Eminem – The Real Slim Shady (1999)
Interviews with the man are painful. They’re awkward, tense, having no speech meter or moments of emotional connection. Even the interviewer can’t bring the session into sharp relief with a joke: the subject will crack no smile, just quickly move the topic along.
In his first press conference as a Raptor, Kawhi Leonard referred to himself as a ‘fun guy’. Well then, just like that, sir. Marshall Mathers III is as “fun” as it gets. Meaning, he is utterly funnyboneless.
Of course, it’s part of his brand to never be grinning on cereal boxes. And legitimately, he didn’t exactly have a fairytale upbringing (or, even in spite of his musical success, a smooth ride in adulthood). So if he never recorded a cover of If I Had a Million Dollars, his true fans understood.
Which is what makes The Real Slim Shady such a remarkable page in his songbook. Far from congratulatory, it’s self-deprecating and absolutely hilarious. And because the truth is often said in jest, there’s even a message to picket-fence moms and dads who think his culture is just the other side of the tracks – boo!
Em himself was a bit embarrassed by the song, once referring to it as “cheese”. But he also knew he had an arrow in his quiver, a bit of cheekiness to secure greater access to the mainstream at a time when its overlords and their lobbyists could readily have shut him out of it (he was happy to release it as a single with a companion safe-language version). Even established rappers were agape at how far he’d pushed the envelope.
And nearly 20 years later, we still chortle with mirth.
