If you know anything about rap music, chances are that you’ve probably heard of the enigmatic lyricist Marshall Mathers – better known as Eminem.
Eminem’s career, as in tow with every other aspect of his life, has been a roller coaster – yet, despite countless feuds, two divorces and a heavy drug addiction, Eminem sold more records than anybody during the 2000s. The prolific phenom has sold nearly 50 million records over a volatile and wildly successful career spanning over 15 years, and on Nov. 5 he is releasing his eighth studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2.
On Columbus Day, this past Monday, the legend, whose waning career has been called into question lately by the hip-hop community, fired back to silence critics and quell doubts with six minutes of straight fire on his new track, titled “Rap God.”
Em dips, swoops and slashes over an eclectic, pop-electro synthesized beat. This sounds less like the introspective, self-depreciating Eminem that we have grown accustomed to, and more like the heated, bellicose Mathers that grabbed listeners’ ears and forced them to pay attention. Eminem’s fans all collectively rejoiced upon hearing this flash of the genius that they know and love.
Eminem’s career spans waves. We all know of his deprived background as a miscreant youth, cold and alone on the hard streets of Detroit; his struggle to break into a scene that was not accepting of his kind, an arena in which, ironically, whites are discriminated against; his triumph in convincing the revered Dr. Dre to give him a chance and his unprecedented success that followed.
Eminem’s defining feature, his trademark, other than his unparalleled rhyming ability, is his vulgarity: he is simply not afraid to go there.
Eminem created an alter ego named “Slim Shady,” a drug dealing rapist who tapped into Mather’s repressed feelings of extreme anger and resentment. Millions of fans related to Slim Shady’s struggle and found solace in his depravity. He was the voice of a generation, an outlet, touching on tones of what much of America’s youth was feeling but could not say.
Eminem’s major label debut, The Slim Shady LP (1998), shocked the masses with its dark subject matter, including murder, rape, drug abuse and homophobia - themes that were recurrent through Mather’s following releases. However, despite the taboo surrounding his music, fans adored the sound; Eminem’s debut has now been certified platinum 4x over. This debut set off a run of album releases that would prove to be among the most successful ever: The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), The Eminem Show (2002), and Encore (2004) all have been certified platinum and made Eminem one of the best selling artists on the planet.
All of this success did not come without any controversy, though.
Because of his racy subject matter, Eminem drew hordes of critics and protesters who claimed Eminem was homophobic, misogynistic and a general menace to society. However, Eminem owned up to all of these claims, and demonstrated he did not care. He continued to do his thing.
Eminem’s lightning flow, tenacious lyrical ability, hysterical wordplay and level of self-awareness all contributed to his superstar status. Fans felt they could relate to Eminem, that he understood their illicit impulses and that he was brave for being the only one with the bravado to rap about such heinous subjects. In fact, the more controversial Eminem was, the more respected and revered he became, being lauded as the only one gutsy enough to “go there.”
Things took a turn for the worse in 2005 when various sources speculated Mather’s was considering ending his rap career due to depression and drug dependency. Eminem faded out of the spotlight, gained a copious amount of weight and sulked – all of his recklessness seemed to have caught up to him. The divorces, the lawsuits and the drugs seem to weigh heavy on Eminem’s shoulders. This was apparent on Eminem’s aptly titled Relapse (2009). The album is considered a huge misstep for Em, having met mixed reviews and generally lacking Eminem’s signature visceral feel that his fans were seeking. The album is moody and dark, but not in the comical way that Mathers’ previous releases were. Em’s follow up album, Recovery (2010), was an improvement, but still lacked that subversive humor and touch that graced his earlier work. With his questionable track record of late, the questions remains.
Can Eminem be great again?
This Monday, when Eminem tweeted his release of the sample track “Rap God,” felt like taking a time machine back to the early 2000s when Eminem was still making great music. The passion, the fervor and the tenacity were all manifestly there, Eminem spits bars on this track like the kid from Detroit we all hated to love. The track is wrought with emotion and anger. In what many take as a response to Kendrick Lamar’s verse in “Control,” a controversial track released this past summer, Eminem comes out guns blazing, taking shots at current rappers, hailing himself as a god, and even making old cultural references from the 2000s (sorry, Monica Lewinsky). He sounds like he is over feeling sorry for himself and ready to reclaim his rightful spot on top of the game, mic in hand. Eminem has already released another track from the album titled “Berzerk;” this has an erratic sound which I’m not sure if I like, but if “Rap God” is any indication of things to come, then I can confidently say we have a lot to look forward to.
