In 2011 Eminem reunited with Royce da 5'9 to reform their short lived Bad Meets Evil duo. Now normally any time Eminem collabs with fucking ANY body it ends badly. (See Devil's Night, D12 World, and The Re-Up) With one exception, that being his former rival/ally Royce. This album didn't hit the same sales he usually does but the reviews were pretty solid. (Then again, when don't music sites whore for Eminem?) I mean, it's 9 tracks, how bad could it REALLY be? In the old days n shit, these two were going bar for bar out to body each other on tracks, do they head back to those ambitious times? Not exactly.
Welcome 2 Hell
Havoc actually hopped on production for this. But the duo actually do open up spittin' n shit. Em dropped some unnecessarily uncomfortable lines about dudes sniffin the shit out his draws. I wasn't really feel that but aside from that nonsense this is a pretty cool opening. It's a fast two minutes and right into the rest of the material.
Fast Lane
I hope i don't sound too heinous but Nicki Minaj i wanna stick my penis in your anus!
One of two singles off the album. Follows the same style of the two trying to one up each other but not really. Royce starts off borderline ass kissin the dude and Slim comes in the track slow. They set up their story and how they go to where they are now. The slower they go the more you notice some "meh" bars. Hook is dope though, i dont know who did the voice but this dude should pop up more. This entry's fun though so, i ain't got no real problem with it.
The Reunion
This just starts off with Em saying some nonsense about beating women or whatever then Royce turns it into an actual story. Then Slim gotta go above and beyond about torturing women n' shit. It's entertaining at least. Very nice storytelling, well not nice but, you know.
Above The Law
This didnt need a hook in any way really but anyways the beat is fan-tab-u-lous here. Shocker of the day since Mr. Porter/Kon Artis/Denaun Porter/Weed Carrier made it. This project's delivering so far man. It feels like their hunger is back, mostly. No, this has nothing to do with the actual Above the Law if you actually had a feeling it was. Royce also drops some line about knocking a dude out for having a mouth like Kanye, then apologizes a line later. Sadly.
I'm On Everything feat. Mike Epps
Who in the fuckin' fuck had the idea to put a sub-par Mike Epps stand up on this album? Even twisted it into the song. It's a return to the roots man, not like Black Thought n Questlove but like Em n Royce spitting goofy ass songs about drugs while making some seizure like noises. Their bars basically random and illogical but its somewhat enjoyable. This shit get skipped on repeat listens doe.
A Kiss
This has that raw sound to it. The lyrics however, kinda meh. Slim rambles about women n' shit. Last time he did that it ended in him writing a song about dragging his ex-wife across the grass at night and cutting her throat. This ain't do too much for me.
Lighters feat. Bruno Mars
blah blah blah, penis joke, boring ass lyrics, lighters in the sky!!!
I shoulda Craig Mack faced this bullshit. This boring ass Bruno hook drags like all fucking hell. Royce and Em say borderline nothing of value and 5'9 basically one step away from jumping in Marshall's arms and asking 'em for a bed time story. New level of fuckin' boring, and this was a single. Not even a surprise since just about every single Slim drops is ass, but this ain't tolerable. Nine tracks and you left this on?
Take From Me
It's better than Lighters but what the fuck wouldn't be at this point? Might as well be a Big L/Big Pun collab in comparison. But this still weak. They drift from the whole idea of the album some sleepy bad romance bars. Muthafuckin' awful hook, sound like some 2004 ringtone quality. I don't need no more Eminem tracks like this.
Loud Noises feat. Slaughterhouse
Technically...it's a posse cut, but not really. It's just Slaughterhouse and Eminem. Shits kinda dope but basically the weakest posse cut with expectations to it. I tried to break this down but hardly anything of any value is even said for the longest time. Crooked I takes best verse. Royce gets a -1 for being the 450th muthafucka to call himself 2Pac post his death.
Living Proof (Deluxe)
Now this is a cool bonus. It's like what you actually want out of the album, instead of Bruno Mars handing out verbal Nyquil.
Echo (Deluxe)
Then this bullshit steps in! More Recovery 2.0 spilled in.
The Highlights:
Welcome 2 Hell
Above the Law
Living Proof (Deluxe)
The Lowlights:
Lighters
Take From Me
Echo (Deluxe)
The Gem:
The Reunion
Is It Worth a Purchase?
At nine tracks and 11 at Deluxe it's not a horrible buy. I mean there's some bullshit here that sounds like Recovery left overs. Em and Royce don't really go bar for bar here, and i'm not really fondly looking back on too many punchlines. It's fun most of the time, but for only 9 tracks i shouldn't be needing to skip songs. I'd say get the deluxe but it's really one entry worth hearing. If you're looking for a good Eminem album, this is his only project i'd recommend post 2003. Em actually has fun on this album, shame he needed another rapper to do it.
Overall Grade: C+
Until Next Time, One Love.
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