The Eminem Show

Overview

• Credits

• Editions

The Eminem Show
Studio album by Eminem
Released	May 26, 2002
Recorded	September 2001 – March 2002
Studio	Encore (Burbank, CA) Marshall Mathers' house (Detroit, MI) 54 Sound (Ferndale, MI)
Genre	Hip-Hop
Length	77:30
Label
Stream	Apple Music • Spotify • SoundCloud • YouTube Music
Eminem chronology
(2000)
(2002)
(2004)
Singles from The Eminem Show
1. "Without Me" Released: May 14, 2002 2. "Cleanin' Out My Closet" Released: July 29, 2002 3. "Superman" Released: January 21, 2003 4. "Sing for the Moment" Released: February 25, 2003 5. "Business" Released: July 22, 2003

The Eminem Show is the fourth studio album by American rapper Eminem, released on May 26, 2002, through Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records, and Interscope Records. It debuted atop the Billboard 200, selling approximately 284,000 copies in its first day. It sold over 1.3 million copies in its second week in the US, where it registered a full week of sales. It also topped the UK Albums Chart for five consecutive weeks.

The Eminem Show was both the best-selling album of 2002 in the United States and the best-selling album worldwide of 2002, along with being the best-selling hip-hop album in music history, and Eminem's most commercially successful album to date. The album was certified 12× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and its worldwide sales of 27 million copies make it one of the best-selling albums of all time and the second best-selling album of the 21st century. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Rap Album.

On May 24, 2022, Eminem announced the release of the expanded edition of the album on his social media to celebrate its 20th anniversary. On May 26, 2022, Eminem released the new expanded edition, which contains instrumentals of selected tracks, freestyles and live versions of songs from previous albums performed with his longtime friend and collaborator Proof at Tramps, New York and Fuji Rock Festival, Japan. It also features four new tracks which were recorded during the initial recording sessions but not included in the original version of the album.

Description

If The Slim Shady LP was the start of Eminem's journey, and The Marshall Mathers LP a document of the rapper's struggle to get to the top, 2002's The Eminem Show is what it sounds like when the only real fight left is the one with yourself. He's still angry, especially when you get him started on America, which had just thrown itself into yet another war against an enemy ("terror") it couldn't quite define (a topic Em tackles on "White America" and "Square Dance"). But on The Eminem Show, he also shows he's done some softening up, taking on the subject of parenting ("Hailie's Song"), and addressing his moral responsibility to his audience ("Sing for the Moment"). He even apologizes to the mom he spent two albums pretending to kill, at least kind-of ("Cleanin' Out My Closet"). "I never would've dreamed in a million years I'd see/So many motherfuckin' people who feel like me," he raps. Is that a good thing? Maybe, maybe not. But at least he knows he's not alone, no matter how alone he sometimes feels.

The fact that he got the album's name from Peter Weir's soul-searching 1998 Jim Carrey drama The Truman Show gives you a sense of where Eminem was at. Life wasn't a simulation, but reality was definitely getting bent out of shape—even his daughter's eyes couldn't ground him anymore ("My Dad's Gone Crazy"). If the music felt heavier and more dramatic—well, you get it. Or maybe you don't, until you sell 10 million albums and find yourself making movies loosely based on your own life (8 Mile).

No rapper had ever sounded so vicious, honest, and breathtakingly arrogant at the same time: "My songs can make you cry/Take you by surprise at the same time/Can make you dry your eyes with the same rhyme/See, what you're seein' is a genius at work," Eminem raps at one point on The Eminem Show. That withering psychoanalytic criticism you just thought of? He said it five minutes ago—but it's cool, you got a lot going on. Before The Truman Show, people wrote Jim Carrey off as a comedian, too. ^{– Apple Music}

Background

Overview

At the Grammy Awards of 2003 it was nominated for Album of the Year and became Eminem's third LP in four years to win the award for Best Rap Album. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling approximately 284,000 units in its first week, which due to a premature release by retailers and street-date violations, counted only a day and a half of sales. The album sold 1,322,000 copies the following week, where it registered a full week of sales. The album topped the Billboard 200 for five consecutive weeks. The album has gone on to sell over ten million copies and on March 7, 2011, it was certified ten-times-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, making it Eminem's first album to receive a Diamond certification in the United States. In 2003, the album was ranked #317 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and was later ranked at #84 on the same magazine's best albums of the 2000s decade. Blender, Muzik and LAUNCH named it the best album of 2002, and several publications named it among the best albums of the decade.

