Since his explosion onto the scene in 1999 with the Slim Shady LP, Eminem (real name Marshal Mathers) has become one of the most popular hip hop artists in the world and is, officially, the best-selling rapper of all time.
Upon signing with Dr Dre at the turn of the millennium, Mathers became an international superstar and began reaching levels no other rapper could can dream to attain. The Detroit artist has seen the top of the charts and has felt the euphoric high of being there. However, even at the height of his career, he has reached worrying lows.
Mathers has not only watched himself grow and evolve but, with his record label, has also seen his own artists grow and prosper in the industry. Mathers has watched his peers, such as 50 Cent, go on to achieve great things and release ground-breaking projects. However, he has not always been happy with the outcome when it comes to projects and endeavours of his own.
Even though he saw vast amounts of success in the early ’00s, as his addiction and personal issues began to take a toll on him, during the mid to late 2000s, Mathers started to see a decline in the quality of his work. But he has only seen this decline in hindsight.
The rapper, on many occasions, has admitted that there are projects of his own that today he hates. Furthermore, he has admitted that some of his albums he now regrets he even made. Two of these albums are his most famous. Encore and Relapse.
Released in 2005, Encore sold over 5.3 million units and was certified five-times platinum by the RIAA. His 2009 project, Relapse, sold over 2.6 million units. Some would argue that these numbers alone mean both were a success, but Mathers is not content with his output looking back.
Speaking to radio personality Sway of Sway In The Morning about the two albums, Mathers explained, “I have made albums that definitely would not be at the top of my list. Encore, Relapse, although I believe Encore is a better album than Relapse. Relapse is something that I looked at in a couple of years, went back to it and cringed at!!!”
The rapper continued, “I was like, ‘Oh Jesus Christ! I didn’t realise I was doing that many accents!’ I just started for whatever reason. I just got into it and started on this weird serial killer vibe kinda thing.” Throughout the interview, the rapper expressed his frustration with how he performed but insisted that he had to do those albums to get to the good and stable place that he is at now. You can view the interview in the video below to hear Eminem speaking on how he “cringed at” Relapse.
