By Adam Bowman

Most of the time, a rapper's credibility is shot down soon after their first big mainstream hit. That's not the case with Marshall Mathers, equally known as Eminem. The main reason he has stuck around with such devotion to the spotlight is not only a flair for the musically dramatic, but by his sheer honesty. Even thought it may be over-the-top at times, his lyrics are almost always telling the cold, hard truth, like it or not. Such is the case with The Eminem Show.

The album follows the same streamline that is associated with Em: self-promotion by way of sheer honesty. On tracks like "White America" and the Aerosmith-sampling "Sing For The Moment," he walks a fine line between humor and anarchy. "Business" deals with his newfound revolving-door policy with women, and "When The Music Stops" hearkens back to the old-school gangster rap days. Musically, Dre once again proves that he is a master of the beat, as Eminem's got all he wants backing him and then some more on top of that. The melodies Slim puts over "Without Me," "Square Dance," and the softer "Hailie's Song" (a song Eminem actually opts to sing on rather than continuously rap,) showcase both Eminem and Dre's keen sense of hooking in the listener. The only things detrimental to the album is that it tends to drag, and you can swear that some pre-Eminem Show melodies are repeated. If you can overlook this and focus on what he's saying, the hooks will do their job, and this album will draw you in easily.