Hello, oh dear the UK royal family still stuck in the Middle ages is in crises because the future kings brother decided to no longer play along, after he and especially his wife Megan have been relentlessly attacked by the Murdoch racist tabloid press, nasty stuff, unfortunately this evil Murdoch press will never stop if they think the simpletons keep buying into their trash. Sorry Megan, but look what lies evil Murdoch is currently spreading in Australia concerning the fires in that country, it's got nothing to do with global warming but it's green terrorists setting fire to the country, nothing to do with the rightwing government selling lies and coal strongly supported by the tabloid empire of demon Murdoch.
Today's Artist is another case of rags to riches the US always drools over."At the dawn of the 21st Century, Slim Shady had the biggest mouth in the music biz. And man oh man were people upset about the words coming out of it. Drugs, murder, rape, and attacks on pop culture icons were casual topics; and no matter how ridiculous his stories were he made sure you believed every. single. word. However, his praise was just as large as the controversy, not to mention sales. Clever wording coupled with vicious delivery made him perhaps the most technically skilled MC ever within the mainstream. . ....... N Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
To call Eminem hip-hop's Elvis is correct to a degree, but it's largely inaccurate. Certainly, Eminem was the first white rapper since the Beastie Boys to garner both sales and critical respect, but his impact exceeded this confining distinction. On sheer verbal skills, Eminem was one of the greatest MCs of his generation -- rapid, fluid, dexterous, and unpredictable, as capable of pulling off long-form narratives as he was delivering a withering aside -- and thanks to his mentor Dr. Dre, he had music to match: thick, muscular loops that evoked the terror and paranoia Em's music conjured. And, to be certain, a great deal of the controversy Eminem courted -- and during the turn of the millennium, there was no greater pop cultural bogeyman than Marshall Mathers -- came through in how his violent fantasias, often directed at his mother or his wife, intertwined with flights of absurdity that appealed to listeners too young to absorb the psychodramas Eminem explored on his hit albums, The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. With hits "My Name Is" and "The Real Slim Shady," he ruled the airwaves, but it wasn't long before some detractors acknowledged his depth, helped in part by singles like the mournful "Stan," written from the perspective of an obsessed fan. Eminem capitalized on this forward momentum by crossing over onto the big screen with 8 Mile, earning acclaim for his performance and an Oscar for the film's anthem "Lose Yourself," but a number of demons led him to shut down for the second half of the decade, an absence that proved life was indeed empty without Em, before he returned in 2009 with Relapse.
Born Marshall Mathers in the Kansas City, Missouri suburb of St. Joseph, Eminem spent his childhood between Missouri and Michigan, settling in Detroit by his teens. At the age of 14, he began rapping with a high-school friend, the two adopting the names "Manix" and "M&M," which soon morphed into Eminem. Under this name, Mathers entered battle rapping, a struggle dramatized in the fictionalized 8 Mile. Initially, the predominantly African-American audience didn't embrace Eminem, but soon his skills gained him a reputation, and he was recruited to join several rap groups. The first of these was the New Jacks, and after they disbanded, he joined Soul Intent, who released a single in 1995. This single also featured Proof, and the two rappers broke off on their own to form D-12, a six-member crew that functioned more as a Wu-Tang-styled collective than a regularly performing group. As he was struggling to establish his career, he and his girlfriend Kim had a daughter, Hailey, forcing him to spend less time rapping and more time providing for his family. During this time, he assembled his first album, Infinite, which received some underground attention in 1996, not all of it positive. After its release, Eminem developed his Slim Shady alter ego, a persona that freed him to dig deep into his dark id, something he needed as he faced a number of personal upheavals, beginning with a bad split with Kim, which led him to move in with his mother and increase his use of drugs and alcohol, capped off with an unsuccessful suicide attempt. All this Sturm und Drang was channeled into The Slim Shady EP, which is where he first demonstrated many of the quirks that became his trademark, including his twitchy, nasal rhyming and disturbingly violent imagery.
