One of the biggest things happening in rap this year is the release of Eminem’s new album SHADY XV. The CD is a mixture of new Eminem songs and other rappers signed to his label Shady Records, such as Yelawolf, D12, and slaughterhouse. The CD is due to be released November 24. Since this is almost exactly a year after the release of his last album, MMLP 2, i decided to do a track by track review of that one.
MMLP 2 (deluxe )
1. ‘Bad Guy’ – the first track on MMLP 2 is something most fans didn’t expect, a continuum of the story from Stan, an emotional hit from the original MMLP 13 years erlier. Stan tells the story of an obsessed fan writing to eminem, not getting a response ( until it’s to late), and killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend. Bad guy tells the story of Stans little brother Mathew, who murders Eminem to get revenge for his percieved role in the death of his brother. Eminem realeses and angry diss at the end, not at another rapper, but at himself. Eminem lowers his voice after mathew kills himself and Em, and proceeds to voice all of his doubts and fears about his career, such as percieved homophobia, age, and irreparable damage to those he loves. This song is unique because it brings all of his fears into the light, and is Eminem’s way of killing himself, literally.
2.” parking lot (skit)” – yet another continuum from MMLP 2, this skit is the end of a bank robbery commited by Em where he shoots the teller and then commits suicide.
3. “Rhyme or Reason” – This is an angry and catchy track by eminem where he unloads his anger, such as his rage at his father for leaving. Sampling “time of the season” by the zombies, this was also one of Ems first time woring with producer Rick Rubin. what stands out in this song are his clever and angry puns, such as “can’t even find the page i was writing on, oh it’s on the ram-page.”
4.”So Much Better”- By far the angriest song on the album, Eminem unloads his anger on a certain unnamed woman (kim?), and some think he is actually talking about the rap game. He claims his life would be “so much better” if she dropped dead.
5. “Survival”- my favorite off this album, Survival is Eminem rapping about not giving up and staying in the rap game. it is extremely inspirational, angry, and profanity laced. Set over a heavy guitar riff with a hook by Skylar Grey this this track gets you pumped up as Eminem half growls half yells over it. His word choices and metaphors are angry and empowering, such as “throw me to the wolves and close the gate up, im afraid what will happen to then wolves when the thought of “being thrown into an alligator pit I salivate at it
6. “Legacy” – this song is one of a couple very sad and emotional songs on the album. Set over a slow rainy beat, Eminem doesn’t yell over this one but described his sad childhood, focusing on being bullied at school and neglected at home, and how rapping helped him feel accepted and was a way for him to take his anger against those who hurt him.
7. “A**hole” (feat. Skylar Grey) – Eminem has certainly never been portrayed extremely well in the media. In this song he flaunts his image as an A**hole who swears, did drugs, totes guns, and has violent lyrics. As the chorus says “everybody knows you are just an a**hole, everywhere that you go people want to go home.” Far from apologetic he comes across as arrogant and apathetic to what people think of him.
8. “Berzerk”- the first single of the album this song pays homage to the beastie boys with the scratchy beat and screaming. The lyrics are fairly simple, about partying and going berserk. The beat is sampled from billy Joels “stroke”. In my opinion this is in the top 4 songs in the album.
9. “Rap god”- not only is this one of the best and most impressive songs eminem has made, it is one of the best ever created. Set over a techno beat its nonstop rapping. Eminem uses rhyming to be able to speak faster and still be coherent, and is able to squeeze 1560 words into a five minute song. The most mind blowing fact about all of this, it was a freestyle, meaning he made it up on the spot. The coup de gra comes at 4:25 when he starts rapping inhumanly fast for about thirty seconds. This song still blows my mind a year later.
10. “Brainless” – In this song Eminem returns to his roots as slim shady, rapping with a low angry and sporadic rhythm. Though it has no real theme it is a nice nostalgic piece from the old days Slim Shady.
