Grammy-winning rapper Eminem will have to make space for another platinum plaque, as his 2000 Marshall Mathers LP has now officially reached diamond status with over 10 million copies sold.
According to reports, Em's latest achievement was officially reached on March 9th. Here we go again. In March this year, Eminem's fourth studio album The Eminem Show was awarded Diamond status by the RIAA. Now their freshly updated database has declared his third one The Marshall Mathers LP also as a Diamond selling album in the United States which translates to more than 10 million copies sold. The controversial album was released in May, 2000 and sold 1.7 million units in the first week itself.
Em's sophomore album focused heavily on his personal life. Eminem is all about blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, humor and horror, satire and documentary, so it makes perfect sense that The Marshall Mathers LP is no more or no less "real" than The Slim Shady LP. It is, however, a fairly brilliant expansion of his debut, turning his spare, menacing hip-hop into a hyper-surreal, wittily disturbing thrill ride. It's both funnier and darker than his debut, and Eminem's writing is so sharp and clever that the jokes cut as deeply as the explorations of his ruptured psyche. The production is nearly as evocative as the raps, with liquid basslines, stuttering rhythms, slight sound effects, and spacious soundscapes.
Despite the album sales achievements, Em previously said he does not focus on records sold. "I don't think I've actually stopped to think about it," Eminem said referencing being named artist of the decade in June 2010. "I never thought that my life would amount to this. But to be able to sit back and digest it is so strange to me, because I still feel so regular. I don't understand what people think the big deal is about me. It's a very strange relationship that I have with fame...Honestly, as long as people enjoy the music, that means the most to me. I could sell 80 million records in the first week, and if my peers or fans of real hip-hop didn't like it, it really wouldn't mean anything." (Billboard)
Em's latest album has sold over three million copies to date. Grammy-winning rapper Eminem's Recovery moved down four slots to No. 33 with 14,200. Headed into his 44th week, Slim Shady's latest offering stands at 3,802,700 sold units.