The Slim Shady EP opened many doors, the most notable of them being a contract with Interscope Records. After Eminem came in second at the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles, Interscope head Jimmy Iovine sought out the rapper, giving the EP to Dr. Dre, who proved eager to work with Eminem. They quickly cut Em's Interscope debut in the fall of 1998 -- during which time Marshall reconciled with Kim and married her -- and The Slim Shady LP appeared early in 1999, preceded by the single "My Name Is." Both were instant blockbusters and Eminem turned into a lightning rod for attention, earning praise and disdain for his violent, satirical fantasias. Eminem quickly followed The Slim Shady LP with The Marshall Mathers LP in the summer of 2000. By this point, there was little doubt that Eminem was one of the biggest stars in pop music: the album sold by the truckload, selling almost two million copies within the first two weeks of release, but Mathers felt compelled to tweak other celebrities, provoking pop stars in his lyrics, and Insane Clown Posse's entourage in person, providing endless fodder for tabloids. This gossip blended with growing criticism about his violent and homophobic lyrics, and under this fire, he reunited his old crew, D-12, releasing an album in 2001, then touring with the group.
During this furor, he had his biggest hit in the form of the moody ballad "Stan." Performed at the Grammys as a duet with Elton John, thereby undercutting some accusations of homophobia, the song helped Eminem to cross over to a middlebrow audience, setting the stage for the ultimate crossover of 2001's 8 Mile. Directed by Curtis Hanson, best known as the Oscar-nominated director of L.A. Confidential, the gritty drama fictionalized Eminem's pre-fame Detroit days and earned considerable praise, culminating in one of his biggest hits with the theme "Lose Yourself," which won Mathers an Oscar. After all this, he retreated from the spotlight to record his third album, The Eminem Show. Preceded by the single "Without Me," the album turned into another huge hit, albeit not quite as strong as its predecessor, and there were some criticisms suggesting that Eminem wasn't expanding his horizons much. Encore, released late in 2004, did reach into more mature territory, notably on the anti-George W. Bush "Mosh," but most of the controversy generated by the album was for behind-the-scenes events: a bus crash followed by canceled dates and a stint in rehab. Rumors of retirement flew, and the 2005 appearance of Curtain Call: The Hits did nothing to dampen them, nor did the turmoil of 2006, a year that saw Mathers remarrying and divorcing Kim within a matter of four months, as well as the shooting death of Proof at a Detroit club.
During all this, Em did some minor studio work, but soon he dropped off the radar completely, retreating to his Detroit home. He popped up here and there, most notably debuting the hip-hop channel Shade 45 for Sirius Satellite Radio in September 2008, but it wasn't until early 2009 that he mounted a comeback with Relapse, an album whose very title alluded to some of Mathers' struggles with prescription drugs, but it also announced that after an extended absence, Slim Shady was back. While not quite a blockbuster, the album went platinum, and Eminem followed it at the end of the year with an expanded version of Relapse (dubbed Relapse: Refill) that added outtakes and new recordings. Recovery, initially titled Relapse 2, was issued in June 2010. The album debuted on top of the Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for five consecutive weeks, while its leadoff single, "Not Afraid," debuted on top of the magazine's Hot 100 singles chart.
The year 2010 also brought Eminem back together with Royce da 5'9" under the Bad Meets Evil moniker. In turn, June 2011's Hell: The Sequel marked the release of their first EP as a duo and -- barring the previous month's release of key EP track "Fastlane" as a single -- was their first batch of new material since a 1999 double A-side. After an intense period of recording, Eminem announced in August 2013 that his next solo album would be a nostalgically themed set of new material entitled The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which landed in early November. The album featured the singles "Berzerk," "Rap God," and "Survival," plus the chart-topping hit "The Monster" with Rihanna. In 2014, new tracks landed on the double-disc set Shady XV, which celebrated the Shady label's 15th birthday. The singles "Phenomenal" and "Kings Never Die" featuring Gwen Stefani arrived a year later, both taken from the Southpaw soundtrack.
