Inside Pulse launched on August 9, 2004, and has covered the world of music for over a decade. Every day, we take a look back at what was happening in the world of music 10 years ago, as reported right here at Inside Pulse!
Eminem: Beyond the Encore, Part VI – The Early Years
Welcome to the final installment of InsidePulse’s exclusive Eminem: Beyond the Encore feature. This column is brought to you by the 2005 Nissan Maxima. Listen to Overseer’s “Horndog” as you drive it.
In January of 2000, Eminem’s “My Name Is” hit MTV. The single was the first off of the rapper’s major-label debut, The Slim Shady LP, and it brought something new to the mainstream that had not been as prevalent in past hip-hop releases-comedy. That’s not to say that other hip-hop personalities hadn’t explored that realm previously (see, e.g., Kool Keith, Beastie Boys, et c.), but Eminem took it to an entirely different level, abrasively poking fun at various celebrities who were enjoying notoriety at the time, including, but not limited to, the Spice Girls, Marilyn Manson, and Pamela Anderson [Lee]. He was also willing to poke fun at himself, or the Slim Shady character that he plays, rapping about having done massive amounts of drugs, being suicidal, growing up under shitty circumstances, and having various venereal diseases. It was received well, due to the fact that it was in heavy rotation, along with the fact that Eminem had the backing of the legendary Dr. Dre, who also helped produce his Interscope debut. “My Name Is” was followed up by “97 Bonnie and Clyde” (a song in which he raps about having killed his wife and having his baby daughter help him hide the body, complete with voice-overs from the toddler) and “Guilty Conscience,” which featured the aforementioned Dre and showed a series of young men in compromising situations, including one finding his wife in bed with another guy, and another being faced with the opportunity to rape an underage girl.
