10 Classic Music Albums Turning 20 In 2022

At the dawn of Y2K, Eminem had painted himself as one of the biggest antiheroes in the history of music. Although his gay slurs and edge lord comments have gone way out of style in the years since, it was hard not to root for the underdog on those early albums, as he tried his best to take down nearly every power player in sight. The world of Slim Shady looked a lot different in 2002 though, and he was looking to reach bigger than hip hop on the Eminem Show.

Framed like an actual concert experience, this entire record shows Em flirting with a little bit more rock and roll this time around, with songs that have a much harsher beat structure than on the last few records. No longer having to just rely on samples all the time, the instrumentals on here go off from the minute they begin, whether it's the Aerosmith flipped guitar solo on Sing for the Moment or him getting his slick talk going on Without Me.

And no mention of this record is really complete with bringing up Till I Collapse, which manages to take everything about what made a song like Lose Yourself work and brings it up to 11, with a guest contribution from Nate Dogg and some of the greatest beats that Em and Dre would ever make. Whereas most rappers try to make a decent set of hooks together on one project, this is the closest that Slim has come to making you feel like you're watching a movie when you throw on the record.