The Eminem Show

On the follow-up to The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem set out to broaden his already wide artistic horizons. He makes his most overt nods yet to rock music, borrowing Aerosmith's "Dream On" for the basis of "Sing for the Moment," and gets explicitly political about his job on "White America" ("I could be one of your kids"). At the same time, he takes himself no more seriously than usual, mocking any hint of grandiosity on "My Dad's Gone Crazy," which invites his beloved daughter Hailie to take funny shots at the old man. "Superman" pulls a similar trick not only with the rapper's image, but the macho pose intrinsic to commercial hip-hop.