Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, is the hottest young rapper out there today. This white boy from Detroit is gonna go places. I mean, he's being produced by Dr. Dre, one of the best hip-hop producers out there. Eminem's lyrics are raw and raunchy, but he doesn't care. He keeps it real and keeps it real fun. That's why I like him. The video for "My Name Is" is the funniest rap video I've seen in quite some time. Busta Rhymes makes phat videos, but they're weird and quirky, not funny like Eminem.

This album is Eminem's debut on a major label. From what I've read, a few of the songs have already been released on previous independent releases such as "The Slim Shady EP." This CD is jam-packed from beginning to end with the most entertaining rap I have ever heard. Mr. Mathers lays down the lyrics raw and very much real.

But don't think Eminem doesn't warn you about the journey you are about to embark upon...

The first track is a spoken segment called Public Service Announcement, in which an announcer tells you the "ideas and suggestions made on this album are totally fucked and should not be attempted by anyone. Young children should not listen to this album with laces in their shoes." I feel Mr. Announcer hits the nail right on the proverbial head.

After the advance warning, we hear the now-familiar opening to My Name Is, the song which has put Marshall Mathers on the hip hop map. However, the LP version contains some lyrics that differ from the radio and video version. Eminem shows just how gifted a lyricist he is by putting together a "dirty" and "clean" version of the song and having them both sound so very phat. It's something obviously influenced by Dr. Dre, the man who produced the song. Dre made two versions of his singles on his 1992 classic, "The Chronic," as well as on other albums he has produced for Snoop Dogg and 2Pac.

Next up is another Dre-produced joint, Guilty Conscience. Another announcer sets the scene for three scenarios in which Dre and Eminem play angel and devil, repsectively, in the consciences of these protagonists. It is a funny, yet very raw exchange of words between the producer and his protege. It really is a song which has to be heard to be fully appreciated.

Brain Damage tells a rather twisted, and obivously exaggerated, tale of Eminem's troubled youth. He overcomes fights with schoolyard bullies, only to have his brain fall out onto the living room rug. A damn funny joint if you ask me.

In If I Had Mathers tells of the trials and tribulations of his young life. From failed jobs to trying to break into the hip hop industry, Eminem effectively portrays himself as rap's "Everyman." The chorus is very vindictive. At first listen, the chorus seems inspired by "If I Had $1,000,000" by Barenaked Ladies, but then again, I don't think the Canadian rockers would use their money to "buy a damn brewery and turn the planet into alcoholics."

At first, you'd think '97 Bonnie and Clyde was Eminem's answer to Will Smith's "Just the Two of Us," but this is Eminem we're dealing with here. He starts off by expressing his love for his daughter, Hailey, and then launches into a disturbing yet creative scenario of explaining to her why they've got to go to the beach and "make a bed for Mommy at the bottom of the lake." Eminem is the first rapper I've heard to include baby talk in a rap, and it comes off very well.

Role Model is a song ripe with irony. Eminem tells us to do everything he says in the song, things which wouldn't make for such a good role model. Doing drugs and beating women just don't work. But then again who hasn't thought of tying a rope around their penis and jumping from a tree?

My Fault is a song about a girl who eats the whole bag of 'shrooms Eminem offers her. It's a hilarious song about a bad trip which comes to an unfortunate end.

Cum On Everybody is described by Eminem at the beginning of the track as his "dance song." It is definitely danceable and really doesn't tell much of a story lyrically.

Rock Bottom is not a song about the finishing move used by the current WWF Heavyweight Champion or the WWF pay-per-view event from last December.

Just Don't Give a F*** is one of Eminem's early joints. It is a driving, angry tune which really shows Eminem's range. It is the first truly angry track on the album.

The rest of the album is just as strong, but I don't have much to say about those songs. They are: Soap, As The World Turns, I'm Shady, Bad Meets Evil (a song with an Old West theme), and Still Don't Give A F***.