Eminem Battles Himself and His Demons on Masterful New LP

International fame and millions of dollars have done nothing to change the harsh reality of the once poverty stricken Marshall Mathers. He is 15 years deep into a critically acclaimed career and yet he is still just as emotionally fragile, self-loathing and insecure as he was when he was just an aspiring rapper living in a Detroit-area trailer park.

And he lets it all hang out on his new LP.

Mathers, the now 41-year old hip-hop artist popularly known as Eminem released his first album in three years yesterday; The Marshall Mathers LP 2 to an assortment of conflicting reviews. The album features several thematic elements derived from its classic predecessor, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP but is quite a departure from his usual work. Even still, it’s easily his best record in 11 years, back when Em's career hit its pinnacle in the summer of 2002 with the release of The Eminem Show.

Eminem does what he has always done best on this LP; expose his inner demons with a shocking combination of hubris and self-deprecation. One minute he is extolling his own brilliance and historic legacy, the next minute he is hurling insults at himself while putting his shortcomings on full display. He even takes his phenomenal skills to another level as he (surprisingly) delivers numerous verses rapid fire with impossible rhyme patterns and pitch perfect dexterity. He is without a doubt a student of vocabulary and line structure as he so intricately explained in an interview on 60 minutes last year.

Jay Z has the more formidable catalog and consistency, Kendrick Lamar is the up-and-coming superstar of the moment. But Eminem is unequivocally the purest lyricist on the planet right now and one of the greatest in history. He is tactical and scientific with the way he constructs rhyme patterns, interlocking several similar words and abstract ideas into mind-bending lyrics. On MMLP2, he does this time and time again.

This album showcases the evolution of his mind as he ventures into new areas with a decidedly rock-styled production, none of his usual rap guest features and even an entire song dedicated to apologizing to his estranged mother. But the more things change, the more they stay the same; Eminem revisits tons of familiar territory on the album as he angrily hurls numerous vitriolic lines at homosexuals, women and celebrities. And oh yeah, he still hates his absentee father with a passion.

As a whole, The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is an excellent album and easily outpaces 2004’s Encore, 2009’s Relapse and 2010’s Recovery. It doesn’t eclipse the original, which would be a near impossibility. But it does remind the world of exactly why we fell in love with him in the first place. One of the wonderful things about MMLP2 is the fact that Eminem seems acutely aware that his own phenomenal track record is his only true competition, as he so eloquently states on a track entitled, “Evil Twin.”

Finally, even though the quality of his songs have been heavily criticized for the past decade, this new offering is a tremendous return-to-form for a masterful artist who, despite his insecurities, is still a legend in the game and still delivers the goods.

'The Marshall Mathers LP' Turned Eminem Into Cultural Icon

CLEVELAND - With bleach blonde hair and pale white skin, Eminem stood in the middle of a New York street attired in a wife beater tank top, baggy sweat pants and a pair of white sneakers. Moments later, he led dozens of similar-in-appearance young men into Radio City Music Hall while rapping into a wireless microphone the lyrics to "The Real Slim Shady," his 2nd studio album's lead single. In that moment, he was the king of both pop music and hip-hop.

We were witnessing a movement, people.

That "movement" took place during the 2000 MTV VMA's in New York City three and a half months after Eminem's second album, The Marshall Mathers LP debuted. Today marks the 10th anniversary of that landmark release which is still regarded as Eminem's finest work to date. From the stunning and controversial lyrics on the album to the litany of protests it created, it was a masterpiece of writing, imagination, brutal honesty and production. Eminem wasn't just at the apex of his popularity, he was masterminding a cultural shift in two separate music genres simultaneously.

Wow.

After Em's major label debut The Slim Shady LP debuted in early 1999, he was hailed as a stupendous wordsmith with a twisted sense of humor. His themes were often dark, but they were delivered in a way that made it seem as though he was just being hyperbolic or jokey. Indeed, that first album was violent but it was cartoonish and seemed too over-the-top to be anything real. But on The Marshall Mathers LP, it's never really clear if Eminem is being silly or if he's telling the brutal truth. He opens the album threatening to rape and kill his mom and later in the album, he actually does murder his daughter's mother. In between, Eminem disparages homosexuals and numerous figures in pop music while also taking the media to task and sneering at his critics.

Not only is the album a classic, it also showcases Eminem at his most skillful and vitriolic. What I most admire about it is the way he comes out shooting with a purpose and with the intent to make a statement. He pulls no punches, bites no tongues and never holds back. He knows he's going to offend many people and he simply doesn't care. He's going to deliver his perspective on things regardless and sees no point in self-censorship. Personally, I don't think he has ever been as ambitious as he was on this album, but that's okay. He still crafted tons of great music since then. But on The Marshall Mathers LP, he gave hardcore rap and hip-hop a brand new face with his re-imagining of the genre and made many would-be naysayers and doubters respect his unfettered brilliance.

And it transformed him from star to cultural icon.

Tracks that really stand out to me; "Stan" is a stunningly ingenious song that features a written correspondence between Eminem and an obsessed fan, who unbeknowst to Em has already committed suicide by the time the fan's letter arrives to his hero. "The Way I Am" is a rant against Eminem's critics and fans alike, both of whom he has little patience for. Every song is brilliant in different ways, but "Kim" is disturbingly brilliant, not because Eminem delivers it in an infuriated, raspy tone and yells for most of it. Rather, he simulates a fiery domestic dispute with his "baby momma" which ends in her murder. In many ways, it's a very resonant song and is a perfect example of what Eminem himself does so well; depict the harsh realities of his real life with stunning detail and honesty.

Among the great accomplishments of this masterpiece album, it earned a spot in The Guinness Book of World Records by selling nearly 2 million copies in the U.S. in its first week alone! It has also been critically acclaimed by countless publications as being one of the best albums in history.

A month from now, Eminem will release Recovery, his sixth professional solo album. From what I can tell, it seems like it will be a return to the searing lyrical dominance that defined his first three classics, but was mostly absent from his last two. Whatever the case, Eminem's eminence will remain untouchable.

Without question.