I think I agree with your bottom line here, but maybe not the approach with which it was reached. If I've misunderstood what you said, please feel free to correct my interpretation.
Em has always been "edgy" by default. Sometimes, it is his goal to push buttons, but that only comes as a bonus to having the freedom to use whichever words he wants in order to make words rhyme for the sole fun of it. For that matter, sometimes pushing button is how he demonstrates the sincerity he has behind what he is saying.
I think what drives him though is a willingness to accurately express who he really is and what he really thinks. There's the fun stuff, and then there's the message that actually matters. The SSLP was an album built around how he wanted to be taken seriously, while the MMLP was about how people -- including fans -- cared too much about him. He ran the risk of alienating his supporters by sounding ungrateful, but people respected his brutal honesty more than they resented what it was he was actually saying. Rewards are measured by the risks they require.
We haven't seen that Em in many years though. Relapse, for as much criticism as it gets, was his last "honest" album, where he was willing to be just as vulnerable as he was on the MMLP. He spoke of his weaknesses, addiction, laziness, insecurities and even arrogance. He didn't sugarcoat how he really felt.
Everything since then has been amazing on a technical level, but rarely as introspective. The bars are far more complex at the expense of the personal aspect that made his music more special than what others could provide. For me, Talking 2 Myself was his last great song.
"Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, do something 'bout it \ Admit you got a problem \ Your brain is clouded \ You pouted long enough \ Quit worrying about what they do and do Shady \ I'm fuckin' go crazy"
With all that being said, watching his cypher verse lit a fire for me that I begrudgingly admit has long been extinguished. It wasn't about what he said as much as it was the risk he took in the presentation of it. I feel this upcoming album will be reminiscent of who he was in his early 20's, a time when one isn't thinking of life 5 - 25 years down the road and able to make bold claims without a proper sense of repercussions.
The difference now is that he has the perspective of someone who has far more experience with how the world works than some "kid" just a few years past being a legal adult. I feel that the MMLP is the result of someone who didn't give a fuck due to a lack of full awareness, while what has yet to come will be from the mind of an individual who knows the consequences of his choices and is still willing to stand up for what is important to him. The kicker is that he has years more practice than he did when that iconic album was released.