The album received critical praise by most music critics and is often debated as Eminem's most personal and best work. Eminem himself acknowledged during an interview with MTV that was recorded on May 25, 2002, that he felt that The Eminem Show was his "best record so far". The Eminem Show was Eminem's first album to be mainly self-produced.

On May 31, 2017, the cassette version of the album was reissued in honor of the 15th Anniversary of the album. The cassette also came with a poster and a t-shirt. On May 24, 2022, Eminem announced the release of the expanded edition of the album on his social media to celebrate its 20th anniversary. On May 26, 2022, Eminem released the new expanded edition, which contains instrumentals of selected tracks, freestyles and live versions of songs from previous albums performed with his longtime friend and collaborator Proof at Tramps, New York and Fuji Rock Festival, Japan. It also features four new tracks which were recorded during the initial recording sessions but not included in the original version of the album; "Stimulate", which was kept off the album due to time constraints and instead appeared on the bonus disc of the 8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture, "Bump Heads" and "The Conspiracy Freestyle" (which had appeared on other Shady Records releases), and an unreleased song, "Jimmy, Brian, and Mike", which had a verse and chorus re-recorded by Eminem especially for the expanded edition. Physical versions of the expanded edition were released later in the year, including a 4xLP vinyl set, CD, and cassette. Along with Curtain Call 2, it was nominated for an Outstanding Anthology/Compilation/Reissue at the 2023 Detroit Music Awards.

Composition and recording

Speaking to Spin magazine, Eminem said, "Eventually, I might need some drama in my life to inspire me [...] With The Marshall Mathers LP, everything that everybody was saying–I took that, and it was my ammo. And then when shit died down a little bit, I had other turmoil in my personal life, so that was what I was able to dump out on The Eminem Show. Now, I just gotta wait for the next phase of my life. But something always seems to happen, man; something's always gotta be fucking turbulent."

Eminem cited that the inspiration for the album was taken from the Peter Weir-directed 1998 science fiction comedy-drama film The Truman Show Jim Carrey-starred in the film as the lead character Truman Burbank, a man who unwittingly lives inside a TV show, where his life is broadcast to viewers around the world. Eminem spoke on the film's influence, saying, "My life felt like it was becoming a circus around that time, and I felt like I was always being watched [...] Basically, Jim Carrey wrote my album."

Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2002, Eminem said ""Sing for the Moment" was the first song I wrote for the album; "Cleanin Out My Closet" was the second. I had the line in "Cleanin Out My Closet" — "I'd like to welcome y'all out to The Eminem Show"—and it was just a line, but I sat back and I was like, "My life is really like a fucking show." I have songs on the album that I wrote when I was in that shit last year, with a possible jail sentence hangin' over my head and all the emotions going through the divorce. I went through a lot of shit last year [lawsuits, divorce and the threat of jail time] that I resolved at the same time, all in the same year. And, yeah, that's when half of the album was wrote".

Eminem had started recording the album around the same time he was filming 8 Mile. Production was used for both the soundtrack of the film and his album. The album also saw Eminem take a substantially more predominant production role; most of it was self-produced, with his longtime collaborator Jeff Bass co-producing several tracks (mainly the songs which eventually became the released singles). Dr. Dre, in addition to being the album's executive producer, produced only three individual tracks: "Business", "Say What You Say", and "My Dad's Gone Crazy". Regarding his increase in producing, Eminem told Rolling Stone, "I actually know how to program a drum machine now. It used to be so simple—just writing lyrics and raps, laying vocals and leaving the studio was great. But now that I'm so into producing, it's a fucking job."

