I agree his delivery is wonderfully aggressive and venomous, perfectly matched to the materiel. The Streets is much more more melancholy and world-weary (and very English) more prose than poetry perhaps, a storyteller rather than rapper.
Thankfully the music business still has room for such people as these and it hasn’t all been consumed by pop idol.
I think The Blueprint is the best rap album of the last decade, but stand by what I said about Eminem being the best lyricist, and perhaps the best rapper of the decade all things considered (albums, singles, production, lyrics, music videos, live performance).
It’s all subjective of course.
Marshal Mathers has a vast lyrical range. When he raps as his more serious “Eminem” persona, his lyrics can range from very dark and personal (such as songs like Stan, Love the Way You Lie) to empowering and uplifting (Not Afraid, Lose Yourself). When he raps as his more whimsical “Slim Shady” persona, his songs can range from disturbingly over the top and violent (Guilty Conscious, 3 a.m.) to fun party songs (Without Me) to just plain ole retarded (Ass Like That).
And I’m probably going to hell for finding his Christopher Reeves impression on the end of the song Medicine Ball off his Recovery album so funny:
*So one last time
Mr Christopher Reeves!
Won’t you break it down for me
And just spit the verse, please!
[Eminem As Christopher Reeves]
Eminem, I’m coming to kill you wheeze
Always hated you and I still do
You’ll never fill my shoes, my Superman costume wheeze
Doesn’t even fit you
They don’t feel you
You’re taking this shit too far wheeze
Who do you think you are
Hang my suit up in the armoire
Everyday I hate you more and more
Throw down the cardboard
Let’s breakdance if you think you’re hardcore*
Anyone who can throw in Antidisestablishmentarianism into a rap and make it a dick joke without breaking the flow of the song gets props from me. 
I don’t see why you need a seat in hell for laughing at that. It’s almost a tribute, it its own acerbic way.
I usually try to avoid commiting the following heresy when talking with other hip hop heads, but what the hell…
I think Jay Z is wayyyyy over rated, and I think Eminem would murder him lyrically in any battle, any day. But since Jay Z doesn’t make my top 10 list of lyricists, that is faint praise. (I emphasize lyricists, because I will concede Jay is a great performer, has gone toe to toe with the greatest, has to get props for longevity, sheer volume of hits and lyrics put down and is not a bad lyricist to boot, so he makes my best top ten hip hop artists on those strengths).
Eminem is a nice lyricist, but he can’t make my top 20 fave hip hop artists, just because there is more to hip hop than clever and funny wordplay. There is an art to flipping slang terms and creating and building on the slang language that too many other artists have mastered to give Slim any room in my top 20. There are artists whose slang is so intricate and fresh that someone not immersed in hip hop culture wouldn’t understand a thing they are saying. And they still keep the nice metaphores, word play and clever twists of phrase coming, all the while telling an interesting ass story that you swear you knew all the characters personally (Ghostface, I’m looking at you daddy!)
But Eminem can drop lyrics. Nuff respect for that. No one can take that from him.
That’s one of the reasons Eminem gets a lot of credit for his lyrics. His rhymes are accessible to people outside the hip hop world.
Try explaining the following to someone who doesn’t listen to hip hop:
… I used to have the tre` duce
And the deuce deuce in my bubblegoose
Now i got a mac in my knapsack
Loungin’ black, smoking sacks up in acts …
Yet almost anyone can understand what Eminem is talking about after hearing one of his songs.
One thing about him which has always bugged me:
Is he named after the candy?
His real name is Marshall Mathers.
Well, if they believe what they say about all hip hop being about the same things, they should already know he is talking about guns, booze and weed. Ha. No, but I get your point.
I was with you **Nzinga **until you got to the **Ghostface **part. 
For some reason, I just can’t get into Ghost, he’s just a bit too inaccessible/shaky for me.
Give me **GZA ** and Em, any day over him.
But as for the JayZ/Eminem part- I totally agree with you there. One of the best songs out there for Jay is “Renegades” featuring Eminem on the Blueprint album, and on it, Em KILLS Jay-Z in terms of the lyrics. I’d love to see more featuring the two of them.
And another one where Eminem steps up, is his verse on “Forever” featuring Drake, Weezy, and Kanye West. All three of them go before Em, and choose to slow rhyme over the beats, but Em actually steps up and switches things around basically outshining them on that track.
I am in no way a hip hop/rap afficionado, and artists of those genres usually only ping my radar when they intersect with more mainstream pop.
That said, I love Eminem. I love his voice (both literally and metaphorically), his passion, and his attitude. Did I mention his voice?
Now that is awesome - what song is that in?
It’s from “Almost Famous” off his new Recovery Album.
Who is the female voice on Almost Famous?
He’s never released that information. Really.
That’s a shame. There’s a real unique quality about her voice, and I was gonna look up what else she’s done.
According to a few Yahoo-Answers-type sources and the eminem.com forums, it’s Liz Rodrigues (the allmusic entry for this album does list her as contributing vocals, if that helps). She’s also apparently sings on “25 to Life” and “Spacebound” (uncredited).
You know, *Kim *often pops up in “rap is so evil” discussions, and I really don’t get it. I find that song extremely powerful - sure, it’s dark and depressing, but the way he seamlessly switches from pleading to barking to threatening back to desperate heartbreak to completely off his rocker just clicks with me. Love fucks you up like that, and that’s a fact.
I find myself liking songs where he goes off the deep end like that more interesting and “send shivers down your spine” material than more peppy, inspirational material like Lose Yourself or Sing For The Moment
‘Kim’ is one of the most incredible pieces of music I’ve ever heard.
She’s right there in the album booklet under ‘Almost Famous’ and ‘25 To Life’:
“Additional vocals: Liz Rodrigues”