THE COMPLEXITY OF MARSHALL MATHERS (aka Eminem)
Eminem :- The rapper, Slim shady :- The alter ego, Marshall :- The man.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III popularly known as Eminem has built an indisputable precedent as a rapper of endless talents and versatility. With this article, I’m going to build a simplified architecture of his complex characters and clearly define how each of this characters relate and modularize features from each other.
EMINEM (The rapper)
Probably the most popular of the trio, Eminem stands out primarily for his name. Marshall Bruce Mathers III has chosen to identify himself this way.
Eminem is a member of the aforementioned trio, he raps just for his love for it, there isn’t much complexity behind this character. He primarily imposes dominance, you’d particularly find this character in battle raps or trying out news styles, flows and features. Eminem doesn’t rap with any ideology in mind asides dominance, he just wants to shock rap, make double and triple entendres, damage beats and question your lung capacity.
Eminem builds upon himself as he goes through stages and phases, from one beat and then to a verse and then another. You would primarily find this character in freestyles or features where he wants to trump every other artist and come out top.
Here are a few songs where you’d find Eminem primarily in action:
- Forever ft Drake, lil wayne, Kanye
- Cinderella man
- Godzilla
- Till I collapse
- Rap God
- The ringer
- Renegade ft Jay Z
- Drop the world ft lil Wayne
SLIMSHADY (The alter Ego)
Slim shady was formed as an alternate version of Bruce mathers upon forming rap group D12.
He primarily exists as the darkest and most intricate parts of Bruce.
Slim shady is the most complex and misunderstood character of the trio and one that bruce Mathers gets a lot of stick for.
Music is an art form and just like every other genre of art ( Painting, acting, film, theatre, dancing, e.t.c), it is malleable. Just like you’d have horror and R rated movies exist, such level of extremism shouldn’t be confined to film or theatre alone, music as well should be able to benefit from it.
Bruce Mathers, being a master of his craft (art), understands this principles.
It is on this niche that slim shady is born. Slim shady in the mind of Bruce doesn’t have restrictions or boundaries. He challenges fundamental ideologies in the most brutal and disrespectful ways possible. Either by spewing homophobic slurs or glorifying murder and homicide, the alter ego would always pick the most disturbing methods to pass his art across.
Slim shady is an horror character, he cycles his existence around that. The alter ego give him freedom unlike any of the other characters and allows him to deliver the most brilliant art on complex and beautifully layered levels, creating a masterful story / stories in the process.
The alter ego also gives Bruce their liberty to talk about his struggles in the most disturbing way possible. Be it by him making a mockery of his drugs addiction and relapse or him clowning about murdering his infidel wife.
Here are a few songs that magnify the extremism of slim shady:
- Kim
- Kill you
- ’97 Bonnie and Clyde
- Stay wide awake
- Underground
- 3 AM
- My name is
- Cleaning out my closet
MARSHALL( The man)
Marshall Bruce Mathers III struggled with an absent father and an abusive, drug addicted mother. He was bullied as a kid and on one occasion was bullied into coma. He lost his best friend to a shoot out in 2009 and has been divorced from the same woman, twice in 6 years for infidelity.
He also overdosed from a sleeping medication and was 2 hours away from death.
His struggles as a person are very well documented and they inspire a section level of his music.
Marshall raps from inspiration or life events, hence his struggles play an important role in his music. As he said in 2019, music is his therapy.
The character or persona, Marshall, is usually soft spoken and sometimes nearly tearful. He usually raps about the negative impact of drug abuse, his childhood struggles as a result of an absent father and drug-ill mother and his adulthood plagued by his best friend’s death and his infidel wife.
He typical tells stories in this version of himself. Citing one of his songs as a sample, Deja Vu , where he narrates the story of his drug overdose.
Here are a few songs that personify Marshall:
- Beautiful
- Yellow brick road
- Beautiful pain
- Deja vu
- Space bound
- Taking to myself
- Arose
- Not afraid
- Going through changes
To wrap this up, I would write briefly about how this characters intersect with one another. Either by a one-to-many relationship ( Eminem leading, slim and Marshall sub levels) or a many-to-many relationship ( all three atop/ in unison).
The capabilities and features of this characters are unique and modular but Bruce Mathers has been able to define a uni/multidirectional flow between each of these characters and how they can all benefit properties/properly from one another.
There are songs in which two of these characters are featured. Some others songs in which one battles another, almost at an emotional level, for prominence.
Some songs that dignify multiple characters:
- Evil Twin
- My Darling
- When I’m Gone
- Castle
- Arose
- Venom
- Fall
My Eminem starter pack : https://music.apple.com/ng/playlist/eminem/pl.u-leyl1xJtMaY5pG0
