EMINEM KING MATHERS ALBUM STORY EXPLAINED & my opinions on it (2007)

UPDATE: Here are some amendments to the video, and also, this is getting a bit outdated. We have lots of new info and 3 new leaks since mid 2019. I will make an updated version sometime in the future. (ONE) According to this article the song Keys to the City was going to be the lead single for King Mathers but because DJ Premiere leaked the info about it, Em cancelled that single and probably came up with a new single web.archive.org/web/20080701110532/http://www.hiph… Here is a summary/timeline: 2007 -Em is working on album by himself 2007 -December: Em overdoses and temporary takes a break from any work 2008 -January/Febuary Eminem slowly starts working on it again and gets it ready for release. Part of getting it ready for release is planning singles. He plans the single Keys to the City but in March this info is leaked, so he decides to not use it as a single. 2008 -March/April Eminem realizes how far into addiction he is and needs to get better. He puts on hold all music and goes to rehab. When he comes back he moves onto Relapse and King Mathers is gone. Nothing I said in the video was wrong, I was just missing some key details on Keys To the City. We were REALLY close to getting a mid 2008 release of this album, but instead Em decided to go rehab. My creation of King Mathers aims to capture the mid 2007 style/late 2006 style, in an alternate reality where he finishes the album then and quits much closer to Proof's death. It is similar to Relapse 2, how there are various stages. There is undoubtedly another reality where Eminem releases the album in mid 2008 with the single produced by DJ Premiere, instead of a different single/using the original Eminem-produced version of Keys to the City (TWO) I mis-spoke at around 10 minutes. I meant to say that Give Me The Ball samples I Get Money. At around 1:10 in Give Me The Ball the I Get Money sample starts playing. Basically, that's my subtle evidence for Give Me The Ball being 2007. As for Ballin' Uncontrollably, the lyrics/content/style matches Touchdown so that is again my very frail evidence for it being 2007.. Both songs are either 07 or 08, but I'm leaning towards 07, is what I'm trying to say. (THREE) I forgot to mention Beautiful. This song was mostly written in his 2005 rehab, and when he left rehab/relapsed back onto drugs (still 2005) he finished the song. That means he had a finished/semi finished song (with at least all the verses wrote) in 2005. The sample is ALSO from a song from 2005, which means he probably produced it then too. Idk about the hook, but we can assume 2005 too. This song would have been on King Mathers if he felt comfortable releasing it. www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/17/eminem-urban… (FOUR) A lot of info has come out after 3 new leaks (Cut back, hip hop, and Everything) The ongoing theory is that all these leaks (the new ones and the ones mentioned in the vid) were meant for a street mixtape to put out while he figured out if could make a studio album or not ("Figure out when im ready to drop, or not"). This is where he quits. At the end of the mixtape, there is a surprise ending (Its been real) where he announces hes quitting. Everything else in the video is accurate and it's very blurry between a mixtape vs final album. Maybe there were going to be both, maybe only one, but these new leaks are 100% mixtape songs (short length, he mentions dropping his album in the future implying it is not out yet/ready yet) Thanks for the comments/msgs to remind me about the above stuff!

Encore-Relapse era Em is one of the most interesting eras for any rapper imo

I love this. I have always been interested in this part of Em’s life as it’s so mysterious and no one really knows what was going on. So cool, thanks John

The "King Mathers" title also makes sense when you take the line "Why be a King when you could be a God" from "Rap God" into consideration as an allusion to that era being long gone.

I know this album represents a bad time in Em’s life but I’m hella fascinated with it, there is something mysterious about it. In an alternate universe this would of been his last album and we’d be reminiscing on his life.

Man these em years are the most interesting, mysterious and dark ones. They are the ones I most create opinions and it just brings me a very weird feeling by listening to. Crazy. And I was always trying to find someone that would be exactly the type of fan I am and I just think I found lots of it rn.

It's so surreal to think that he was just going to quit. Like, what impact would it have on the rap game? It's just insane to think about.

Theory: My Darling wasn't for King Mathers but was instead the song that gave him the idea for relapse, explains why his voice is semi similar to King Mathers but has more Relapse themes

We know the reason why this album never came(overdosing, not wanting to remember that period) but maybe a contribiting factor is he didn't wanna retire after treatment cause if he released KM after rehab, it'd basically be him saying goodbye when at that point, he wanted to stay in the game and there's 50 Ways then there's presumably the my darling demo. He probably listened to every song he made between 06 and 07 after getting out and hated em but fucked with my darling and 50 Ways(wish 50 Ways made relapse) and so maybe he got inspired to bring shady back but as a grizzled serial killer so boom, relapse is birthed.

What would have been awesome is if everything had gone the same way, Em shelved King Mathers and recorded Relapse, but he decided to troll everyone. He announced his retirement and released King Mathers, but then he released Relapse the next week. That would have been hilarious :D

Eminem told on some interview that he did songs worth of 2 to 3 albums on that time period (05-07) but they all were subpar to him

Why be a king when you can be a god.

I think Beautiful would have been on King Mathers too

I remember hearing about this quite about in 2007. Because nothing came of it I thought it was people just speculating and making things up because they wanted a new Eminem album, but the fact there’s quite a bit of evidence to support an album being made during his hiatus is really cool to hear. Thanks for the video man, keep up the great work!

I feel like the first verse and the chorus of my darling was from 07 because it sounds like he is on drugs but the last 2 were made after he got clean it was probably an unfinished song that he had and wanted to finish

How about the leaked song "Everything"? Is that song part of the King Mathers album?

its fair to assume he has hundreds of new tracks an albums worth of raps from all these years of life gone by

He kinda confirmed it on castle in revival

If you listen to Castle and Arose from Revival, he writes a letter to Hailie (sorry if spelt wrong) in 2007 which is when he made King Mathers. He wrote “I’ll put out this last album then I’m done with it” and King Mathers was supposed to be his last album. Crazy to think that he still remembers King Mathers to this day...

Encore-Relapse is one of the most interesting Eminem periods for me... And for many ... And this is obvious.. why am I mentioning this