**Encore & the Genius of Eminem**

[ganjakush56]

Most people think that Encore was the lowest point of Eminem's career but in fact, I believe they are all wrong and here is why:

There are multiple layers and factors that must be accounted for when discussing why Encore sounded the way it did. Understand the following:

The Marketing Aspect

If one examines the period between 1995 and 2000, Eminem dropped that Soul Intent EP, then a year later dropped Infinite (with very limited funds). The very next year drops the Slim Shady EP, does lots of promotion (including interviews, freestyles, collabs, etc.) for The Slim Shady LP the following year while recording the actual album - the final product was then released in 1999.Next, in 2000, the behemoth of The Marshall Mathes LP dropped. He was dropping new material almost every single year between 1995 and 2000. During this time period there were no market constraints on the first three releases listed above because they were underground releases. 1998 onward, there were little to no market constraints for Aftermath Entertainment concerning the release of Eminem's albums bar 2001 by Dr. Dre in 1999. Post 2000, both Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment (of course along with Interscope) were concerned with releasing D12's album in 2001 - it didn't make sense to also release an Eminem album that same year because one, they would be saturating the market with Eminem, effecting potential sales by eliminating the novelty factor and two, the demand for a new Em album that year would conflict with the demand for D12. Also, budget wise, it was much smarter to release Devil's Night in 2001 and The Eminem Show (and the release of 8 Mile) in 2002 from a financial standpoint. The same shit happened in 2003 because they had to launch both 50 Cent's and Obie Trice's debuts. So, in light of this, it made sense from a marketing standpoint to release Encore in 2004.

What didn't make sense was to drop D12 World and Encore in the same year with only a six month gap in between, especially when both projects were widly (and blindly to some) received as generally average to mediocre. In 2001, Devil's Night not only served as an introduction for D12 but also as a type of promotional project for Eminem's next release because most average music listeners were checking for D12 mainly because of Eminem's presence. Only the core fans were really concerned with what Swifty Mcvay or Kuniva had to say. The difference with 2004 is that D12 World was a disappointment to the majority which means it served almost as a career suicide for D12 (even though it went 2x platinum) and demotion for Eminem's next release. Based on the reception and content of D12 World, I would not be surprised if some fans were expecting, at the very least, a fall in quality with Encore prior to its release. This was all a recipe for disaster and Eminem knew it.

The Leaks: Straight From the Lab EP

In addition to the marketing disaster leading up to Encore, quite a few Eminem tracks leaked in 2003. These tracks were probably going to be included on Encore but since they were leaked early, they were obviously cut from the main album. Eminem had already made his relationship with his fans known on tracks like 'Don't Approach Me', 'The Way I Am', etc. - the motherfucker likes his privacy. So, when his songs were leaked earlier than when he intended fans to hear them (if ever), this was a big 'fuck you' to Eminem. It was sign of disrespect. I believe that Eminem included 'My 1st Single', 'Rain Man', 'Big Weenie', and 'Ass Like That' as a bigger 'fuck you' to his fans, especially when you consider that Eminem is a very reactionary artist.

In effect, one will hear Eminem say lines like "And I don't even gotta make no God damned sense,
I just did a whole song and I didn't say shit" - at the time, he knew that people would buy his shit solely because of the Eminem name/brand. He doesn't even need to make sense, knowing his fans will gobble it up blindly like cattle; he makes the listener sit through 'Rain Man' and even explicitly states that at this point in his career, he could say and do whatever the fuck he wanted by taking advantage of his fans. This, to me, is a huge and genius 'fuck you' to his fans in retaliation for his music being leaked in 2003.

Adapting to the Marketing Disaster - Literal Career Suicide

So, knowing that Encore was not going to perform nearly as well as The Eminem Show, I believe that Eminem adapted the content of Encore to reflect not only that, but also the nature of his career and the current issues in his life at the time. Encore was built as TES 2. The Eminem Show was a commercial giant - fucking 2002 in general was a commercial boom for Eminem which propelled him into a global phenomenon. We all know that Eminem would rather do without all the shit that comes that ridiculous level of fame. So, I believe he aimed to do just that with Encore; hence, the suicidal/homicidal skit at the closing of the album. He kills his fans AND himself.

My point is that Encore was deliberately made into a musical analogy for a kamikaze bomber. The leaked tracks were replaced with mediocrity as retaliation. Encore was no different from any of his other albums in that it was a reflection of where Eminem was at both personally and as an artist. In 2004, he was dealing addiction to multiple substances (Vicodin, Valium, Xenadrine (during 8 Mile fliming), Ambien, and who knows what the fuck else. He had built the Slim Shady brand into this monumental global entity which in turn created a lot of pressure for this album. Plus, there was the volatile political climate of the country concerning Bush's reelection and at the same time, there were all the tense beefs with Benzino, Source, Ja Rule, etc. a year prior. All of these situations (minus bush's reelection) were brought on by the monumental size of Slim Shady as a ubiquitous figure and cultural icon to be worshiped and revered by multiple generations and millions of people across the world. Slim Shady, the brand, literally was becoming a monster (thus the title of 'the monster' on the mmlp2). I believe that Eminem did not want any part of this anymore because it was slowly ruining his life so set out to commit career suicide to tone down the fame. The funny thing is that it all worked.

Some people stopped feeling Eminem after the reception of 'Just Lose it' and all the Michael Jackson controversy; many people stopped checking for Eminem as hard as they were because of Encore; sales decreased dramatically (TES has gone diamond, Encore has gone 5x Platinum. That's 5 Million less sales in the US which only further highlights the marketing disaster mentioned earlier. This album was a deliberate and imo, a necessary implosion.

