney from Detroit, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joell Ortiz</span> American rapper from New York

Joell Christopher Ortiz is an American rapper and a former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label. He was featured in the Unsigned Hype column of the March 2004 issue of The Source Magazine and was also selected as Chairman's Choice in XXL Magazine.

<i>Relapse</i> (Eminem album) 2009 studio album by Eminem

Relapse is the sixth studio album by American rapper Eminem, released in Germany and a few other countries on May 15, 2009, and in the US on May 19, 2009, by Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records, and Interscope Records. Not counting the 2006 Shady Records crossover album Eminem Presents: The Re-Up and a few new songs recorded for his 2005 greatest hits album Curtain Call: The Hits, the album marks Eminem's return to making music albums after a five-year hiatus following his 2004 album Encore, due to writer's block and an addiction to prescription sleeping medication. The album, among all of Eminem's albums, features the most production work by his mentor Dr. Dre, with Dre producing all but one song, Beautiful, which was produced by Eminem himself. Mark Batson collaborated with Dre on several songs, while Eminem, Dawaun Parker, and Trevor Lawrence Jr. collaborated with Dre on one song each.

"Kim" is a song by American rapper Eminem that appears on his 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP. The song reflects intense anger and hatred toward his then-wife Kim Mathers and features Eminem imitating her voice, ending with him murdering her and later putting her body in the trunk of his car.

The Rap Olympics is a free-style rap event which was created and first begun in March 1993, in East Orange, New Jersey by Gregory Thomas of Nubian Recordings which consisted of a three state competition: PA, NJ and NY.

The Bass Brothers are an American record producer brother duo comprising Mark and Jeff Bass. They were responsible for helping Eminem with the creation of Infinite. Before that, they worked with George Clinton. Tracks from those sessions ended up on the P-Funk All Stars album Dope Dogs. Jeff Bass is considered one of the most influential people in Eminem's career. On their work with Eminem, Mark and Jeff Bass are credited as F.B.T. Productions.

<i>Best of 50 Cent</i> 2017 greatest hits album by 50 Cent

Best of 50 Cent is the first greatest hits album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on March 31, 2017, by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The compilation includes tracks from five of his previous studio albums: Power of the Dollar (2000), Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003), The Massacre (2005), Curtis (2007) and Before I Self Destruct (2009). Also included are songs from the soundtrack to the film Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005). It also includes the non-album singles "Get Up" and "I Get It In". Best of 50 Cent anthologizes the majority of the singles that 50 Cent released during his joint deals with Eminem's Shady, Dr. Dre's Aftermath, and major-label Interscope. This is the first Shady Records album that does not feature Eminem on a song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Realest</span> 2023 single by Ez Mil and Eminem

"Realest" is a song by Filipino-American rapper Ez Mil and American rapper Eminem. It was released by FFP Records, Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records on August 4, 2023. It serves as the lead single to the deluxe edition of Ez Mil's 2022 studio album DU4LI7Y. The song's official lyric video was released to YouTube on August 11, 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 Bozza, Anthony (2003). Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem. New York, New York, United States: Crown Publishing Group. p. 15. ISBN   1-4000-5059-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bozza, Anthony (November 5, 2009). "Eminem Blows Up". Rolling Stone . Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Eminem – Biography". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Harvilla, Rob (2019-02-20). "Eminem Has Been America's Nightmare for 20 Years". The Ringer. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  5. "Eminem: 'My life became crazy'". Newsbeat. BBC. October 21, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  6. "Eminem – Slim Shady EP". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  7. XXL (December 2007). "Retrospective: XXL Albums". XXL Magazine.