Artwork

Accolades

Year	Organization	Category	Result
2002	Billboard Music Awards	Album of the Year	Won
		R&B/Hip-Hop Album of the Year	Won
		Top 200 Billboard Album	Won
	MTV Europe Music Awards	Best Album	Won
2003	American Music Awards	Favorite Hip-Hop/R&B Album	Won
		Favorite Pop/Rock Album	Won
	Brit Awards	International Album	Won
	Detroit Music Awards	Outstanding National Album	Nominated
	ECHO Awards	Best Hip-Hop/Urban Artist (International)	Won
	Grammy Awards	Album of the Year	Nominated
		Best Rap Album	Won
	Juno Awards	International Album of the Year	Won
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Music: Album	Nominated

Track listing

Standard edition
#	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Curtains Up (Skit)"	Marshall Mathers	Eminem	0:30
2.	"White America"	Mathers, Jeff Bass, Luis Resto, Steve King, Kevin Bell	Eminem, Jeff Bass, Luis Resto[a]	5:24
3.	"Business"	Mathers, Andre Young, Theron Feemster, Mike Elizondo	Dr. Dre	4:11
4.	"Cleanin' Out My Closet"	Mathers, Bass	Eminem, Bass	4:57
5.	"Square Dance"	Mathers, Bass, Resto	Eminem, Bass[a]	5:23
6.	"The Kiss (Skit)"	Mathers, Bass	Eminem	1:15
7.	"Soldier"	Mathers, Resto, King, Bell, Bass, Elizondo	Eminem	3:46
8.	"Say Goodbye Hollywood"	Mathers, Elizondo, Resto	Eminem	4:32
9.	"Drips" (featuring Obie Trice)	Mathers, Obie Trice, Denaun Porter, Bass	Eminem, Bass	4:45
10.	"Without Me"	Mathers, Bass, Malcolm McLaren, Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, Bell, Urban Kris, Shawn Baumgardner	Eminem, Bass[a], DJ Head[b]	4:50
11.	"Paul Rosenberg (Skit)"	Paul Rosenberg	Eminem, Dr. Dre	0:22
12.	"Sing for the Moment"	Mathers, Bass, Resto, King, Steven Tyler	Eminem, Bass[a]	5:39
13.	"Superman" (featuring Dina Rae)	Mathers, Bass, King	Eminem, Bass[b]	5:50
14.	"Hailie's Song"	Mathers, Resto	Eminem	5:20
15.	"Steve Berman (Skit)"	Mathers, Steve Berman	Dr. Dre	0:33
16.	"When the Music Stops" (featuring D12)	Mathers, Ondre Moore, Denaun Porter, Von Carlisle, DeShaun Holton, Rufus Johnson, Feemster	Eminem, Mr. Porter[a]	4:29
17.	"Say What You Say" (featuring Dr. Dre)	Mathers, Feemster, Elizondo	Dr. Dre	5:09
18.	"'Till I Collapse" (featuring Nate Dogg)	Mathers, Nathaniel Hale, Resto, Brian May	Eminem	4:57
19.	"My Dad's Gone Crazy" (featuring Hailie Jade)	Mathers, Young, Feemster, Elizondo	Dr. Dre	4:27
20.	"Curtains Close (Skit)"	Mathers	Eminem	1:01
Total length:				77:19