Eminem resurfaced in October 2017 with a freestyle anti-Trump rap. The track didn't appear on Revival, the December 2017 album that was filled with cameos, including appearances by Beyoncé ("Walk on Water"), Ed Sheeran ("River"), and P!nk ("Need Me"). His seventh straight chart-topper, it ultimately failed to match the sales heights of past efforts, despite the international success of the "River" single. The next year, without warning, Eminem issued his surprise tenth album, Kamikaze. The set featured appearances by Joyner Lucas, Royce da 5'9", and Jessie Reyez, as well as "Venom," from the film of the same name.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Seemed like drama was always something Eminem craved, but in the year leading up to The Re-Up, the drama was heavy, a really, really bad kind of heavy. He checked himself into rehab, got remarried for a few months to the infamous Kim before that went south, then his best man and best friend Proof is murdered in a bizarre and depressing incident that made all the gangster talk that came previously extra chilling. A mixtape that was originally planned to be released on the underground circuit, The Re-Up has plenty of that serious heat that influenced Eminem to go aboveground with the release. There's the surging remix of 50 Cent's "Ski Mask Way," the excellent all-star single "You Don't Know," a couple clever redo's of Akon's "Smack That" single with various members of the Shady family, and "There He Is" with newcomer Bobby Creekwater living up to his hype over a rich Alchemist beat. Tacked onto the end is Eminem's shining moment, "No Apologies," which speaks to his frozen heart, then lashes out at critics. The man's lyrical dexterity is on display for the soul-searching closer, there's no doubt about that, but the target is questionable, since it didn't really seem like Em was getting a critical drubbing in 2006. A diversion maybe? Could be, since he's sidestepping a whole lot of the other issues here. While Proof gets his due with the intro to his unreleased track "Trapped," this is hardly his memorial, plus his D12 brothers Bizarre and Kuniva are in no hurry to lay off the gun talk with their visceral and knowingly irresponsible "Murder." The quick marriage/divorce and rehab are barely noted, either, and while Em has every right to keep whatever he wants private, longtime fans looking for that usual candor are in for a shock. Instead of using the mixtape format as an up-to-the-minute dispatch from the soul, Em has decided to bring the Shady empire back into focus with The Re-Up. 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew are brought back into the Shady scene when it seemed they just about outgrew it, and with Creekwater, Cashis, and Stat Quo all anxious to become "rookie of the year," the Shady spotlight is validated. Once the Eminem hardcore accept that this is more about the whole talented and hungry crew than the man with a devastating year on his hands, they'll co-sign.
VA - Eminem Presents The Re-Up (flac 491mb)
1 Eminem - Shady Narcotics 0:56
2 Eminem, Obie Trice, Stat Quo, Bobby Creekwater & Cashis - We're Back 4:00
3 Obie Trice - Pistol Pistol (Remix) 2:26
4 Bizarre & Kuniva - Murder 2:11
5 Cashis - Everything Is Shady 4:30
6 Eminem & 50 Cent - The Re-Up 2:58
7 50 Cent , Eminem, Cashis & Lloyd Banks - You Don't Know 4:18
8 Eminem & 50 Cent - Jimmy Crack Corn 3:55
9 Proof - Trapped 0:58
10 Mr. Porter & Swifty McVay - Whatever You Want 2:49
11 Cashis - Takin' All That 4:05
12 Stat Quo - By My Side 4:07
13 Obie Trice & Cashis - We Ride for Shady 3:08
14 Bobby Creekwater - There He Is 4:25
15 Stat Quo - Tryin' ta Win 3:53
16 Stat Quo & Bobby Creekwater - Smack That (Remix) 5:12
17 Eminem - Public Enemy #1 1:55
18 Stat Quo - Get Low 3:20
19 Eminem & 50 Cent - Ski Mask Way (Eminem Remix) 3:04
20 Nate Dogg, Eminem, Obie Trice & Bobby Creekwater - Shake That (Remix) 3:00
21 Obie Trice, Kuniva, Bobby Creekwater, Cashis & Stat Quo - Cry Now (Shady Remix) 5:10
22 Eminem - No Apologies 4:19
