I never listened to rap at all, then a few months ago I started to listen to Eminem. I love The EminemShow. What other rap music do you think I might like?
Atmosphere
Outkast
Sole
Naz
Beastie Boys
Jay Z
Jurassic 5
D12, Dr Dre, 50 Cent/G Unit.
P.S. Get the Marshal Mather LP. Way better than the Eminem Show (as good as that one is) IMO.
Before any of that, buy (if you can find) or download ( a lot easier) his stuff against Benzino, Ja Rule, Cannabis, Everlast, and Limp Bizkit. Very good stuff and funny if you know who these people are and get the jokes. They stuff may not be to your taste considering you’ve only listened to The Eminem Show, but still worth a listen.
I second the Marshall Mathers LP, great stuff, especially Criminal and Marshall Mathers.
If you find you like the Marshall Mathers LP then I would suggest you listen to some Royce the 5 9, some KRS1, and even some Tupac.
I would start off with Eminem’s first (well, not really, but his first famous one) CD, The Slim Shady LP. It’s a really clever blend of immaturity and joking around. Second, get The Marshall Mathers LP. This displays his gangster side mixed with tons of clever insults to anyone who pisses him off. I guess it could be called the angst of white rap. IMO, both of those CDs are better than The Eminem Show, although TES was pretty good. After that, you can listen to 8 Mile, which includes many collaborations and original songs. Finally, I’d finish with the Don’t Call Me Marshall remix CD which includes some of his best work remixed with other artists, different beats, and an overall innovative take on his songs. Since he shares a record label with Dr Dre, and he has 50 Cent and Obie Trice signed, many of his collabs include these artists. Eminem got me into liking 50 Cent causing me to get his Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album, which is similar to The Marshall Matehrs LP with a lighter mood and different style of lyricism.
Other than 50 and Eminem, I’d suggest Nelly’s St Lunatics and Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/Love Below. Nelly has great beats and clever lyrics, while Outkast is amazingly innovative. Biggie is pretty good, too, if you enjoy Eminem’s first and second albums.
If you want to ease yourself into the hip hop pool, you’d probably be best trying out other artists with artistic ties to Marshall. There’s his sideshow D12 (you might like them, I think they’re a waste of Eminem’s talent - too many stupid jokes and bad production and not enough showing Em’s flow). Dr Dre is a great producer and produces some of Eminem’s stuff, and especially a lot of his earlier work. Check out his The Chronic for some classic G-Funk. Then listen to Snoop’s Doggystyle. You might also like Dre’s 2001. And Eminem’s groomed 50 Cent (and G Unit) and Obie Trice as his proteges; Eminem fans will usually find something to like there.
After that, you might want to check out some of his better guest spots. For instance, you’ll probably like the track he produced and guested on for Jay-Z, Renegade. Then listen to the rest of the album (The Blueprint), because it’s an absolute classic. And then listen to Nas’ Illmatic or even God’s Son, just so you can see that though Jay disses him, he’s still pretty good.
Of course, there are plenty of other great artists out there, many better than the ones I’ve recommended here (particularly in lissener’s list). These, however, are the artists that I think a new Eminem fan would be most likely to appreciate.
Gene Pitney.
Definately Tupac.
I did the same thing. Started listening to Eminem and liked it. Wanted to hear some more. So, I went out and got 2pacs greastest hits. I loved it. Now rap is pretty much all I listen to.
-Shaggarito-
If you like Eminem’s humor and his interesting pacing you might also want to check out Del Tha Funky Homosapien. He has albums out on his own as wel as Deltron.