Expanded edition
#	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
21.	"Stimulate"	Mathers, Bass	Eminem, Bass	5:03
22.	"The Conspiracy Freestyle"	Mathers, Justin Henderson	J-Hen	2:50
23.	"Bump Heads" (featuring Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and 50 Cent)	Mathers, Marvin Bernard, Christopher Lloyd, Curtis Jackson	Eminem	4:41
24.	"Jimmy, Brian and Mike"	Mathers, Young, Elizondo, Resto, Ronnie DeVoe, Ricky Bell, Ralph Tresvant, Michael Bivins	Dr. Dre, Mike Elizondo, Eminem [a]	3:21
25.	"Freestyle #1" (Live from Tramps, New York / 1999)	Mathers, Rob Parissi, Melissa Elliott, Timothy Mosley	Eminem	1:17
26.	"Brain Damage" (Live from Tramps, New York / 1999)	Mathers, J. Bass, Mark Bass	Eminem	1:24
27.	"Freestyle #2" (Live from Tramps, New York / 1999)	Mathers	Eminem	0:52
28.	"Just Don't Give a Fuck" (Live from Tramps, New York / 1999)	Mathers, J. Bass, M. Bass	Eminem	3:15
29.	"The Way I Am" (featuring Proof) (Live from Fuji Festival, Japan / 2001)	Mathers, Holton	Eminem	3:43
30.	"The Real Slim Shady" (featuring Proof) (Live from Fuji Festival, Japan / 2001)	Mathers	Eminem	4:45
31.	"Business" (Instrumental)		Dr. Dre	4:11
32.	"Cleanin' Out My Closet" (Instrumental)		Eminem, Bass	5:42
33.	"Square Dance" (Instrumental)		Eminem, Bass	6:17
34.	"Without Me" (Instrumental)		Eminem, Bass[a], DJ Head[b]	4:48
35.	"Sing for the Moment" (Instrumental)		Eminem, Bass	6:23
36.	"Superman" (Instrumental)		Eminem, Bass	7:02
37.	"Say What You Say" (Instrumental)		Dr. Dre	5:06
38.	"'Till I Collapse" (Instrumental)		Eminem	5:45
Total length:				71:19

Special edition bonus DVD
#	Title	Feature(s)	Length
1.	"Brain Damage / Just Don't Give a Fuck"	Live at "Tramps", New York
2.	"Eminem's Life and New Album"	Featurette
3.	"Just Don't Give a Fuck"	Music video
4.	"Eminem: All Access Europe"	Preview
5.	"Producing Tracks"	Featurette
6.	"The Way I Am"	Live at the Fuji Rock Festival
7.	"The Real Slim Shady"	Live at the Fuji Rock Festival
8.	"Thank You's"	Featurette
9.	"8 Mile"	Trailer
10.	"Slimshank Redemption"	The Slim Shady Show Skit
11.	"New Victims"	Featurette

Japanese collector's box bonus DVD
#	Title	Feature(s)	Length
1.	"Without Me"	Music Video
2.	"Without Me"	Karaoke Video Clip
3.	"Without Me"	Behind the Scenes
4.	"Eminem Talk"	Interview

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer.
• Early clean versions of the album replace "Drips" with four seconds of silence. Later clean versions feature an edited version of the song.
• Another censored version of the album did not allow the words "goddamn", "prick", "bastard", "piss", "bitch", "ass", "shit" and "fuck" to be left uncensored.
• "Curtain Close (Skit)" is performed by Ken Kaniff, who Eminem portrays at the end of the album before continuing on with the persona on Relapse in 2009, as displayed in the album booklet.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2002–2003)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	1
Australian Hip-Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	3
Canadian Albums (Billboard)	1
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)	1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	2
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	1
European Albums (Billboard)	1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	1
French Albums (SNEP)	2
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	1
Greek Albums (IFPI)	1
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)	2
Irish Albums (IRMA)	1
Italian Albums (FIMI)	1
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	3
Malaysian Albums (RIM)	5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	1
Polish Albums (ZPAV)	2
Portuguese Albums (AFP)	3
Scottish Albums (OCC)	1
Singaporean Albums (RIAS)	3
South African Albums (RISA)	1
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)	4
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	1
UK Albums (OCC)	1
UK R&B Albums (OCC)	1
US Billboard 200	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	1

Chart (2013)	Peak position
US Top Catalog Albums (Billboard)	2

Chart (2017)	Peak position
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)	14

