After hearing Eminem was making a sequel to the Marshall Mathers LP, i let out a wild "meh." I don't hate Eminem in fact i once liked him. But i've sat through Infinite, Relapse, Encore, Recovery, D12 World, Devil's Night, The Re-Up, and Refill. I have no desire to hear another lackluster Eminem album. But given the name, perhaps he is going back to his roots. Should he? Perhaps, perhaps not. I've stalled in reviewing this, considering Eminem stans are basically insane. in fact i've seen reviewers be told to commit suicide just because they didn't like an Eminem album. Why are those fans such little pricks? I have no clue. That's a mystery for another. So, let's just to the chase and just get into the album.
Bad Guy
The loose sequel to the acclaimed track Stan. Does it live up to the name? Not even remotely. The original was quite slow (mainly because of the hook), but it left you wanting to hear the next verse and finish the story. This I don't feel that for. The beat doesn't do too much work. it actually kind of sounds like bed springs squeaking. The hook is noticeably weaker than Stan. Though I feel i should review this as a song on it's own. Not comparing to the initial song is this good? It's a passable first listen or so, but after repeats it's the cure for insomnia. Also this classic line
I walked to the window and reached my full potential, i peaked
Well shit, maybe you should leave the past alone Slim. Until...the final verse is actually really fucking good. The build up to the dope ending is just too piss poor for me.
Parking Lot (skit)
Really bruh? Didn't we all get sick of these skits ten years ago?
Rhyme or Reason
Forgot what page my rhymes were on, oh it's on the rampage
Holy shit... please don't let these struggle bars be a recurring theme. Slim drops a Yoda impression. For one reason or another. The hook doe, did we need Marshall Mathers showing off his singing abilities. Passable entry at best.
So Much Better
It seems Eminem is producing again, fuck me. He's also brought his spectacular singing abilities back. Verses are decent. Boring ass hooks seem to be a mainstay so far.
Survival
I guess Marshall and Call of Duty has become a fruitful partnership. The music video had the game playing in the background, i think. There's even a COD Deluxe track. Oh and this song? Most people seem to think this is the worst shit they've ever heard and yes it is pretty bad but it's not THAT bad. Slim shouts his bars for no apparent reason. There seems to be no real reason in sight for this to be called MMLP2 aside from a few connection. This nonsense coulda been on Relapse.
Legacy
Marshall backtracks to his life as a kid and reminisces a bit, goes over how he was bullied. I do like this quite a bit. It's another pop hook, this one isn't half bad. I'm pleasantly surprised, now THIS fits on the Marshall Mathers LP 2. Pretty poor sign when it takes six tracks to find something good.
Asshole feat. Skylar Grey
Does Skylar Grey even have an album? I've never heard a solo track, nor do i want to. Anyways, Em's bars are pretty good here. He mentioned ICP though, that kinda fucked my day up a bit. Shout out to Freddie Roach.
Berzerk
Tribute to the late MCA of the Beastie Boys, and Rest in Peace to the dude. The Boys were a dope clique. Slim starts off telling us he's bringing it back and what not. Bringing what back? Hip hop, we're straight from the beginning. By doing a Beastie Boys impression...? I'm all down for tribute to the guys that are basically most of the reason white kids got drawn into Hip Hop but Eminem screaming at the top of lungs. This is fucking garbage bruh.
Rap God
Oh Em Gee, he's rapping fast. That's terrific. Some good ol' speed rap done well, well half of it is. His breath control is astounding but rapping fast only impresses me so far. Every Suburban Stan shit his pants six times when this dropped and i was not that moved by it. He goes off topic at random points and raps about the Ray J/Fabolous beef, battering women (supposed chris brown diss), it's just nonsense. Rather smoke and mirrors type of track.
Brainless
starts off with what sounds like an old film of sort talking about removing a mans brain. Sub-par hook on deck. Eminem's sing song like voice yet again. Yet another case of dope verses and weak music behind it.
Stronger Than I Was
Okay I'm done trying to like this album. Marshall's going to need to impress me sooner than fucking later. More sing songy bullshit isn't helping this album. Em says some okay stuff here but most of it is followed by his nonsensical singing. Also painfully long.
The Monster feat. Rihanna
So Far...
Wh...What is this? Sounds like a Bruno Mars impersonation. Followed by some dope ass Rick Rubin production and Em actually drops some dope material again. He also stopped singing so, ay! It's like a God send.
Love Game feat. Kendrick Lamar
Yo, K.Dot's on this? Man they about to start wildn' out, right!? Guess what!? They fucking do the exact opposite. They just rap about their love for women. Is this a sequel to The Marshall Mathers LP? What is he going for with this? Pass ass gas on this record.
Headlights feat. Nate Ruess
You waited until the final two tracks to get a professional singer to do a hook? (Skylar Grey yeah...) His part is passable. Here Marshall goes back to the well of Mama Mathers for more material but instead to say he actually loves her. Something mature, i'm somewhat proud he took this route instead of "fuck you mom! I do drugs hahahahaha" shit again. Enjoyable.
Evil Twin
Essentially the return to the Slim Shady persona here. Does it fit in, in 2014? Yes, it's borderline the only track on the album similar to that style but it's actually a pretty great ending. Ain't it amazin'? There's also a Call of Duty bonus track (wherever the fuck you buy that) and five deluxe tracks, but for real. I don't need another half hour of this album. A lot of people counted Refill and deluxe entries into Relapse to buff it up as a solid project but no okay. I'm not giving Em anymore credit because the shit off the album might be good.
The Highlights:
Evil Twin
Headlights
So Far...
The Lowlights:
Berzerk
Monster
Love Game
Survival
The Gem:
Legacy
Is it Worth a Purchase?
In no way shape or form do you need this album. Just look at the four positively listed tracks above and call it a day. There's borderline no reason to call this the MMLP2. There's 16 tracks and maybe 5-6 that I actually liked and only four i'd recommend. There's too much of Slim singing, made for radio shit, entries that overstay their welcome, and a few awful lines here and there to match. I really wanted Slim to impress me with this project but it seems his music isn't for me at this point. Don't even look at the deluxe, it takes an hour and 16 minutes just to reach the final 25 minutes of bonus material and the journey is not worth it.
Overall Grade: D+
Well, that was possibly the most disappointing album in a long time. Until Next Time, One Love.
No comments:
Post a Comment