95. Eminem – Like Toy Soldiers (2005)

In 2004, Eminem felt that the curtains are about to go down on his inner drama. His first three albums were named after the three main characters in it: the first was called The Marshall Mathers LP, the second The Slim Shady LP, and the third The Eminem Show. The name of the third already hints that we were witnessing a show, and his fourth album from 2004 was named Encore, bringing it to a close. While the first three albums were dominated by the hilarious sociopath Slim Shady, in this album you could sense Shady losing the cynicism and anger that drove him, and becoming a caricature of himself. In the meantime, the characters of Marshall and Eminem grow and mature: in the course of the epic battle against the shady one, they managed to overcome him, and establish themselves as confident, conscientious and moral figures. Eminem displays it in this record, decrying the beef between his protégé 50 Cent and the rapper Ja Rule, and calling for restrain. Ja Rule dissed him as well, and rather viciously, but Eminem sets a personal example and refrains from retorting, to avoid escalation (if Slim Shady was still strong, he would never let that happen). It shows a higher awareness to the dangers of these feuds and an attempt to prevent the recurrence of the 2Pac & Biggy tragedy (and other rappers who fell victim to violence, and appear in the video), and so far, it looks like the efforts bare fruit, and the current hip-hop spars do not result in violence.

But without Shady, Eminem also becomes less interesting, and he knew it. A year later, he released the album Curtain Call, a greatest hits collection. The album ends with a new recording, in which Marshall tells us how his little daughter got him to want to heal their family, and reunite with his ex-wife (yes, the same ex-wife that Slim Shady fantasized about slashing her throat, cutting her up, and some less pleasant things). And so, the show closes with a happy ending. Marshall Mathers did indeed remarry his daughter's mother, and they lived happily ever after…

Well, not quite. Life isn't a show, and does not end when the happy ending arrives. Three months after the wedding, the couple divorced again (although this time, it seems, the relationship remained cordial). Eminem himself went into hibernation, and suffered from the usual problems that plague an artist when his fountains of creativity have run dry. In 2009 he came back with a fresh album, but it's not the same. As the teens open, the naughties' most important artist is looking for a new show.

Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers
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