The Slim Shady EP

In 1996, an aspiring rapper from Detroit, Eminem released his debut album, entitled Infinite , whose sales amounted to only a thousand copies, and Eminem himself was accused of copying the style of other musicians of the Nas and AZ genre ^[1] . The album was also ignored by many radio stations, and critics gave mixed reviews ^[2] .

Disappointed by the failure of Infinite , Eminem came up with his alter ego - Slim Shady. According to rumors, Marshall invented it while sitting in the toilet ^[1] . The songs that Eminem sings in this image are filled with violence, sex, etc. ^[1]

On this album, Eminem first introduced listeners to his alter ego Slim Shady. The lyrics were radically different from Infinite , they were filled with references to acts of violence, drug use and so on. Eminem also read about his family problems and poverty. There were answers to criticism of the previous album. According to listeners, his style of performance has changed markedly - now it was impossible to say that he looked like rappers Nas and AZ . Eminem began to use more complex rhymes, a distinct and even narration ^{[3] [4]} .

Following the release of the album, Eminem was accused by New York rapper Cage of copying the style, as the alter ego of Slim Shady talks about excessive violence, and Cage already did this earlier in his song Agent Orange. Some listeners also noticed that the styles of both are very similar, these circumstances led to hostility between the musicians ^[3]

In 1997, Eminem went to Los Angeles to take part in the annual national competition Rap Olympics , in which he won second place. The event was attended by an employee of the label Interscope Records , to whom Eminem gave the cassette The Slim Shady EP to transfer it to the director of the label ^[5] .

Jimmy Iowin and Dr. Dre , the founder of Aftermath Entertainment , listened to the recording. Dr. Dre recalled: “In my entire career I have never found a demo. When Jimmy listened to this tape, I said: “Find me it. Now "" ^[5] . After contracting with Aftermath, Eminem and Dr. Dre immediately began working on the recording of The Slim Shady LP , which included three songs from The Slim Shady EP : “ Just Don't Give a Fuck ”, “Just the Two of Us” with the skete “Mommy” (already as “ ' 97 Bonnie & Clyde ”) and“ If I Had ” ^[3] .

Web Entertainment released the album's promotion in 1997 on compact tapes containing four songs: “ Just Don't Give a Fuck ”, “Murder, Murder”, “Just The Two Of Us”, “Low Down, Dirty”. Eminem gave them away for free at various Detroit hip-hop events, including Rap Olympics in 1997. In addition, at the end of 1997, the 12-inch single “Just Don't Give A Fuck” was released: there were four versions of “Just Don't Give A Fuck” on the disc (landscape, radio, instrumental, and acapella), “Just The Two Of Us ”and“ Low Down, Dirty ” ^[3] .

Like the previous Infinite release ^[6] , Allmusic delivered The Slim Shady EP two and a half stars out of five without a review ^[7] . XXL magazine rated 3 out of 5 stars (rated “L”) and put it on the list of “100 Most Essential Rap EPs of All Time - The Best of the Short & Sweet " ) ^[8] . In March 1998, Eminem entered the Unsigned Hype column of The Source . The author highlighted two songs: “Just The Two Of Us” and “Murder, Murder”. The column was written two months before Eminem was signed to Aftermath Entertainment and was not published until March 1998 ^[9] .

After Eminem became famous, listeners became interested in this album, he even reached 27th position in the UK Albums Chart in 2001 four years after the release ^[10] .

List of songs whose samples were taken during the work on the album ^[3]

• “Low Down, Dirty” - contains a sample from “Soopaman Luva 3” by rapper Redman and “ One More Chance ” by rapper The Notorious BIG
• “If I Had ...” - contains a sample from Impeach The President by The Honey Drippers
• “ Just Don't Give a Fuck ” - contains a sample from “I Don't Give a Fuck” by rapper Tupac Shakur
• “Just The Two of Us” - contains a sample from “Just The Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr
• No One's Iller - Contains a sample from Henk Crawford 's Wildflower
• “Murder, Murder” - contains a sample from “ 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover ” by Paul Simon , “Outlaw” by rapper Tupac Shakur and “SlaughtaHouse” by rapper Masta Ace