Eminem bleeds Fi -- a lot of his lyrics are about his feelings and relationships, both positive and negative, and if you've ever listened to even a handful of his songs you'll be familiar with a cast of characters from his life: his mother, his ex-wife Kim, his daughter Hailie, Dr. Dre, his friends in D12, etc. His songs also often have a personal element to them, either relating a story from his past (such as the death of his uncle and friend Ronnie, which he's mentioned numerous times), his persecution or perceived persecution by the media and public, or his feelings about his fans.
He also speaks of his desire for privacy, such as in "The Way I Am":
but at least have the decency in you
to leave me alone, when you freaks see me out
in the streets when I'm eatin or feedin my daughter
to not come and speak to me (speak to me)..
I don't know you and no,
I don't owe you a mo-therfuck-in thing
What I also find fascinating about Eminem is that he's not all bravado, sometimes his lyrics seem outright regretful or allude to a lack of confidence or desire to go on, such as in these lyrics, also from "The Way I Am":
I'm so sick and tired of bein admired
that I wish that I would just die or get fired
and dropped from my label and stop with the fables
I'm not gonna be able to top on "My Name is.."
Or when he talks about his treatment of Kim and how it affects their daughter in "When I'm Gone", which I feel is his most emotionally complex song:
Then turn right around in that song and tell her you love her
And put hands on her mother who's the spittin image of her
Also in "When I'm Gone" Eminem discusses the responsibilities of being an adoring but absentee father and the demands of pleasing his fans, which he represents as a dream about Hailie telling him this:
"It's too late dad, you made your choice
Now go out there and show em that you love em [fans] more than us [his family]
That's what they want
They want you, Marshall
They keep screamin your name
It's no wonder you can't go to sleep
Just take another pill
Yeah I bet you you will!
You rap about
Yeah word, kid keep it real"
"Stan" is the best example of Eminem discussing the symbiotic and even parasitic relationship between himself and his fans, but he talks about them a lot, and the turmoil caused by him taking on this larger than life persona. He also symbolically suicides his 'Slim Shady' persona in "When I'm Gone" which allows him, in the song, to find an idyllic family life:
I turn around, find a gun on the ground
Cock it, put it to my brain
Scream Die Shady!, and pop it
He also seems acutely aware of the effects his tempestuous relationship with Kim has had on Hailie and his adopted daughter Lainie, and how his efforts to protect the girls has backfired:
Daddy's always on the move, mamma's always on the news
I try to keep you sheltered from it but somehow it seems
The harder that I try to do that, the more it backfires on me
All the things growing up his daddy that he had to see
Daddy don't want you to see but you see just as much as he did
Eminem's definitely got a vengeful side, not only expressed in "Kim" but also in "Cleaning Out My Closet", in which he basically disowns his mother and taunts her that her entire family is turning against her:
But guess what, yer gettin' older now and it's cold when you're lonely.
An' Nathan's growin' up so quick, he's gonna know that you're phoney.
And Hailie's gettin' so big now, you should see her, she's beautiful.
But you'll never see her, she won't even be at your funeral.
....
Remember when Ronnie died and you said you wished it was me?
Well, guess what, I am dead. Dead to you as can be.
One last aspect of Eminem that I haven't seen often discussed is that on at least a few occasions, he'd made up with or at least attempted to reconcile with some of the people he's attacked or criticized. Elton John is the most obvious example, but also Marilyn Manson (who he made fun of in "My Name Is...") apparently buried the hatchet with him when they were both targeted by the media watchdogs. They did a remake of "The Way I Am" together in which Eminem criticized the hysteria over Columbine.
I think Eminem is extremely emotional, and he has some driving need to express those emotions in a very public way. I would also say that he's got some complicated and powerful emotions, and he seems fully cognizant of what and who he is and the effects he has on those around him.