‘Encore’ at 20: How Eminem’s Iconic Album Marked the End of His First Era and Set the Stage for His Legendary Comeback

Leaks and addiction struggles took a toll on Em’s fifth studio album.

Imagine an album where one minute you’re hearing an artist peel back his deepest layers of vulnerability, and the next you’re hearing the same grown man rap a song called “Big Weenie.” That’s Eminem’s 2004 LP Encore, in a nutshell.

Following the one-two punch of The Eminem Show and 8 Mile in 2002, fans and critics alike wondered how the now-Oscar-winning rapper would keep the momentum going and build on his success with his fifth studio album. On top of this public pressure was a mounting addiction to prescription sleep medication that the rapper developed while shooting 8 Mile in order to cope with the hectic filming schedule.

The outcome was an artist struggling to reconcile public pressure with his darker, self-destructive impulses. Encore turns 20 this week, and it remains one of Eminem’s most contentious projects. As its title suggests, the album is very much an extension of The Eminem Show, and it’s at its best when it continues the themes of diving deep into introspection and political commentary.

The track “Yellow Brick Road,” for example, takes listeners far from Kansas, on a journey to Eminem’s upbringing in a racially tense Detroit. He reflects on his introduction to rap music and expresses remorse for “Foolish Pride,” one of two tracks from the early ’90s unearthed by The Source in 2003. They feature the not-yet-famous rapper espousing nasty stereotypes about Black women.

And that’s the last I ever seen or heard
Or spoke to the “Ole Foolish Pride” girl, but I’ve heard
People say they heard the tape and it ain’t that bad
But it was: I singled out a whole race
And for that I apologize, I was wrong
‘Cause no matter what color a girl is, she’s still a—

“Mosh”—a protest song aimed at the Bush administration and released before the 2004 election—feels weirdly relevant in 2024, as the U.S. has once again reelected a polarizing right-wing president.

Maybe we can reach Al-Qaeda through my speech
Let the president answer a higher anarchy
Strap him with an AK-47, let him go
Fight his own war, let him impress daddy that way

Perhaps the most beloved track off of Encore is “Mockingbird,” Em’s love letter to his daughter Hailie and adoptive niece Alaina amid years of public turmoil with Hailie’s mother, Kim Mathers. The vulnerable moment earned Eminem a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance.

And if you ask me to, Daddy’s gonna buy you a mockingbird
I’ma give you the world
I’ma buy a diamond ring for you, I’ma sing for you
I’ll do anything for you to see you smile

Famously, several tracks intended for Encore leaked online ahead of its release, leading Eminem to go back and record new songs in their place.

“That disappointed me,” said Eminem of the leaks in his 2022 XXL cover story. “I had to start over, which felt like a mountain I had to climb. You climb half the mountain, and then all of a sudden, you get knocked back down.”

To make matters worse, the rapper was spiraling deeper into the pits of addiction, and he was unable to recapture the somber tone of leaked cuts like “Bully,” “We As Americans,” and “Ricky Ticky Toc.”

“In the recording process as I was getting more addicted to drugs, I was in more of a goofy mood,” he told XXL.

However goofy songs like “Big Weenie” or “Rain Man” may be, they offer fans listening back years later an honest look into Em’s descent into addiction. With his personal life unraveling at the seams, these playful tracks also double as a form of escapism. Underneath the humor, these songs hint at Eminem’s struggle to balance his public persona with his private demons.

Forever his own worst critic, Eminem looks back on Encore in an unfavorable light. He insists the album “would’ve been right there with The Eminem Show as far as its caliber,” if songs like “Bully” and “We As Americans” hadn’t leaked and forced him to replace them with silly substitutes.

“‘We as Americans’ was going to start the album, then ‘Bully,’” he told XXL. “‘Evil Deeds’ was in there.”

The spirit of Encore still haunts Eminem’s catalog. “Brand New Dance” from his latest album, 2024’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), began as a scrapped Encore track titled “Christopher Reeves,” which was ultimately cut due to Superman actor Christopher Reeve’s death in October 2024. On “Guilty Conscience 2,” Eminem confirms that this is, indeed, that track that fans speculated about for years, following its appearance on an early Encore tracklisting.

And I know that Chris Reeves song was recorded in 2004 for Encore (Yeah)
Fuck’d you take it off for?
‘Cause he died
Man, that motherfucker did that bullshit on purpose to ruin the song for us (Man)

Encore stands as one of Eminem’s most divisive yet intriguing works, offering a genuine reflection of an artist at a breaking point. It will never be seen as a masterpiece on the level of The Marshall Mathers LP, or as a Relapse-caliber cult classic. Encore isn’t a perfect album, but it’s an honest statement from an artist who’d become very famous very quickly—and whose darkest years were just around the corner.