The Marshall Mathers LP

The Marshall Mathers LP is the third studio album by American rapper Eminem. Released May 23, 2000, the album sold more than 1.79 million copies in its first week just in the US, earning a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest selling solo album ever. In 2001, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. It has gone on to be certified 9x platinum by the RIAA in the United States, The album has now sold over 10.2 million copies in the US and as of 2005 had sold over 19 million units worldwide.

Often cited as Eminem’s magnum opus, The Marshall Mathers LP has been ranked as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all-time by such magazines as Rolling Stone, Time, and XXL. Rolling Stone placed the album at number 7 on its list of the best albums of the 2000s. The album was ranked number 302 by Rolling Stone on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2010, Rhapsody featured it on its list of “The 10 Best Albums By White Rappers”.

n the album’s title, The Marshall Mathers LP is a more serious and personal album than his major-label debut, The Slim Shady LP, which predominantly featured his exaggerated Slim Shady persona. Much of the album is spent addressing his rise to fame and attacking those who criticized his first album. Other themes include his relationship with his family, most notably his mother and Kim Mathers, his former wife.