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Eminem attempts to take over hip-hop with the help of Dr. Dre

Available from: Interscope Records
Our rating: **** (of five)

Our view: Despite whack white rappers of the past, Eminem proves that lyrical skillz have no color.

By Jake McKim
Entertainment Co-Editor

After the charade of Vanilla Ice and the little-skilled white rappers who followed him, it's been a difficult task for all Caucasian MCs to break onto the scene and be taken seriously.

However, one white rapper, Eminem, pronounced like the candy, may be just the guy to break through that stigma and make people look past color and concentrate more on lyrical skills. 

On his major-label debut, Slim Shady, the rapper who melts in your mouth and not in your hands, offends just about everyone from women to wack MCs, with demented lyrics and stories of violence, rape, poverty and other topics that are sure to make jaws drop across the nation.

Tracks like "Guilty Conscience," "My Name Is" and "Role Model," which all happen to be produced by legendary hip-hopper Dr. Dre, are so controversial that they'll probably make some people sick to their stomachs. Nevertheless, Eminem rips through the brilliantly produced cuts like a man possessed and makes no apologies for it.

Dr. Dre was so impressed after he heard Eminem freestyling on an L.A. radio station that he put out a manhunt to find the rhymer. Once he did, he instantly signed Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, to a deal with his label -- Aftermath Entertainment. The buzz has surrounded the Detroit rapper ever since.

Eminem's amazing abilities in songs such as "Brain Damage" display a lyrical diversity that puts him in, dare I say, the category of greats like Notorious B.I.G., Chuck D. and Q-Tip.

"I'm not alone in feeling the way I feel," Eminem said. "I believe that a lot of people can relate ... whether white, black, it doesn't matter. Everybody has been through some (trouble), whether it's drastic or not so drastic."

Although he's just now making his way to mainstream media with the highly successful, highly requested single, "My Name Is," he's been spittin' rhymes for quite some time in the hip-hop underground and is surprising none of its followers with his newfound popularity.

Vicious, yet humorous lines like "I'll take your ass on Jerry Springer and beat you legally" and "I slapped Garth Brooks out of his rhinestone shirt" prove his general theme throughout the record is that he just doesn't care.

One track that is bound to draw major attention from women's activist groups and others is "'97 Bonnie and Clyde," which entails Eminem murdering his baby's mother, stuffing her body in the trunk, and then taking his baby girl with him to dispose of the body in a nearby lake. The demented song, which happens to be a parody of Will Smith's "Just the Two of Us," is indeed sickening, and sound effects such as dragging the body can even be heard during the intro.

Ironically, it is in this song that Slim Shady's intense storytelling skills shine the most. 

For those who can look past the often obscene tales Eminem narrates, the lyrical juggler will blow away hip-hop lovers and may also attract those who have tended to stay away from that genre of music.

Cuts like "If I Had" and "As the World Turns" tend to weaken the album with cliché gripes about how bad life is, but don't detract from the otherwise spectacular collection of tracks.

Overall, Eminem goes a long way toward trying to prove to the world that color doesn't make a whole lot of difference when it comes to rap skills. Whether or not other white rhymers follow in his footsteps will be determined at a later date.