Photocredit: Spotify
Nat Combs, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn
Eminem is a provocative music artist who was famed for contributing to a generation of lyrics designed to catch listeners off guard. Eminem's lyrics in the past have been polarizing, where he released much discography in the midst of East Coast-West Coast rivalry. He did not disclose his personal views, but he did reveal that Tupac and Biggie were huge influences to his music. “The Slim Shady EP” was the pinnacle of his music career, a release that made Eminem a star.
Eminem has sold 12 albums, and in my opinion, his oldest releases are the best, with my favorite being his 1999 album, “The Slim Shady LP”. I credit this to the fact it has been 25 years since my favorite album was dropped, and a lot can change in that time. However, I think Eminem is an entirely different version of who he once was. Eminem often plays into having multiple personalities, especially in his former group, D12. There were six members and the gimmick was that each person had an alter ego. At one point the dynamic was really entertaining, but the use of his alter ego on this album wasn’t as fitting. The track contained an ongoing battle versus himself titled, “Trouble,” but had the feeling of a filler song.
I had a really difficult time picking out the theme in this album because of the skits. It seemed excessive, and redundant because he copied his skits from “The Slim Shady LP”. In the 11th track of his newest album, there is a song titled “Houdini”. I found the placement way too late in the tracklist and it should have been in place of “Renaissance” the first track. He goes straight into rapping, with no introduction and surprisingly little background sounds.
There are also several features on this album, which is on brand for Eminem. Coming from huge collaborative albums like “2001” this was no surprise. However, he tried to include new artists in it, most of which were tolerable at best. I thought the song “Save Me” featuring Jelly Roll was going to be subpar, but surprisingly, that was the collaboration I enjoyed most. For being a rap song it sounded a lot like an 80’s rock ballad. The rap in that song was meaningful, and Jelly Roll’s voice complemented it very well.
Overall, I can’t say this is among the best albums Eminem has released. Most of his songs were attempting to chase his glory days, some of which felt pointless or overly offensive just for shock value. While his song with Jelly Roll wasn’t “bad", none of the songs were added to my playlist. Eminiem’s peak in the studio is long over, but his music holds a beautiful legacy.
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