"I like Michael Jackson. I like him a lot," said Eminem.

"I'm just happy that Michael Jackson has heard of me."

Eminem's new video appears to show him mocking Jackson.

Scenes include Eminem losing his fake nose on a dance floor and setting his hair alight.

Showing no signs of slowing down, on Eminem's sterling fourth album he triumphs over haters, detractors and those who thought they'd heard and seen it all from Marshall Mathers.

What, you were expecting less? You're forgiven.

The lazy, uninspired first single "Just Lose It" sounded like Slim Shady had completely run out of ideas -- spoofing Jacko is so '90s -- especially when compared with his previous album's bouncy initial offerings.

But Em proves he's banked a couple of tricks for his "Encore," and on the album, which hits stores today, he pulls out his trump card early.

Never one to hesitate to fly in the face of anybody that questions him or his ways, on "Yellow Brick Road," Em slows down and apologizes -- apologizes! -- for an early freestyle on which he denigrated black women.

There are more surprises. On "Like Toy Soldiers" -- which samples Martika's late '80s hit "Toy Soldiers" -- a remorseful and repentant Eminem pulls back the curtain on his recent rap feuds. "This ain't what I'm in hip-hop for," Em raps, dispelling with the chest-beating usually associated with these battles.

Elsewhere, however, Eminem is at his most ridiculously juvenile, calling a detractor a "meanie" on "Big Weenie," talking about "poo-poo" and "ca-ca" on "My 1st Single" and belching throughout the album.

That juvenilia, however, is not to be dismissed. "Ass Like That" -- which rides a Dr. Dre-supplied East Indian riddim -- finds Em at his most transcendent, hilariously rapping as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog as R. Kelly. On "Rain Man," after four minutes of highly entertaining but mostly illogical flows, Em admits, "I just did a whole song and I didn't say s---."

As clever as ever, Eminem deftly walks the tightrope between introspective (see the Bush-bashing "Mosh") and inane, and "Encore" represents the culmination of everything that has happened in his tumultuous personal life and his career.

Though he shows a noted maturity throughout, offering up a tender ballad for his daughter with "Mockingbird" and displaying a fierce devotion to his family -- no one outside his immediate circle appears on "Encore" -- throughout, it's clear Em still has problems with women. They manifest themselves in ugly ways, especially on the despicable anti-Kim track "Puke."

Encores tend to be calculated and purposeful, but like 2002's "The Eminem Show," this "Encore" goes on a bit too long. A handful of tracks -- including "Crazy In Love," "Spend Some Time," and the requisite D12 joint, "One Shot 2 Shot" -- could have been cut at the betterment of the album.

But mostly, "Encore," which illustrates Em's continued growth as a producer, is on point, and is worthy of a hearty round of applause.

Take a bow, Mr. Mathers.