The house on the cover looks abandoned: roof sagging, windows dark, the porch now empty. That young man was Eminem, and the house was his childhood home in Detroit. On November 5, 2013, the rapper released The Marshall Mathers LP 2, his eighth studio album and a deliberate sequel to his third album, The Marshall Mathers LP.
A sequel that started by accident
The sequel was not planned. Eminem started recording in 2012 and found himself writing songs that reminded him of his early work. The more he leaned into that feeling, the more the idea made sense: go back to the sound and fury of The Marshall Mathers LP, but from a different point in his life.
He wanted to experiment with what he called retro, vintage turntable sounds. The album drew on arena rock and old-school hip-hop, with the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill and LL Cool J's Radio as touchstones. That meant a more minimalist production than his recent albums, with Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin overseeing the project as executive producers.
Singles and guest vocalists
The singles showed how far the experiment could stretch. "Berzerk" borrowed the Beastie Boys' brash guitar loops. "Rap God" was built on an instrumental that had been sitting around for two years, and had been offered to T.I. and Fabolous before Eminem used it. "The Monster" brought in Rihanna, who had recorded her vocal in a Harlem studio in 2012, long before the song had a final shape. The album also included "Headlights," with Nate Ruess of Fun. singing the chorus, and "Asshole," which featured Skylar Grey. Eminem recorded five versions of "Survival," each one bigger and more anthemic than the last, and delivered the final version the day before its premiere.
The album opened with "Bad Guy," a direct continuation of "Stan," the 2000 story of an obsessed fan. It was a signal that the sequel would not just repeat the past but twist it. Kendrick Lamar also appeared on the track "Love Game," a guest appearance on a record that also featured Rihanna, Nate Ruess, Skylar Grey, and Sarah Jaffe.
First-week sales and critical reception
Expectations were enormous. The album was seen as one of the most anticipated releases of the year, and it delivered: over 792,000 copies sold in the first week in the United States, enough to put it at number one on the Billboard 200. Critics were mostly kind, praising his rapping technique and the choice of producers. Many called it an improvement over his previous three albums. The album was released on Shady Records, Goliath Artists, Aftermath Entertainment, WEB Entertainment, and Interscope Records. In March 2017, it received a quadruple platinum certification from the RIAA.
Then came the cover. For The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem recreated the image from the original album: the same Detroit house, now half-destroyed, and no Eminem on the porch. The absence said everything. Two days after the album came out, the real house burned down for reasons no one could explain. Eminem had not lived there for decades, but the symbolism was hard to ignore.
Two days after the album came out, the real house burned down for reasons no one could explain.
In 2015, the album won Eminem his sixth Grammy for Best Rap Album. By 2022, the site of his childhood home had become a bee sanctuary run by local beekeepers. The house that once held his worst years was gone, and in its place, something quiet and alive. It was an ending even Eminem could not have written.