At this point, Eminem’s album discography has allowed him to become a legacy act. His career began in 1996 however, most of the world tapped in with him in 1999. Since then, he has released multiple albums all of which were discussed for one reason or another. Recently, he shifted into doing NFT related things which many fans are not fond of. However, he is still putting out music. He’s also capitalizing on the success of his previous albums by releasing deluxe/expanded editions. Unlike some modern artists, he has waited years instead of weeks or days to do this. Naturally, by being in the game for so long, he has created a large discography. We’ve compiled 10 of his albums and ranked them.
#10 Revival
For many listeners, this was supposed to be (another) comeback album from Eminem. It dropped in 2017 and the album before it dropped in 2013. A fake tracklist began circulating before the album was released. This fake tracklist gave the album two sides: One with more pop leaning features and the other with rap features. Fans shared what they were anticipating most as they have seen him excel at both. However, once the album was released, they realized this was not the format the album truly had. In fact, many listeners were disappointed in the album. They praised some aspects of the album’s final songs and the surprising Beyonce feature on the opening track. Many found issues with Em being the age he was but still using the same subject matter as music from his past.
#9 Encore
Originally, it was thought this would be Eminem’s last album. The album title, the final song’s title and the things happening in his life at the time pointed towards it. Due to this, this album tries to capture the several types of music Em was known for in his career. There are serious songs as well as silly songs. For many, the former did not work well as the songs just did not sound good. Due to Eminem’s process and condition at the time, several of these songs were just incoherent. Contrastingly, the album contains one of the best, well written and most praised songs in his career “Mockingbird” The fact he made a song like this as well as a song like “My 1st Single” and put it on the same album shows just how much was truly happening in his life and mainly, his mind.
#8 Relapse
As more and more about the concept of this album was shared by Eminem, the listeners formed more concrete opinions about it. Some praised the concept of him becoming different “characters” on the album as well as how the storyline itself paralleled his own life. Because of these “characters” Em used different accents when speaking as them which was divisive for many people. Still, this album did have some moments that were universally celebrated. The single from Relapse:Refill titled “Forever” was one of the most talked about songs at the time. The features on it included Drake, Lil Wayne and Kanye West. There have been many stories of how people wrote – and rewrote their verses on the song. This song differed greatly from the much darker material on the rest of the album.
#7 Recovery
For many, this album was a clear shift for Eminem. He spoke about the things he was truly going through – which he had done before – but things were different this time around. This album contains one of Eminem’s biggest songs, “Not Afraid”. For many, this song was motivational and it showed listeners that they could relate to Eminem’ struggles. This album also contains one of his most popular pop-rap collabs “Love the Way You Lie” which features Rihanna. This song was a massive success and showed that they were a duo that worked well together. It also brought in many listeners who previously had no interest in his music due to its content. Multiple listeners could tell several songs were written for this exact purpose. They accepted he had become even more of a global star and needed to make music that lined up with this status.
#6 Music to be Murdered By
This is one of Eminem’s most recent album releases. This one was also a surprise drop that got a lot of attention quickly. For many, the most surprising part about this album were the features. Em had previously spoke ill of much of the current generation of rap. However, he now had songs with several big names of that generation. These included Juice WRLD, Don Toliver and Anderson .Paak. The latter is likely due to a conversation with Dr. Dre. Eminem showed he could fit in with the current generation of rap while still staying in the lane he was known for. Listeners have praised the songs on here for how good the chemistry was with the featured artists as well as the production. This album has “Godzilla” on it which features a hook from Juice WRLD and Eminem’s fastest verse to date – which broke a record he set himself.
#5 The Marshall Mathers LP 2
For many, The Marshall Mathers LP is Em’s best project. Getting a sequel was something they never thought would ever happen. It was announced that Rick Rubin was working with him for much of the album’s creation and production. People knew Rubin for his work with artists of all kinds in the music world so seeing his name generated hype. Once the album was released, his imprint on the album was clear especially its lead single “Berzerk” which samples the Beastie Boys. Many listeners enjoyed multiple songs on the album but are divided on if it truly should have been called a “sequel”. This album also contains the single “Rap God” which holds the Guinness World Record for most words in a hit single.
#4 Kamikaze
This was a surprise “response” album from Eminem. As time has shown, he often hears and pays attention to the feedback he gets on his music, Listeners know this because of lines in songs that refer to the feedback he received. Most of the songs on the album are about this. Eminem listened to the feedback he got on the project before this one, Revival, and addressed it. He also makes multiple references to the state of rap at the time and how he mostly disapproves of it. The way he comes across when addressing it is a mix of disapproval for some of it. Many of his listeners disapproved of it too so his opinion lining up with theirs satisfied them.
#3 The Eminem Show
This is another album from Eminem that many people have praised. It largely departed from the Slim Shady character and gave listeners an even more focused view on Eminem as a person. Also, many listeners praised the rock influence on the album’s prediction. Considering Em said he grew up on rock and he produced many of the album’s songs, it all lines up. People praised this album for that factor and Eminem’s song writing itself. They were fans of how his flow and delivery synced up so well with the production. The subject matter was not as out there as some of his other work and that’s why listeners resonated with it on a different level. Several songs that are considered classics in his discography are all on this project.
#2 The Slim Shady LP
This was many people’s introduction to Eminem. As someone who was a new face in the rap game at the time, he wanted to make sure people knew exactly who he was. Ironically, the album’s first single was “My Name Is” and with it came controversy right out the gate. Clean and explicit versions of songs have been a thing in rap for years. However, with “My Name Is” entire lines are different between the two versions of the single. Many fans remember how they were even more surprised and shocked yet intrigued when they heard the explicit album version. This album is often praised because it balances Em’s introspective songs and colorful and creative songs well. Also, many of these songs were produced by The Bass Brothers which listeners say are a perfect pairing for Em since their beats place the focus on his rhymes.
#1 The Marshall Mathers LP
For many listeners, this is the best Eminem album. It is his second one and they feel it capitalized on everything that made the previous one so good. As previously discussed, this is an album where Eminem spoke on things people were saying about him. This was not in terms of just the music but how he carried himself and other things happening in his life at the time. Naturally, the album is full of references to the pop culture world at the time. Eminem doubled down on making that one of his trademarks with this album with over-the-top lyrics of all kinds. For many listeners, this is one of his most influential albums. It showed the world who Eminem was as an artist and how he could craft songs excellent through verses and production from Dr. Dre and himself.
Which of Eminem’s albums are your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.
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