This album was released on May 26th in 2002. This is Eminem’s last classic album. A lot of people would say that it’s his last good album too. I’m honestly not really looking forward to it that much… I mean, I’m sure I’ll like it, but… This album is over 70 minutes long. I don’t care who the artist is; I never wanna listen to one album for that long. A lot of people really love this project though, so I think it’ll be good. I’m really not looking forward to what comes AFTER this shit. This project in particular has some of Em’s most famous songs, so I’m looking forward to it. It’s just too long. MAYBE I’ll feel different after listening to it. I doubt it though.

1. Curtains Up (Skit) produced by Eminem

There’s absolutely no reason for me to talk about this track. It’s just the sound of some curtains opening, followed by some footsteps, and then Eminem tapping on a microphone and clearing his throat. I’m never gonna listen to this ever again.

2. White America produced by Eminem & Jeff Bass

I actually think the production on this track is really fantastic. Eminem’s rapping about how famous he’s gotten in the first verse. His flow is smooth as hell. The first verse was dope. The hook is nothing special, but it works. I feel like if I heard it when I was younger I wouldn’t have liked it at all just because of the way he’s kind of yelling. I probably would’ve thought it was annoying. It doesn’t bother me now though. The second verse was even better than the first. He rapped about how his white skin has affected his career. The final verse was really good. I’m glad he switched his flow up towards the end because it was kind of starting to get old. Overall I think this is a pretty great song. It’s not amazing or anything, but I enjoyed it. This is dope. The animation in the music video is really bizarre, but I kind of like it.

3. Business produced by Dr. Dre

The beat from Dr. Dre on this song is fantastic. Em’s flow on the first verse is absolutely stellar. He famously rhymed the words “hinges, oranges” and “syringes” together. That verse is really fuckin’ good. The hook is pretty solid. The second verse is really great too. This song just has a lot of really great rapping. The third verse is even better than the first and second. He rhymed his ass off. This track is better than the previous one in my opinion. The beat is really great, and Em killed all three of the verses. I don’t have any issues with this track at all. I think this shit is dope af.

4. Cleanin’ Out My Closet produced by Eminem & Jeff Bass

I’m pretty sure this is the most popular song from this album. I have to agree that it’s one of Eminem’s best songs. It’s a pretty emotional track. The one aspect of the song that kind of rubbed me the wrong way at first was the sung hook. I don’t really mind it anymore. The dope production and fantastic verses make up for it. In the second verse he raps about how his father abandoned him when he was young, and in the final verse he goes in depth about his terrible relationship with his mother. It’s one of Eminem’s most personal songs up to this point in his career. I think it’s the best track on the album so far. The rhyme scheme on the final verse is phenomenal. This song is dope af to me.

5. Square Dance produced by Eminem & Jeff Bass

The production on this track is pretty nice. The first verse was dope. He dissed Canibus, which is cool. I mean, he didn’t really say anything that scathing, but it’s cool that he dissed him in the first place. The hook kinda sucks. This is definitely the worst hook on the album so far. He’s rapping in an exaggerated Southern accent about square dancing.

C’mon now! Let’s all get on down!
Let’s do-si-do now! We gon’ have a good ol’ time
Don’t be scared, ‘cause there ain’t nothin’ to worry about
Let your hair down, and square dance with me!

I don’t uh… I don’t get it. The song itself isn’t even about square dancing, so the hook and title of the track don’t really seem appropriate. I guess it’s not that big of a deal though. It doesn’t ruin the song for me. The second verse was about Em’s disdain for George Bush and his war on terror. It was pretty good. The third verse wasn’t amazing or anything, but I enjoyed it. This is definitely my least favorite song on the album so far, but I still think it’s good. It’s just not as entertaining as the previous tracks in my opinion. I like it though. It’s dope.

6. The Kiss (Skit) produced by Eminem

I actually kinda enjoyed this skit to be honest. I mean, I’m never gonna listen to it again, but I felt like I was there with them in the car. It’s like listening to a movie, but you can still tell what’s happening. Basically, this is a reenactment of Eminem seeing his wife kiss a bouncer at a club, and understandably getting mad as fuck. Again, I’m never gonna listen to this again, but I enjoyed it for what it is, and it transitions really smoothly into the next song.

7. Soldier produced by Eminem

I really like the beat on this song. It’s great. This song feels a little more uptempo than the previous songs. The first verse was pretty dope. The hook’s not bad. Huh. I just finished listening to this entire track. I don’t really have anything to say. Nothing about it really stands out that much to me. I liked all of the verses, and the production is good, but there aren’t any aspects of the song that blow me away. I think it’s better than the previous song. It’s not amazing or anything. It’s just a good song. I like it. I don’t love it. It’s dope though.