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Eminem placed himself in exile shortly after Encore wound down, a seclusion initially designed as creative down-time but which soon descended into darkness fueled by another failed marriage to his wife Kim and the death of his best friend Proof, culminating in years of drug addiction. Em none too subtly refers to that addiction with the title of Relapse, his first album in five years, but that relapse also refers to Marshall Mathers reviving Slim Shady and returning to rap. Relapse is designed to grab attention, to stand as evidence that Eminem remains a musical force and, of course, a provocateur spinning out violent fantasies and baiting celebrities, occasionally merging the two as when he needles one-time girlfriend Mariah Carey and her new husband Nick Cannon. Strive as he might to make an impact in the world at large -- and succeeding in many respects -- Relapse is the sound of severe isolation, the product of too many years of Eminem playing king in his castle in a dilapidated Detroit, subsisting on pills, nachos, torture porn, and E! Daily News. As he sifted through junk culture, he also tweaked his rhyming, crafting an elongated elastic flow that contrasts startlingly with Dr. Dre's intensified beats, ominous magnifications of his thud-and-stutter signature. Musically, this is white-hot, dense, and dramatic not just in the production but in Eminem's delivery; he stammers and slides, slipping into an accent that resembles Paul Rudd's Rastafarian leprechaun from I Love You Man and then back again. His flow is so good, his wordplay so sharp, it seems churlish to wish that he addressed something other than his long-standing obsessions and demons. True, he spends a fair amount of the album exorcising his addiction -- smartly tying it to his never-abating mother issues on "My Mom" -- but most of Relapse finds Eminem rhyming twitchily about his old standbys: homosexuals, starlets, and violent fantasies, weaving all of them together on "Same Song and Dance" where he abducts and murders Lindsay Lohan, suggesting more than a passing familiarity with I Know Who Killed Me. The many, many references to Kim Kardashian's big ass and minutely detailed sadism can get a wee bit tiring, Relapse isn't really about what Eminem says, it's about how he says it. He's emerged from his exile musically re-energized and the best way to illustrate that is to go through the same old song and dance again, the familiarity of the words drawing focus on his insane, inspired flow and Dre's production. That might not quite make Relapse culturally relevant -- recycled Christopher Reeve jokes aren't exactly fresh -- but it is musically vital, which is all Eminem really needs to be at this point.
Eminem - Relapse (flac 519mb)
01 Dr. West (Skit) 1:29
02 3 a.m. 5:20
03 My Mom 5:20
04 Insane 3:01
05 Bagpipes From Baghdad 4:43
06 Hello 4:08
07 Tonya (Skit) 0:43
08 Same Song & Dance 4:08
09 We Made You 4:30
10 Medicine Ball 3:57
11 Paul (Skit) 0:19
12 Stay Wide Awake 5:20
13 Old Time's Sake 4:35
14 Must Be the Ganja 4:03
15 Mr. Mathers (Skit) 0:42
16 Déjà Vu 4:43
17 Beautiful 6:32
18 Crack a Bottle 4:58
19 Steve Berman (Skit) 1:29
20 Underground 6:19
Relapse : Refill is a re-release of Relapse containing seven songs from the supposedly scrapped album Relapse 2. Genuine songs or simply a cheap money-maker? Refill kicks off with 'Forever', which doesn't have jack shit to do with any of Relapse. It's pretty much a disposable song, Em himself is the only one coming correct on it, but fuck the others. Yes, even Mr. West, who I am a big fan of. After that we jump right back into Relapse though, which is a good thing, as Eminem gets back to spitting that crazy shit. 'Hell Breaks Loose' is nice, but not really that spectacular. The bloody fun really starts with 'Buffalo Bill'. It's Em spitting some crazy shit. Some might not feel his delivery much, but to me it's just the same thing he had been doing on the original release. 'Elevator' would have fit nicely on the last (kinda introspective) part of Relapse and is another nice track. 'Taking My Ball' and 'Music Box' are also great fits with the other tracks on Relapse. I especially like the latter, as Eminem isn't pulling any tricks and is just using his normal voice. It's a very good reminder of his older material and how good this guy can be. Also I just love the sick ass lyrics. By now you should know what to expect from the material on Relapse and this is more gore and sick shit. I happen to like it (what does that say about me!? HUH!? HUH!?). A bit of a shame he ends with 'Drop The Bomb On 'Em', on which he kinda dropped his ball. I just wasn't feeling this track a lot.
