Eminem: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Marshall Mathers LP
Celebrating 20 years since the release of Eminem's iconic album.
On 23rd May 2020 it will be exactly 20 years since the release of The Marshall Mather LP’. 20 years since Eminem convinced millions of nerdy white teenagers all over the world that they could attempt to rap.
The huge global success of Eminem’s third album is undeniable, but the rapper did come from humble beginnings in both his life and his music career. His debut album, ‘Infinite’, was a huge failure both critically and commercially and only sold around 1000 copies.
This failure led Eminem to create his alter ego of Slim Shady whose humorous lyrics and dark and disturbing content gained the rap artist more attention following the release of his second album, ‘The Slim Shady LP’.
Eminem garnered criticism from many critics for his homophobic and graphic lyrics about murder, but the rapper doubled down on the controversy for his third album and went on to create one of the most successful albums of all time.
‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, including 1.78 million copies sold in the first week of its release. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 20 years, you’re probably familiar with much of this album, but there are some facts surrounding the album you may not be aware of.
10. Eminem's Childhood Home
The album cover for ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ features a picture of Eminem sitting on the porch of a house. The address of this house is Dresden 19946 in Detroit, Eminem’s childhood home.
The same house was featured on the sequel to this album, ‘The Marshall Mathers LP 2’, in 2013. The house was eventually demolished by the State of Michigan in November 2013, shortly after the album’s release, due to fire damage that occurred to the property a few weeks prior.
When asked about revisiting his childhood home by VH1, Eminem had the following to say:
"I had mixed feelings because I had a lot of good and bad memories in that house. But to go back to where I grew up and finally say, 'I've made it,' is the greatest feeling in the world to me".
The now iconic picture is certainly a reminder of the incredible journey Eminem has been on, starting from humble beginnings to become one of the most successful rap artists of all time.