8. Say Goodbye Hollywood produced by Eminem

The beat on this track isn’t bad, but I’m not really feelin’ the hook. It’s not bad enough to make this song completely unenjoyable for me, but it definitely could’ve been better. The first verse is nice. He’s rapping about the incident that occurred when he saw his wife kissing the bouncer at a club. The second verse was good. The third verse was really dope too. This is another song that I’m not really blown away by, but I definitely enjoyed it to some extent. It’s one of my least favorite tracks so far, but I still like it. This is dope to me.

9. Drips featuring Obie Trice produced by Eminem

This song has some pretty disturbing content, but I like the production, and the hook actually sounds good to me. For those of you who don’t know, in the medical field “DRIPS” is apparently an acronym for common symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases—D.ischarge, R.ashes, I.tching, P.ain, and S.ores. The first verse from Obie Trice is absolutely disgusting. He’s describing a sexual encounter he had with a woman named Denise in graphic detail.

She foamin’ at them lips, the ones between the hips
Pubic hair’s lookin’ like some sour cream dip

At the end of the verse it’s revealed that Denise ended up transmitting a disease to Obie Trice. I can’t really say I enjoyed his verse. It was just really disturbing to me. Eminem’s verse doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. Obie claims to have gotten a disease from Denise—who is Eminem’s fictional wife in this song; that’s right, Eminem is a cuck—but at the end of Eminem’s verse he claims that she got AIDS from Obie Trice. Throughout the entire verse he’s talking about how he’s going to physically abuse Denise because she transferred Obie’s AIDS to him. This is easily my least favorite song on the album so far. I don’t think I would call this bad, but it’s not really enjoyable to me at all. I think it’s mediocre.

10. Without Me featuring Obie Trice produced by Eminem, Jeff Bass & DJ Head

This was the lead single from this album if I’m not mistaken. It has some of the best production on the album so far. I actually like the vocals on the intro too. The first verse is dope af. In fact, that’s probably the best verse on the whole album so far. He’s rapping differently on this song. This sounds more like the older Eminem. His delivery on the hook reminds me of The Real Slim Shady. The second verse is fucking awesome. When he started rapping with the melody of the Batman theme, I was like “gotdamn.” The third verse was really great too. His disses to Limp Bizkit & Moby were dope. This is definitely my favorite song on the album so far. I don’t have any issues with it. Well… I don’t really see why Obie Trice is credited as a feature on this track. There’s a sample of a line from one of his songs right at the beginning of the track before the song actually starts, but it’s completely pointless. I’m pretty sure this was literally just done so that Obie Trice could get some publicity for being on Eminem’s lead single. Anyway, I really like this song a lot. I think it’s dope af.

11. Paul Rosenberg (Skit) produced by Eminem

This was a pretty unnecessary skit in which Paul Rosenberg leaves a message for Em telling him to stop shooting into the air with his gun like a jackass. I’m never gonna listen to this ever again.

12. Sing For the Moment produced by Eminem & Jeff Bass

Ehh… This song samples Dream On by Aerosmith… I don’t know how I feel about that… The first verse from Em was cool, but I REALLY don’t like the hook. He has Steven Tyler on here singing the chorus from Dream On, and I don’t like it at all. This song is so white. I bet white people fucking adore this track. I hate to go there, but it’s true. The second and third verses aren’t bad, but they aren’t good enough to make me like the production and chorus on this song. I wouldn’t call this bad. I think it’s an okay track. It’s just not for me at all. I’m never gonna listen to this ever again.

13. Superman featuring Dina Rae produced by Eminem & Jeff Bass

Hmmm… You know, I really like the production on this track a lot. In fact, this is probably one of my favorite beats on the whole album so far. I’m not crazy about the refrain though. This kinda sounds like a love song at first, but as soon as Eminem starts rapping it’s clear that he doesn’t really love any woman. The way he’s rapping actually makes it sound like he genuinely hates women. His flow is cool on the first verse, and I don’t mind the hook at all. Dina Rae doesn’t really sing on this song. She just says a few words during the refrain. It really could’ve been done by any woman. All the verses on this song are cool, and I really love the beat. This isn’t one of my favorite songs, but I definitely enjoyed it. I’m not really that impressed lyrically. There are a lot of lines about slapping women. This is dope sonically though. I like this song.