Beats on the extra material is still mostly done by Dr. Dre, though he had some help on some beats. It's still very good, but I felt some of it just wasn't touching the level of some of the better beats of Relapse. 'Buffalo Bill' could easily have messed with the beat for stuff like 'Same Song & Dance' though and it's easily a favorite. I just like how Dre was kinda experimenting with his sound for some of the tracks on Relapse. Eminem himself does a nice job on 'Elevator' and it might be one of the fresher beats I have heard from him in a while
Eminem - Refill (flac 227mb)
21 Forever 5:58
22 Hell Breaks Loose 4:04
23 Buffalo Bill 3:57
24 Elevator 4:53
25 Taking My Ball 5:03
26 Music Box 5:05
27 Drop the Bomb on 'Em 4:48
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
With Recovery it becomes obvious that Eminem's richest albums aren't necessarily his most structurally sound, which isn't much of a surprise when considering the rapper's full-on embrace of flaws and contradictions. This lean, mean bipolar machine began life as Relapse 2, but when Shady decided he wasn't really Shady at the moment and that he was no longer keen on Relapse -- or the last two albums as he states on “Talkin' 2 Myself” -- it became Marshall Mathers time again, so damn any 11th hour issues. This results in an album where a shameless but killer Michael J. Fox punch line (“The world will stop spinnin’ and Michael J. Fox‘ll come to a standstill” from “Cold Wind”) is followed by a song with another, less effective MJF joke (“Make like Michael J. Fox in your drawers, playin' with an Etch-A-Sketch”), although that song is the lurching heavy metal monster “Won't Back Down” with P!nk, and it could be used as the lead-in to “Lose Yourself” on any ego-boosting mixtape. Following an apology for your recent work with a damnation of critics and haters is just sloppy; taking off the skits and then overstuffing your album by a track or two is undermining what's good; and the beats here are collectively just a B+ with only one production (the so good “So Bad”) coming from Dr. Dre. Add to that the detractor idea that being privy to the man's therapy sessions just isn't compelling anymore and the only persuasive moments remaining are the highlights, but fans can feed on the energy, the renewed sense of purpose, and Marshall doing whatever the hell he wants, up to and including shoehorning a grand D12-like comedy number ("W.T.P.," which stands for "White Trash Party") into this emotionally heavy album. It’s fascinating when Em admits “Hatred was flowin’ through my veins, on the verge of goin’ insane/I almost made a song dissin’ Lil Wayne” and then “Thank God I didn’t do it/I’da had my ass handed to me, and I knew it” before sparring with said Weezy on the Haddaway-sampling “No Love.” When the recovery-minded “Going Through Changes” gets back on the wagon by sampling Black Sabbath’s very druggy “Changes” it’s a brilliant and layered idea that’s executed with poignant lyrics on top. Add the man at his most profound (the gigantic hit “Not Afraid”) and his most profane (“You wanna get graphic? We can go the scenic route/You couldn’t make a bulimic puke on a piece of corn and peanut poop” from “On Fire”) plus one of thickest lyric booklets out of any of his albums and the fans who really listen are instantly on board. It may be flawed and the rapper’s attitude is sometimes one step ahead of his output, but he hasn’t sounded this unfiltered and proud since The Marshall Mathers LP, so to hell with refinement -- bring on the hunger and spirit of 8 Mile.