In Conclusion: The Ultimate Genius of Eminem and why he is the GOAT

Encore is understood by most to be mediocre but I believe it was supposed to be mediocre for the reasons mentioned earlier in this post. More evidence of my analysis can be seen within the 'When I'm Gone' track released a year after Encore - this track features a symbolic death of the slim shady character after summing up all of the problems with fame discussed in Encore by connecting it to his family. He then continues and revives Slim Shady on 'My Darling' in 2009. Did you notice that that deep voice speaking in 'My Darling' is the same as the one in the intro of the SSEP? This same voice is also featured in the intro of Relapse (Dr. West skit) and in the 4th verse of Bad Guy - (this nigga Eminem is genius). In addition, if you listen closely to the beginning of 'My Darling', he is yawning as if he just woke up which is direct connection to the 'Dr. West' skit in which he wakes up from an alarm clock. I feel that "My Darling' was supposed to be the opening track of Relapse rather than '3 AM'.

In addition, to explore the true genius of Eminem, one must understand the mirror motif featured throughout his entire career. Every one of his albums is reactionary just as the mind is. The mind cannot function in a vacuum; it feeds off of sensory and imaginative input which is directly related to experience. In other words, the mind is a mirror for subjective experience and vice versa. In 'My Darling', Eminem references the 'spirit' inside of him (the deep voice which is supposed to represent the devil/essence of slim shady) as being inside a mirror. In the 'When I'm Gone' video, he punches a mirror when he says "Die Shady". In the intro of the SSEP, the voice repeats "look in the mirror" before "Low Down, Diry" begins and Slim Shady enters. In "Going Through Changes", he says he hates his reflection; that he fights mirrors because his reflection looks fat (the result of depression, and Vicodin addiction - it eats at the stomach lining eventually causing the user to consume more food; both of these can be understood as the results of the monster the slim shady brand created.

The Marshall Mathers LP was a truer reflection of urban/metropolitan, middle to lower class, White America - it was like holding an authentic mirror up to all of these people and they bought into it; thus, the track 'The Real Slim Shady' becomes a complex layered masterpiece. So, MMLP was a mirror for this segment of American society and in its reflection, middle/lower class white America saw their own personal and private Slim Shadies if that makes sense. Eminem has said in interviews "everyone has a slim shady side in them". In addition, this album was also a mirror for Eminem, a self reflection and so the voice we hear on this album literally is the voice of slim shady/the devil/the degenerate archetype of the contemporary American consciousness that so many of us feel solidarity with because our society is fucked up along with our collective consciousness and minds.

More evidence of this genius can be seen on obscure freestyles/verses like 'Chauvinist Pig', 'Watch Dees', etc. In 'Demon Inside' he discusses sitting down with the devil to create a partnership - that is some metaphorical shit appealing to the original imagery of the duallistic relationship between Slim Shady and Eminem. Further evidence can be found on many other tracks but i'm tired of writing.





Discuss, I'm interested in building upon this because there are so many layers to Eminem's career, its not even funny.

[mdemaz]

not this again

[ganjakush56]

not this again

someone's posted this before?

I'm not saying Encore is good: its not...did you even read what I wrote?

[kkaniff]

1. ganjakush is a top 5 poster.
2. I'm too sleepy to read.
3. Will do that later.
4. I LOVE the reasoning behind this thread; rejecting the accepted norm in favor of actually thinking for yourself.
5. I'm going back to sleep now, will read and comment later.

[slims]

interesting read but wow, you must have been bored.

[ganjakush56]

nah, its only like 10 paragraphs.


i hate how because of the instant nature of the internet, it has made some people incapable of reading anything longer than two sentences online. How can one expect to build upon their beliefs/conceptions/whatever the fuck if they don't want to read? goddamn

[ganjakush56]

Are you saying eminem meant to make encore a bad album? Cuz im pretty sure the pills did that for him

Of course I can't say for certain because I'm not Eminem but I really don't think Encore was 100% the result of some sort of opiate (Vicodin) or depressant (Ambien) induced psychosis. Additionally, post 8 Mile, he was fucking with Ambien hard because of touring yet his 2003 featured verses were generally decent.

[ShadyxEminem]

Sucks because it was the first Eminem album I ever bought. Great read btw.

[mr jones]

d12 world is classic because it brought us my salsa

MY SALSA MAKES ALL DA PRETTY GIRLS DANCE AND THEY WANT TO TAKE OFF THERE UNDERPANTS. IM THE LEAD SINGER OF THE BAND AND I VE GOT MY SALSA. LOOK OUT FOR MY NEW THING ITS CALLED MY SALSA

[mdemaz]

d12 world is better than encore tho

[Chalky]

I wonder how long it took you to type this

[ganjakush56]

I wonder how long it took you to type this

4 minutes.

[ganjakush56]

I wonder how long it took you to type this

4 minutes.

gonna go ahead and call extreme amounts of bullshit on that

also encore fucking sucks whether it was meant to or not and if you make an album suck on purpose (which eminem didn't do), you're a jackass who deserves to lose every fan you have

that was sarcasm, and i never said Encore was good, its a very shitty album. I still think its a genius album or rather the strategy around the album was genius but i agree with you in that the actual music was garbage. No doubt about that at all.

[Him Shadow]

interesting read but wow, you must have been bored.

I wonder how long it took you to type this

checkin' trshady from time to time, posting less but at least have some point in it > checkin' tr every 5 min just to write some unnecessary bullshit and have thousands of posts


interesting read ganjakush56, although I don't agree with most of it...

[Mr Evil]

Long but Interesting read

It's just his opinion guys, you don't need to shoot it down in flames.