Review Album
Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP 2 embodies the main theme of my blog: progression in the right direction. Eminem’s career has been heavily followed and knows his fans expect a lot from him, and just like with any iconic musician, the question is how do you continue the “magic” that people originally gravitated to? Well for starters, name it after his biggest album. After that, its about creating a feeling that’s like the original one.
- Summary-
- The album is a continuation of his most acclaimed studio album, the Marshall Mathers LP. It has many ties to its predecessor, giving the avid listener those “ahh, I get that reference!” moments that are always enjoyable. Along with a nostalgic undertone, Eminem clearly aimed to push and test the game that is rap. Resolution, growth, competition, range, versatility are in my opinion key criteria to judge a rapper’s efforts of, and from a fan’s perspective, I am quite happy how the album fairs in the categories. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTfuPF5SoCQ
- Resolve-
- With any conflict you have, showing the ability to be the bigger person and squash the issue is a sign of growth and maturity. It took a lot of guts for Eminem to apologize to his mother on Headlights. In the second verse, he says “But I’m sorry momma for ‘Cleaning Out My Closet,’/ at the time I was angry/Rightfully maybe so, never meant that far to take it though”. Here he is referencing his song off the original MMLP “Cleaning out My Closet,” where he vents about his massive negative feelings for his mother and other family members. He regrets the impact that song has, and a whole lot more very personal notes in this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bDLIV96LD4
- Growth-
- In the sense of personal and storytelling. “Bad Guy” Matthew Mitchell growth. At the same time, personal growth in “So Far”. In the song “Bad Guy,” somewhat of a part 2 to the epic tale of “Stan” also on the original album. For those who don’t know, Stan is about an obsessed fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend because Eminem never returned his fan mail in a timely fashion. The song continually builds in intensity as Stan gets more and more agitated from waiting for a response from Slim Shady. “Bad Guy” follows the same formatting. “Bad Guy” is from the perspective of Stan’s kid brother, Matthew Mitchell, who, 13 years later is back to avenge his brother. The song talks about his anger for Eminem, and his plan to kill him. It’s a befitting end to a tale that really didn’t need an ending. Eminem could’ve ended Stan where it was at, but to display his masterful story-telling skills, he shows a new perspective. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71xeMTazmMo
- Competitive edge- breaking records on “Rap God”. Verbal combat on “Love Game”
- “Rap God” is the perfect title for the song. Setting records for most words in a hit single, there’s nothing but tongue-and-cheek fire on this track. With lines like “But for me to rap like a computer must be in my genes/ I got a laptop in my back pocket” all the way through the song, you’ll have to listen quite a few times to understand every line. Also displaying his competitive edge is the song “Love Game”. The only song on the album with a feature from another rapper, Kendrick Lamar shows why he is the only other rapper on here. The songs format starts with a verse from Em, then K-Dot, then Em again. Why it was set up this way? After Kendrick laid his verse, Eminem felt he got outdone on his own track, so he had to go in there and lay another monstrous verse down to end the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbGs_qK2PQA
Its all about perspective 