Eminem - Recovery (flac 551mb)
01 Cold Wind Blows 5:04
02 Talkin' 2 Myself feat. Kobe 5:01
03 On Fire 3:34
04 Won't Back Down feat. P!NK 4:26
05 W.T.P. 3:58
06 Going Through Changes 4:59
07 Not Afraid 4:08
08 Seduction 4:35
09 No Love feat. Lil Wayne 5:00
10 Space Bound 4:39
11 Cinderella Man 4:39
12 25 to Life 4:02
13 So Bad 5:25
14 Almost Famous 4:53
15 Love the Way You Lie feat. Rihanna 4:23
16 You're Never Over 5:06
17 Untitled [hidden track] 3:15
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
After centering himself with the confessional 2010 release Recovery, Eminem entered his forties while watching his beloved city of Detroit literally go bankrupt. The cover here displays this descent with an updated picture of the rapper's teenage home, first featured on the MM LP of 2000 but now boarded up, and yet this 8 Mile child cares much more about the present than the past, as this vicious, infectious, hilarious triumph is no nostalgia trip, just the 2013 version of Marshall the experienced maverick on a tear, dealing with the current state of events and kicking up dust with his trademark maniac attack while effortlessly juggling his over-40 wisdom with stuff you'd slap a teenager for saying. Key cut "Rap God" is the quintessential track as it blasts out homophobic cut-downs and other inexcusable lyrics, because Marshall's the "Dale Earnhardt of the trailer park," but "I still rap like I'm on my Pharoahe Monch grind," and suddenly his Stan Lee-like origin story begins to take shape. Marshall is a super villain so familiar with hate and depression, he's powered by all shades of anger. Be it pissing off the neighbors (rocking the house with a some Beastie Boys and Billy Squier samples on the Rick Rubin-produced party starter "Bezerk") or being threatened by critics (and his biggest ever, too, as "Bad Guy" revisits the MM LP character "Stan" via his revenge-obsessed brother Matthew), it all feeds into his super nova, and it’s a unique spectacle when it explodes. It does so gloriously on the stately arena rap anthem "Survival," which injects the listener with martial beats and a pre-game pep talk worth hearing. "Asshole" takes the decidedly low road to destruction, slapping girls "off the mechanical bull, at a tractor pull" while using controversy to make the front page, then offering the idea that he's "white America's mirror, so don't feel awkward or weird," because there's no sense in leaving the sewer if you don't crawl out enlightened. Love it or hate it, nourishing his same old murder fantasies is what drives Eminem to make the vital music found here, and yet there's room for polished and clever frivolity on the album. The grand "Love Game" with Kendrick Lamar whips a Wayne Fontana "Game of Love"-sample into a thrilling swagger cut, while "So Far…" re-edits Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good" so the Madden and MP3 generation can also understand the sweet irony of mansions filled with Kool-Aid-stained couches. Silly, manipulated voices and all, "The Monster" with Rihanna offers insight with its "I get along with the voices inside my head" attitude, then "Headlights" ups the game and offers mom an apology, referencing his earlier hit "Cleaning Out My Closet" and explaining it as an angry and irresponsible moment. Funny thing is, most of the best moments on MM LP2 are just as angry, and just as irresponsible, but like "Closet," this is the tortured soul and self-reliance ninja known as Eminem at his very best.
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (flac 545mb)
01 Bad Guy 7:14
02 Parking Lot (Skit) 0:55
03 Rhyme or Reason 5:02
04 So Much Better 4:21
05 Survival 4:34
06 Legacy 4:56
07 Fuckhole feat. Skylar Grey 4:27
08 Berzerk 3:59
09 Rap God 6:04
10 Brainless 4:47
11 Stronger Than I Was 5:37
12 The Monster feat. Rihanna 4:10
13 So Far... 5:18
14 Love Game feat. Kendrick Lamar 4:57
15 Headlights feat. Nate Ruess 5:43
16 Evil Twin 5:57
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2 Bonus (flac 163mb)
17 Baby 4:23
18 Desperation feat. Jamie N Commons 3:57
19 Groundhog Day 4:53
20 Beautiful Pain feat. Sia 4:25
21 Wicked Ways 6:31
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Today's Artist is another case of rags to riches the US always drools over."At the dawn of the 21st Century, Slim Shady had the biggest mouth in the music biz. And man oh man were people upset about the words coming out of it. Drugs, murder, rape, and attacks on pop culture icons were casual topics; and no matter how ridiculous his stories were he made sure you believed every. single. word. However, his praise was just as large as the controversy, not to mention sales. Clever wording coupled with vicious delivery made him perhaps the most technically skilled MC ever within the mainstream. . ....... N Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
