Long Player: Naughty but nice - Eminem's enigmatic gem

Eminem's follow-up to 1999 debut album The Slim Shady LP sends a relentless barrage of cuss-heavy word-bombs about the way of women, homosexuals, record executives, celebrities and wannabes.

If he misses anyone out on his mission to rile the populace, it's only because the tape has to stop rolling sometime.

Yet The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) is the fastest-selling solo album ever, a Grammy-winning worldwide No 1 hit and a riveting hip-hop classic.How could something so wrong be so right?

The answer lies in the Detroit rapper's astute sense of timing, both in his lyrical flow and in his canny counterpunching against criticism.

Labelled Public Enemy No 1 by those who took Slim Shady's references to sex, drugs and violence literally, he doubles his efforts and ramps up the shock-o-meter, all the while protesting his innocence, seemingly bemused that anyone should be listening to him in the first place.

So audacious is he, Eminem closes the overtly violent and misogynistic Kill You with the chuckling disclaimer: "I'm just playin', ladies. You know I love you." It's designed not only to draw a laugh but to also reinforce the album's repeating message: We all have dark thoughts; better to exorcise them than to act on them.

A second theme, fleshed out in the likes of The Way I Am, The Real Slim Shady and breakout single Stan is: If you think you know me, think again.

The latter's fictional tale of an obsessive fan who, after writing several unanswered letters to Eminem, kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend is intended to show how out of whack the responses to his music have been.

But whatever feelings these songs engender, there's no denying the gifts of one of hip-hop's strongest rappers and wordsmiths.

His masterful command of syncopation, rhythm and rhyme, combined with his warped and wicked sense of fun, make for 70-plus minutes of the dodgiest fun you'll ever have.