Online Reporter
Detroit. − A quarter-of-a-century later and few would argue against the project’s most powerful song being Stan.
Eminem’s classic song Stan speaks loudly to its era of Columbine and the Oklahoma Bomber, with its exploration of what makes a fragile everyday person commit a headline-grabbing murder.
Built around haunting rainfall effects, wounded yet airy vocals courtesy of Dido, and a bassline that groans in a depressed stupor, this song tells the story of the titular Stan, a crazed fan with a parasocial relationship towards Eminem himself.
Rapping from the perspective of a drunk Stan, Eminem spits:
“I can relate to what you’re saying in your songs / so when I have a sh***y day, I drift away and put them on!”
But the character gets progressively more agitated, culminating in a horrifying climax which sees him driving a car, with his pregnant girlfriend locked in its trunk, off a bridge.
Aside from being as vivid as any Hollywood thriller, Stan was ahead of its time in highlighting the toxicity of feverish musician fandoms, and its lyrics foreshadow the noise of contemporary social media, a place where there’s endless reckless comments shared about celebrities.
Indeed, “Stan” has now entered common parlance, referring to someone who is an obsessive super-fan of a particular artist or celebrity – although not typically as sinister as Eminem’s protagonist.
“I think Stan speaks loudly to its era of Columbine and the Oklahoma Bomber, its exploration of what makes a fragile everyday person commit a headline-grabbing murder,” argues Craig Jenkins, a music critic for Vulture magazine.
As someone who is gay, Jenkins admits he has split feelings about The Marshall Mathers LP, which is an album where a particular homophobic slur is used with reckless abandon.
“There was a lot in the music that made me wince. But I don’t subscribe to the notion that Em was much worse on a homophobic index than everyone else [in rap] at the time,” he says.
“For a straight ‘90s male there was little worse than being seen as gay, or ‘less than a man’, as the logic suggested. The thought is in everything. I winced in Common and Black Star records. I winced at A Tribe Called Quest and Brand Nubian and Public Enemy records.”
Eminem has defended his use of homophobic slurs. In a 2013 interview, he said: “Not saying it’s wrong or it’s right, but at this point in my career [MMLP] man, I said so much shit that was tongue-in-cheek. I poked fun at other people, myself. But the real me sitting here right now talking to you has no issues with gay, straight, transgender, or women at all.”
The Marshall Mathers LP has certainly only become a more divisive listen a quarter of a century later.
In an era where artists are noticeably more aware of not causing offence, Eminem’s callous, abusive persona feels like an even greater shock to the system.
It’s popularity has not dimmed however, as evident by its massive streams; it’s surpassed five billion on Spotify alone and the Stan music video has nearly 800 million streams on YouTube.
It also had a notable impact on the next generation of rappers, with Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, and the late Juice WRLD all famous fans.
Whatever side you agree with, there’s not many albums from the year of the Millennium Bug that are still so feverishly debated or able to provoke so many conflicting raised voices.
In the 25 years since The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem has put out a lot of albums of varying quality, but none that carry the same sting. − BBC