11. “Stronger than I Was” – This is another uniquely emotional song from this album. One of his only songs where he sings instead of raps, it relays the pains of his relationship with his past wife but in a much more general sense it is for anyone experiencing being hurt by someone. But even this sad subject matter can’t stop Eminem from his usual overcoming, fight or die spirit, saying no matter what you do to him he will overcome. His defiant attitude is shown in such lines as “sorry if i’m late to the pity party” and “I will be stronger than I was”
12. “The monster” (feat. Rihanna) – another one of the top 4 from this album, this one was released as the last single before its release. This is not the first time he had collaborated with Rihanna, and the two work very well together. The song is another more lighthearted look by Em back at his work. The best parts of this song are the catchy hook, the beat, and Eminem’s flow.
13. “So far” – In this song Eminem discusses the perks and struggles of being famous and rich. The beat samples life’s been good by Joe Walsh, this song has some of his best metaphors and puns, such as ” i was in the bathroom droppin a football, so every time someone walked in i’d get madden” and “a creature of habit, i’m trapped in an animal shelter with all these pet peeves” also he refers to lines from songs such as “I’m back” and “real slim shady”.
14. “Love Game” (feat. Kendrick Lamar) – possibly one of his best collaborations ever this song is a humorous look at his relationship troubles. It samples the track ” the game of love.” Right off the bat Eminem starts with amazing metaphors, one “Tribe called Quest” themed metaphor lasts almost an entire verse. To top it off Kendrick Lamar ends it with an extremely catchy and verse, the kind he’s known for. Though they have only done one collaboration I can only hope more will come.
15. “Headlights” (feat. Nate Ruess) – continuing the theme of serious emotional songs this song takes a unique look at a subject Eminem often breaches, his mom. While he talks about his mom alot, he usually does it in a hateful and angry way like in songs such as “cleaning out my closet” and “my mom”. In this song however he apologizes to his mother and tells her he loves her and forgives her for everything. It has a soft and touching hook sung by Nate Ruess lead singer for fun. This is another unique stand out track of this album.
16. “Evil twin” – follwoing that touching piece is another angry slim shady classic. The evil twin being reffered to is slim shady and his song is his way of letting shady out. It is angry, funny and most of all, classic shady.
17. “Baby” – this song really has no main theme, it focuses more on rhyme, a practice Em has used before in songs such as “taking my ball”. When he does this it allows him to maximize his rhymes in place of having to tell a story. An example of his amazing rhymes is the assonence used in lines like “no ones more ignorant that you at four in the morning, you in the laboratory storming like theres nothing more important, mcs better consider this a formal warning, your in for it girl”
18. “Desperation” – yet another song about relationships, this song, set over a heavy country guitar beat, is about a girl that he knows doesn’t love him and he doesn’t love her, buy shes with him for his fame and he’s with her for her looks. It has a chorus sung by Jamie N Common.
19. “Groundhog day”- this song is another about how he came up and got started in te rap game. It is not as emotional as the other though, and is more of a long rhyming anecdote about how he discovered rap. To be honest it is one of my least favorite on the album because it gets monotoneuos compared to the others but it is still a good song.
20. “Beautiful pain” (feat. Sia) – this album proved to be unique gor eminem in that it is filled with introspective and emotional songs, but this obviously stands apart as the absolute best of those. It is at the same time crishingly sad and also encouraging and uplifting. It has a general message to anyone hurting and needs to cheer up. Its hook is sing by Sia, and while this was the first time theu collaborated, it was not the last, as they again collaborated in 2014’s single “Guys over fear”. This song also stands out as the only song on the album not to use any profanity, inkeeping with its uplifting tone.
21. “Wicked ways” – Much like “a**hole, this song is eminem flaunting his nasty reputation. He claims he is “getting by with his wicked ways” and also uses several slurs and offensive lyrics in the song to prove the point. Also the whole no profanity thing from the last song, completely gone. It is a very good song, as it os always nice to hear slim flaunt his bad reputation, and especially with a good beat and chorus by X ambassadors.
All in all this album is one of Eminems best and is a perfect example of his two personalities. It is shocking how he goes from the emotions of “legacy”, “headlights”, and “beautiful pain” to the sneering slim shady in “evil twin” “a**hole”, and “baby” to the angry old Eminem in “Survival” and “Rap god”.
Mom's Spaghetti 