Yelawolf (feat. Gangsta Boo & Eminem) - Throw It Up (Shady/Interscope, 2011)

For those worried that Yelawolf maybe going down commercial pastures, he recruits the legendary Gangsta Boo to add her menacing snarl to what is already a ominous piano riff. Yela’s verse is certainly strong enough (chopping it himself in the process), and Gangsta Boo comes as a pleasant surprise, but unfortunately Marshall is still rapping like the insecure middle-aged washed-up ex drug-addict with way too much to prove. Like, seriously Em, is it that hard to rap like a human being again? Why must everything be so robotic?

Yela’s Radioactive will be out November 21st. More Boo, less Eminem, we can only hope. 

Eminem - Difficult (Shady/Interscope, 20??)

Difficult is apparently a song that was never intended for release - a tribute to Proof that was meant to belong in Eminem’s personal collection, as a method of self-venting. I’m not sure when this was recorded; it’s hard to tell due to the fact that it was never meant for commercial purposes, so it lacks the accent present on Relapse and the Prozac-flow of Recovery. The instrumental samples When I’m Gone, or uses the same piano track - hard to tell quite frankly.

What is clear is how deep, and heartfelt this song is; easily one of the most beautiful songs Marshall has ever recorded. Although Em dedicated quite a lot of Recovery to Deshaun, but all of those songs felt half-contrived; like Em was holding back from saying what he really wanted to out of respect to Proof, while still trying to make songs that were commercially viable. All of that is thrown out the window now; even though this could easily top the charts, it is as raw and honest as anything else in his discography. In the first verse, he professes his brotherly love for his fallen comrade, as his seemingly drunken flow (he’s slurring like a motherfucker here) nearly falls apart from the very beginning, but stays in tact. He talks about how he continuously stares at pictures of Proof, and tries to keep his two children well while their father is gone.

On the second verse, Eminem reminisces on their early days, speaking on how they were always brother despite their ethnic backgrounds, and Em even includes a funny snippet of a conversation between them involving melatonin. It’s surreal though; he quickly talks about putting rings in Proof’s casket not long after, an image that’s absolutely heartbreaking in its context. On the third verse, Em comes out with the type of unsettling shit we all do when we lose someone - picking up a jacket of his lost loved one, smelling it, and keeping it hung up in his hallway to remind him of Proof. Again, this shit goes right for your heart; if you’ve ever lost anyone, this song will bring you down to the lowest echelon. At the very end, Em even mentions a traitor in the crew who came to the funeral, that I’m still unaware as to who it is.

This is the type of stuff that keeps Eminem so highly regarded despite mess-ups like Recovery.

Eminem - Stimulate (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope, 2002)

This Marshall maybe gone today, but his spirit forever lives on through this generation’s batch of rappers, even in the smallest aspects. The untamed aggression, the blue-collar disenfranchisement, the overindulgent sense of sarcasm. Today, artists like Waka Flocka Flame, OFWGKTA, Kanye West, and Nicki Minaj carry about these  some of these attributes, but I doubt any of them will ever be able to genuinely capture all of those elements in a jar (well, maybe Tyler will - that remains to be seen).

Eminem (feat. Lil’ Wayne) - No Love (Interscope, 2010)

this is mostly for collective purposes. I’ve grown even more indifferent to Recovery over the months; I tried revisiting it after a few months of letting it go idle, and it honestly hasn’t held up; this is easily the worst Eminem album next to Encore, which is such a shame considering how lyrically-interesting Relapse was (although, I’m admittedly just a big advocate of horrorcore/acid rap). There are still some standout cuts from Recovery which I treasure, but this isn’t one of them. Honestly, I despise all the singles from this album, although I suppose I can tolerate this one more than Love The Way You Lie for the mildly interesting Wayne verse, which includes bars full of broken bottles, broken vowels, and open bibles. Honestly, if this Wayne verse was present on better production (which he could actually flow to; this is easily one of the least rappable beats I’ve ever heard, and it’s a shame to think Just Blaze created it) and didn’t include those pro-Prozac Eminem verses, we’d have something good on our hands.

Which reminds me, I may have to review that I Am Not A Human Being project here eventually.

Eminem (feat. Rihanna) - Love The Way You Lie (Interscope, 2010)

I’m only posting this so I can say..

BOYCOTT THIS FUCKING EMO DRIVEL. THIS SHIT SUCKS. I HAVE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS JUST TO GET ACROSS HOW INANE AND ATTROCIOUS THIS SONG IS. THE INSTRUMENTAL IS GARBAGE, RIHANNA’S CHORUS IS TAILOR-MADE FOR DISNEY RADIO, AND EMINEM’S RAPS ARE SEVERELY OFF-BEAT AND INSINCERE. EVERY GIRL IN AMERICA IS IN LOVE WITH THIS SONG BECAUSE THEY HAVE SHITTY TASTES IN BOTH MUSIC AND MEN. THIS SONG SHOULD BURN LIKE WITH THE SAME FLAME THAT PYRO’S HOLDING IN THE MUSIC VIDEO. THIS IS LISA LOPES’ THEME SONG.

edit: that pyro happens to be Megan Fox.

THAT AIN’T HELPING.