14. Hailie’s Song produced by Eminem

Ehhhhhhhhhh… Yeah… Nah… This song isn’t for me. As anyone can gather from the title of this song, it’s a tribute to Eminem’s daughter. He sings the entire first verse. It’s not good. Granted, it’s not nearly as bad as I would’ve expected it to be. It’s still not really enjoyable for me at all though. The beat’s nothing special. I’m not feelin’ the hook. He sings the entire second verse too. Man… This is really not good… This is my least favorite track so far honestly. He raps during the final verse, and his flow is really nice. I don’t really care about anything he’s saying though. I didn’t enjoy this track at all. I don’t think I’d call it “bad,” but it’s certainly not good to me. I guess “mediocre” is the word I would use. I’m never gonna listen to this again.

15. Steve Berman (Skit) produced by Eminem

Does anyone really give a shit what I thought about this skit? I’m never gonna listen to this shit again. I don’t mind it being here, but I got nothing out of it.

16. When the Music Stops performed by D12 produced by Eminem & Mr. Porter

The beat on this track is pretty dope. The first verse from Em is really great. Actually, ALL of the verses on this song are really good, except for Bizarre’s. His verse was tolerable though. It wasn’t complete garbage. I think Eminem had the best verse, followed by Kuniva & Proof who are tied, then Mr. Porter, Then Swifty McVay. Obviously Bizarre comes last. I don’t really have any glaring issues with this track. The beat was cool, and I enjoyed almost every verse. I like that there’s no hook too. It’s just one verse after another. This is dope.

17. Say What U Say featuring Dr. Dre produced by Dr. Dre

This instrumental is honestly really underwhelming for a Dr. Dre beat. I don’t think it’s bad, but I’m not really impressed by it at all. The first verse from Em was good though, and I actually really like the second verse from Dr. Dre. The diss to Jermaine Dupri was dope. The hook is nothing special, but it works. The third verse where they were trading bars with each other was cool. The final two verses were good too. This song isn’t amazing or anything, but I enjoyed it. The production could’ve been better, but overall I like this song. It’s dope.

18. ‘Til I Collapse featuring Nate Dogg produced by Eminem

This is another one of the more popular songs from this album. It’s got a really memorable beat, and Em’s got a pretty aggressive delivery on all the verses. I think this is a dope song, but I don’t love it as much as everyone else seems to. I’m honestly not crazy about the hook from Nate Dogg. It’s not bad. I don’t think Nate’s performance is bad. I just don’t really care for the melody itself. All the verses from Em are really great though. Especially the last one. He killed that shit. I think this is a good song. Again, it’s not one of my favorites. I fuck with it though. It’s dope.

19. My Dad’s Gone Crazy featuring Hailie Jade produced by Dr. Dre

The beat on this track is decent. Again, it’s not really up to snuff for Dr. Dre in my opinion, but it’s not bad. Honestly, this kinda sounds like a joke song. The first verse from Em is fine I guess, but the hook fucking sucks. The way Em has his daughter saying “I think my dad’s gone crazy!” sounds really silly. The second verse was kinda bullshit honestly. I mean, I guess it wasn’t that bad, but it didn’t really seem like Eminem was taking it seriously. The final verse is really the only impressive moment on this song. I like how Dre added more elements to the beat during that part. It’s not good enough to save this song though. This isn’t bad. Again, I don’t think I’d call this a bad song, but I really didn’t enjoy it. The hook was fucking stupid, and the only verse that really impressed me was the last one. The beat wasn’t all that great either. I’m not gonna come back to this.

20. Curtain Close (Skit) produced by Eminem

This was a really stupid skit in which Ken Kaniff says some dumb shit into a microphone even though there’s nobody in the audience. I doubt anyone ever listened to this more than once.

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I think this is a good album. I kinda feel like anybody who genuinely thinks that this is a classic is full of shit though. This project is way too flawed for me to call it a classic. I mean, I’m labeling it as such just because a lot of people seem to love it. There are even some people saying that it’s his best album. I really don’t see why anyone would believe that though. Eminem’s still rapping pretty well on most of these songs, but he rarely blows me away like he did on his previous two albums. These verses are good, but they aren’t amazing to me. I liked this project though. I think most of the songs are pretty nice. There weren’t really any tracks that I thought were completely wack. There were certainly songs that I didn’t enjoy at all, but they weren’t outright garbage. So yeah, I think this is pretty good. It’s dope.

Favorite Song: Without Me
Least Favorite Song: Hailie’s Song

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