Eminem Recovers

Marshall Mathers introduced us to Slim Shady, a hungry underground emcee from Detroit with a twisted sense of humor on his dark, entertaining debut. On his sophomore disc, the severely dated (and highly overrated) Marshall Mathers LP, had had become the superstar that the world turned him into, the one that he began to resent. Along with everyone else he resented at the time (his wife, his mother, gay people, pop stars, etc) on his next two discs, The Eminem Show and Encore, he struggled with fame and drugs and it showed.

With last year's Relapse he came back sober, with a misunderstood concept album that showcased Em at his most natural since the Slim Shady LP. He was being himself and having fun again.

Through the years he also had side projects and group albums, controversies and beefs, rises and falls, but I never really became a huge Eminem fan, mainly because all of his music never really matched his talents as an emcee. His production is weak, his crooning is even weaker…and there had been times where Eminem just came off lame both as an artist and as a celebrity (dude got legitimately heated at a hand puppet) But ever since I heard him well over a decade ago, I have always given him his due props as an emcee. As a student of the craft, I have been blown away by his verses time and time again and would go as far as to say, from a technical stand point, he revolutionized the game.

A lot of “real” hiphop fans love to hail Em’s best work as the three tracks he did for the 8 Mile soundtrack and the beef tracks that came out around that time. That stuff is all dope, don’t get me wrong but personally I have always missed the Em I was introduced to on the Wake Up Show, the guy in the Gravediggaz shirt rapping about chainsaws and wearing the same damn cap every day. The guy that he was portraying on those 8 Mile songs…but just wasn’t anymore. “B Rabbit” was who Hollywood wanted us to think Eminem was. The emcee we heard on the Slim Shady LP and Relapse…and now Recovery IS who Eminem is.

While he sings on most songs (it’s still pretty darn putrid) and he still has the hardest time coming up with strong hooks, Recovery features none of his own production and sees Eminem finally after all of these years, finding his voice both literally and as an artist

The album opens with some of that putrid singing, but it quickly picks up with Em lyrically slaughtering the first track Cold Wind Blows. On Talkin 2 Myself he explains that he almost dissed Kanye and Lil Wayne (confusingly he kind of does diss Wayne later, then has him on as a guest). On Fire is some straight hip hop shit and features Em dubbing the most listenable hook on the disc “bullshit”. DOH! Pink screams bloody murder on Won’t Back Down, Em continues to kill it. W.T.P is in the same vein as his other looser, party joints…he’s spitting with a more laid back flow on here, dope track.

Going Through Changes echoes the sound of a RZA beat for some strange reason, I dunno. Em getting introspective on here and the next joint, Not Afraid, which is his single and one of the weakest tracks on the album (continuing a rich Eminem tradition). Seduction is a chill track, a little homoerotic to play as a male but chill nonetheless. No Love showcases that Weezy appearance and samples the Night at the Roxbury song. Listen to me,” Weezy”. I don’t know him like that and don’t want to, Em kills it.

Space Bound comes next and is one of the illest songs on the album. Strong storytelling, dope beat and a rarity…a great hook, after that is Cinderella Man. I love this joint, it’s got that Just Blaze bounce, another dope hook (two in a row!) I can’t get down with Em calling Relapse trash though. I don’t believe that he really feels this way, just pandering to a fickle fan base.

25 to Life, So Bad and Almost Famous…three good tracks in a row, and whaddya know? Minimal singing. Love the Way You Lie is going to be a gigantic hit this summer, courageous move for Rihanna, singing on a track about physical abuse in a relationship and burning your lover to death. Good song.

You’re Never Over is God awful. We all can appreciate Em rapping to his dead friend, of course…but the singing featured on this track is some of the worst in recorded history. That’s not hyperbole.

Lastly a Havoc produced banger which wasn't really titled last time I checked. This is actually what I thought the whole album would sound like and might end up being a hidden track or something when it hits stores.

All in all I must say this is Eminem’s strongest effort to date. He seems to have eased into his role in hiphop, he finally understands who he is as an artist. I just hope that he is still popular and relevant enough with newb hiphop fans so they can finally hear some true emceeing.