The Marshall Mathers LP is released

Why it matters

The Marshall Mathers LP came out on Aftermath/Interscope on May 23, 2000. It is Eminem's third album and his second major-label release, after the Slim Shady LP a year and three months earlier. Dr. Dre produced most of the album. The 45 King, Mel-Man, and Em himself handled the rest. The album is the moment Eminem becomes the most commercially dominant rapper in the world. Marshall Mathers LP sold 1.76 million copies in its first week (the fastest-selling solo album in US history at the time and the fastest-selling rap album ever), eventually moving 35 million copies worldwide. The album split the difference between the cartoonish Slim Shady persona of the first record and a more autobiographical Marshall Mathers register that the title announced. "The Real Slim Shady," "The Way I Am," "Stan," "Kim," "Bitch Please II" with Dre and Snoop, "Marshall Mathers" itself. The technical rap writing on this album is sharper than what most of the rest of the field was capable of in 2000. You can listen to it now and still hear how much higher the lyrical ceiling sat after this album dropped.