10 Albums Where Hip Hop Got Real

Looking back on Eminem's first few records almost feels like you're listening to a super edgy Saturday morning cartoon. Even though the Slim Shady LP looks a little more tame these days just for how juvenile it sounds in some spots, this was some of the most shocking hip hop to ever be released at the time, with Slim talking about killing people and taking every drug known to mankind. Mr. Mathers may have already been a bit much to take in, but the guy behind everything was absolutely pissed by the time he made his self-titled record.

Framed as a look into the mind of Eminem, every song on this record seem to be a specific reaction to the kind of boogie man aesthetic that he had cultivated on his first record, doubling down on some of the horror tropes and making some pretty harsh claims on songs like Kill You and Who Knew. While this was heavily censored at the time, even the uncensored versions has elements that had to edited out, like calling out his wife's lawyers and including things that were far too graphic to put on wax.

There was still a heart in between the madness though, with Stan being one of the greatest story songs in hip hop, as Em tries to deal with a crazed fan who ends up going that one step too far and watching as this kid slowly loses his mind. My Name Is may have been our first exposure to the kind of celebrity we were dealing with, but a song like The Way I Am is probably a lot more accurate to the kind of person that's behind all of that bleached blonde hair.