This album artwork summarizes Eminem's persona of Slim Shady through dark themes of death, drugs, and criminality. The front cover depicts Eminem standing next to a car with a dead body in the trunk. Throughout the digipak, images continue this theme of evil and drugs, showing a mummy spewing pills to represent Eminem's substance abuse issues. The simplistic design in a police record style reinforces Slim Shady as a troubled criminal figure. Overall, the artwork aims to portray Eminem as a dangerous rapper not to be messed with through its cohesive dark and criminal themes.

1. Gianluca Kulczycki

2.  This is Eminem’s First
studio album
 The album came out
on the 23rd of February
1999.
 This album sold
283,000 copies.
 The Price for this
album on iTunes is now
at £7.99 and the online
price retails at £5.01.
 This album reached
number 2 in the charts
on its first week upon
release in 1999.

3.  This album is mostly purple mixed
with blues and features a full moon
with Eminem standing over a car
with the boot open and inside the
boot is a dead body, presenting to
the audience he is a evil rapper.We
know that Slim Shady is Eminem’s
alter ego who was seen to be crazy
and quite dangerous, hence the
death of the person in the car.The
“The Slim Shady LP” is written in a
child handwriting and it the multi-
coloured to suggest that a child
wrote it with crayons, linking to the
child stranding next to Eminem in
the picture, this could possibly be
his daughter?

4. The album comes
with one CD with
20 tracks featured
on it and a booklet
with lyrics and
information on the
tracks.

5. The front cover shows a
car with a dead body
and Eminem with a
child over viewing a
dock, possibly where
the body will be
dumped in the ocean.
The theme of the
album artwork is very
evil and dark, showing
that this album could
be featuring dark songs
and evil lyrics.This is
continued through the
songs and the rest of
the album and the
booklet.
Eminem is
featured
horizontally on the
left hand side of
the album, this has
been done as the
album is a “Slim
Shady” album and
not Eminem.
There is a warning
sign to tell buyers that
this album contains
explicit lyrics and
themes.

6. The tone of the front
cover is followed over to
the back cover, it still
gives a sense of darkness
as there is a shadow of
tree branches which can
be associated with evil.
It states the
tracklist and
features on the
album.
The logos of the record
labels that produced the
album are featured on the
back, so that would be
“Interscope and Aftermath”.
The barcode is also
featured on the back
cover, for pricing.
Eminem is featured holding his
hand in frustration, this could
be because he killed a person?

7. The Spine of the album shows the album name, this makes it easier to
fine when looking for it in a store, on the shelf.

8. Both the CD and Disc Impressions feature the right side having an illustration of a
Egyptian Mummy with needles and pills coming from it, this could mirror Eminem’s
drug addition.This follows the theme of evil and a scary tone, the full moon is still
present in the background showing it is night, most things associated with horror are
set at night.

9. The CD’s design follows the
design of the inner
background of the mummy, it
is drawn by a child. It features
the artists name and the
record labels, but not the
name of the album.
The CD features 20 tracks on
it, including the number one hits
“Guilty Conscience ft. Dr.Dre”
and “My Name is”.
The theme of drugs and
pills are presented
through this
disc, possibly linking to
Eminem’s his sleeping
pill dependency.

10. This 10 page booklet
features the album front
cover, which links this to
the album as it shares the
exact artwork.
The Name of the
album is featured
alone with the
warning and same
car with the dead
body inside
overlooked by
Eminem and the
child.

11. The first page
spread has the
theme of a police
criminal
record, showing
pictures of Marshall
in an unstable state.
The font the lyrics
and track
information links
with the American
typewriter.
This page spread is very simplistic
however shows that Slim Shady is
unstable and a criminal, or a rebel.

12. The second page
spread has exactly
the same theme,
this theme gives the
booklet a more
natural and realist
feeling to it.
The theme can be seen as a
negative as it is very boring
and simplistic. It does not
engage the fan/audience.
The photos are taken like the
camera was in a secret
location and have caught Slim
Shady on the sly.

13. This is the middle section of the booklet and it follows
Slim Shady’s drug theme, and that he is dealing
them, this could be a metaphor to say that his music
is drugs to the audience.

14. The last page spread shows the recognition thank yous and dedications.This
album was dedicated to his daughter Haley.
As mentioned before this is very simple and in
many ways quite boring for the reader.

15. The back cover shows Eminem in a hyperactive state
in a different reality to ours, the reality of cartoons
and non existent things.The window is seen to be
drawn, possibly by his daughter Haley. This follows
the theme of craziness that is Slim Shady’s world.

16.  The digipak sticks to the theme continuously
through the album.
 The album has the theme of evil, inferring this
from the dead body in the trunk of the car.
 It followed the generic conventions of drugs in
hip-hop as there was a mummy spewing drugs
from its bandages.
 Overall, the design relates to Eminem’s persona
in the 90’s. He was new and had to prove
himself, he uses the themes of drugs and
evilness within his album to show he is not to be
messed with.