Year-end charts

Chart (2002)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	1
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	3
Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	6
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)	2
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)	1
Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)	1
Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)	1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	5
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	6
European Albums (Music & Media)	4
Finnish Albums (Suomen viralinen lista)	4
French Albums (SNEP)	13
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	6
Irish Albums (IRMA)	7
Italian Albums (FIMI)	16
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	96
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	3
Spanish International Albums (AFYPE)	9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	4
Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)	4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	5
UK Albums (OCC)	7
US Billboard 200	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	1
Worldwide Albums (IFPI)	1

Chart (2003)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	6
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	23
Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	27
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	32
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	33
European Albums (Billboard)	9
Finnish Albums (Suomen viralinen lista)	28
French Albums (SNEP)	35
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	15
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)	43
Irish Albums (IRMA)	20
Italian Albums (FIMI)	40
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	99
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	41
Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)	55
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	34
UK Albums (OCC)	39
US Billboard 200	14
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	16
Worldwide Albums (IFPI)	20

Chart (2004)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	28
French Albums (SNEP)	176

Chart (2010)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	31

Chart (2011)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	29

Chart (2013)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	37
US Catalog Albums (Billboard)	27

Chart (2014)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	32
US Billboard 200	120
US Catalog Albums (Billboard)	9

Chart (2015)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	22
US Billboard 200	99
US Catalog Albums (Billboard)	17

Chart (2016)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	19
US Billboard 200	84
US Catalog Albums (Billboard)	33

Chart (2017)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	17
US Billboard 200	75
US Catalog Albums (Billboard)	11
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	49

Chart (2018)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	31
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	88

Chart (2019)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	22
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	90

Chart (2020)	Position
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	32
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	186
US Billboard 200	162
US Catalog Albums (Billboard)	32

Chart (2021)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	88
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	26
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	167
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	96

Chart (2022)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	51
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	11
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	75
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	155
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	52
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	44
Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)	98
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)	41
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	28
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	79
US Billboard 200	166

Chart (2023)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	49
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	10
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	30
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	85
Canadian Albums (Billboard)	47
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	58
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	47
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	52
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)	63
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	37
Polish Albums (ZPAV)	96
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	69
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	57
UK Albums (OCC)	76

Chart (2024)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	63
Australian Hip Hop/R&B Albums (ARIA)	16
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	58
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	91
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)	83
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	59
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	30
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	64
UK Albums (OCC)	92

Decade-end charts

Chart (2000–2009)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	10
UK Albums (OCC)	61
US Billboard 200	3
US Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums (Billboard)	7

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)	Platinum	40,000**
Australia (ARIA)	18× Platinum	1,260,000***
Austria (IFPI Austria)	2× Platinum	60,000*
Belgium (BEA)	Platinum	50,000*
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)	Gold	50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)	Diamond	1,000,000**
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)	8× Platinum	160,000***
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)	2× Platinum	62,212
France (SNEP)	2× Platinum	600,000*
Germany (BVMI)	3× Platinum	900,000***
Greece (IFPI Greece)	Platinum	30,000**
Hungary (MAHASZ)	2× Platinum	40,000**
Italy sales 2002-2003	—	250,000
Italy (FIMI) sales since 2009	2× Platinum	100,000***
Japan (RIAJ)	3× Platinum	600,000**
Mexico (AMPROFON)	Gold	75,000**
Netherlands (NVPI)	Platinum	80,000**
New Zealand (RMNZ)	9× Platinum	135,000**
Norway (IFPI Norway)	Platinum	112,000
Poland (ZPAV)	Gold	35,000*
Portugal (AFP)	Platinum	40,000**
Singapore (RIAS)	Gold	5,000*
South Africa (RISA)	2× Platinum	100,000*
South Korea	—	202,390
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	2× Platinum	200,000**
Sweden (GLF)	2× Platinum	120,000**
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)	3× Platinum	120,000**
United Kingdom (BPI)	7× Platinum	2,100,000***
United States (RIAA)	12× Platinum	12,000,000***
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ** Shipments figures based on certification alone. *** Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.