“It's my life. Welcome to the Eminem Show,” he raps in “Cleaning Out My Closet,” the most confessional track on his confessional new CD, out Tuesday. Part Jerry Springer freak fest, part Truman Show, The Eminem Show brings the funk to dysfunctional.

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        There's a skit about pistol whipping the guy he caught with his ex-wife, Kim (“The Kiss”). He goes deeper in “Cleaning Out My Closet” rapping about his “faggot father” deserting the family and his abusive mother.

        The opening rap, “White America” is a complex rhyme about being a white rapper. It's easier to go multi-platinum: “Let's do the math. If I was black, I would have sold half.” But because of that, his music is scrutinized ... “like I'm the first rapper to smack a b---- or say "faggot.' ”

        He ends the song raging about the “Divided States of Embarrassment,” cursing “Ms. Cheney” and “Tipper Gore.” But he wants it both ways, chuckling afterward, “I'm just playing, America. You know I love you.”

        “Without Me” is another self-absorbed rap, “We need a little controversy, 'cause it feels so empty without me.” With a martial rhythm, he compares himself to Elvis and disses Moby, 36, as too old (Eminem is 28). He throws another dig at his mother, Debbie Mathers-Briggs, “I just settled all my lawsuits. F#$% you, Debbie.”

        Despite the bombast, The Eminem Show, produced by his mentor Dr. Dre, is his best, most painfully honest disc. On raps about his parents, there's real pain mixed with the anger. Instead of murder fantasies, he re-enacts the reality of confronting an unfaithful wife.

        He raps about the power of his music to soothe alienated young fans on “Sing for the Moment,” sampling Aerosmith's “Dream On.”

        But that doesn't stop him from wishing he'd never made it, watching his life spin out in “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

        His saving grace is his daughter, who inspired the surprisingly tender “Hailie's Song” and recites the title of “My Dad's Gone Crazy.”

        With The Eminem Show, MTV may have its replacement family for The Osbournes.
       

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