Then, it wasn't clear to every listener that Eminem was, as they say, an unreliable narrator, somebody who slung satire, lies, uncomfortable truths, and lacerating insights with vigor and venom, blurring the line between reality and parody, all seemingly without effort. Sadly, history repeated itself: Save for a memorable 2007 hit, вЂњTambourine,вЂќ nothing much came out of her second stint at the label, either.Given his subsequent superstardom, culminating in no less than an Academy Award, it may be easy to overlook exactly how demonized Eminem was once his mainstream debut album, The Slim Shady LP, grabbed the attention of pop music upon its release in 1999. Perhaps inspired by the Top 10-charting, Grammy-winning success of вЂњLet Me Blow Ya Mind,вЂќ Eve rejoined DreвЂ™s Aftermath camp in 2004.

вЂњDrop your glasses, shake your asses,вЂќ she commands.

вЂњLet Me Blow Ya MindвЂќ has the same ringing blues-guitar melody that girded DreвЂ™s вЂњXxplosive,вЂќ but it sounds lighter here, and Gwen StefaniвЂ™s sassy chorus gives it a winningly pop tone. A second deal with Ruff Ryders set her on the right path, and by the time she rejoined Dre for the biggest hit of her career, she was one of rapвЂ™s biggest stars. I just wanted my album out, but I didnвЂ™t know who I was as an artist, and I think Dre works really good with artists who know their own directions,вЂќ she told XXL magazine in 2004. вЂњGuess whoвЂ™s back?вЂќ Dre announces, yet he sounds like he isnвЂ™t breaking a sweat about it.ДЄs Eve of Destruction, Philadelphia rapper Eve Jeffers was one of the first artists signed to DreвЂ™s Aftermath Entertainment. shit.вЂќ While Dre renders Jay HovaвЂ™s rhymes about hittinвЂ™ corners on Lo-LoвЂ™s in his distinctive baritone cool, he collaborated with rising producers Scott Storch and Mel-Man to craft an easygoing stride-piano rhythm that cruises at an impressively low hum. Jigga sat for 20 minutes and came back with some hardass, around-the-way L.A. (Counterprogramming moves by friend-turned-foe Suge Knight led Dre to change the title to Chronic 2001, and finally just 2001.) вЂњAt first, he wrote about diamonds and Bentleys,вЂќ Dre told Blaze magazine in 1999. So he recruited East Coast rap god Jay-Z to ghostwrite lyrics for the first single of what was initially known as Chronic 2000. Yet the stakes couldnвЂ™t have been higher for the sequel to his masterpiece, The Chronic. вЂњIвЂ™ve been in the game for 10 years making rap tunes/Ever since honeys was wearing Sassoon,вЂќ he boasts on this essential West Coast anthem.Дre had already launched a modest comeback with his work on Snoop DoggвЂ™s fan-favorite вЂњB Please,вЂќ and EminemвЂ™s multiplatinum debut, The Slim Shady LP. And with his deep, authoritative voice, he matches 2PacвЂ™s more antic, fire-breathing delivery.

Dre ingeniously mixed Roger TroutmanвЂ™s talk-box vocals with an interpolation of the well-worn B-boy break of Joe CockerвЂ™s вЂњWoman to Woman.вЂќ The combination gives the song a classic feel a blend of East Coast sample sensibilities and West Coast funk vibes that went unnoticed during the height of hip-hop coastal tensions. (He also spent some time in prison on drunk-driving charges, an experience that he later said forced him to clean up his lifestyle.) Despite behind-the-scenes tensions, вЂњCalifornia LoveвЂќ immediately became the kind of party starter that, 20 years after its release, can still set a dance floor on fire. Dre, for his part, plotted an escape from Death Row, alarmed at the labelвЂ™s increasingly wayward drift. New signee 2Pac, one of hip-hopвЂ™s first great workaholics and a pioneer for rapвЂ™s вЂњmake 1,000 songsвЂќ model of studio profligacy, chafed at DreвЂ™s perfectionist tendencies. DreвЂ™s last great moment with the world-conquering label he and Suge Knight co-founded.

The real slim shady album songs