To call Eminem hip-hop's Elvis is correct to a degree, but it's largely inaccurate. Certainly, Eminem was the first white rapper since the Beastie Boys to garner both sales and critical respect, but his impact exceeded this confining distinction. On sheer verbal skills, Eminem was one of the greatest MCs of his generation -- rapid, fluid, dexterous, and unpredictable, as capable of pulling off long-form narratives as he was delivering a withering aside -- and thanks to his mentor Dr. Dre, he had music to match: thick, muscular loops that evoked the terror and paranoia Em's music conjured. And, to be certain, a great deal of the controversy Eminem courted -- and during the turn of the millennium, there was no greater pop cultural bogeyman than Marshall Mathers -- came through in how his violent fantasias, often directed at his mother or his wife, intertwined with flights of absurdity that appealed to listeners too young to absorb the psychodramas Eminem explored on his hit albums, The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. With hits "My Name Is" and "The Real Slim Shady," he ruled the airwaves, but it wasn't long before some detractors acknowledged his depth, helped in part by singles like the mournful "Stan," written from the perspective of an obsessed fan. Eminem capitalized on this forward momentum by crossing over onto the big screen with 8 Mile, earning acclaim for his performance and an Oscar for the film's anthem "Lose Yourself," but a number of demons led him to shut down for the second half of the decade, an absence that proved life was indeed empty without Em, before he returned in 2009 with Relapse.
Born Marshall Mathers in the Kansas City, Missouri suburb of St. Joseph, Eminem spent his childhood between Missouri and Michigan, settling in Detroit by his teens. At the age of 14, he began rapping with a high-school friend, the two adopting the names "Manix" and "M&M," which soon morphed into Eminem. Under this name, Mathers entered battle rapping, a struggle dramatized in the fictionalized 8 Mile. Initially, the predominantly African-American audience didn't embrace Eminem, but soon his skills gained him a reputation, and he was recruited to join several rap groups. The first of these was the New Jacks, and after they disbanded, he joined Soul Intent, who released a single in 1995. This single also featured Proof, and the two rappers broke off on their own to form D-12, a six-member crew that functioned more as a Wu-Tang-styled collective than a regularly performing group. As he was struggling to establish his career, he and his girlfriend Kim had a daughter, Hailey, forcing him to spend less time rapping and more time providing for his family. During this time, he assembled his first album, Infinite, which received some underground attention in 1996, not all of it positive. After its release, Eminem developed his Slim Shady alter ego, a persona that freed him to dig deep into his dark id, something he needed as he faced a number of personal upheavals, beginning with a bad split with Kim, which led him to move in with his mother and increase his use of drugs and alcohol, capped off with an unsuccessful suicide attempt. All this Sturm und Drang was channeled into The Slim Shady EP, which is where he first demonstrated many of the quirks that became his trademark, including his twitchy, nasal rhyming and disturbingly violent imagery.
The Slim Shady EP opened many doors, the most notable of them being a contract with Interscope Records. After Eminem came in second at the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles, Interscope head Jimmy Iovine sought out the rapper, giving the EP to Dr. Dre, who proved eager to work with Eminem. They quickly cut Em's Interscope debut in the fall of 1998 -- during which time Marshall reconciled with Kim and married her -- and The Slim Shady LP appeared early in 1999, preceded by the single "My Name Is." Both were instant blockbusters and Eminem turned into a lightning rod for attention, earning praise and disdain for his violent, satirical fantasias. Eminem quickly followed The Slim Shady LP with The Marshall Mathers LP in the summer of 2000. By this point, there was little doubt that Eminem was one of the biggest stars in pop music: the album sold by the truckload, selling almost two million copies within the first two weeks of release, but Mathers felt compelled to tweak other celebrities, provoking pop stars in his lyrics, and Insane Clown Posse's entourage in person, providing endless fodder for tabloids. This gossip blended with growing criticism about his violent and homophobic lyrics, and under this fire, he reunited his old crew, D-12, releasing an album in 2001, then touring with the group.
During this furor, he had his biggest hit in the form of the moody ballad "Stan." Performed at the Grammys as a duet with Elton John, thereby undercutting some accusations of homophobia, the song helped Eminem to cross over to a middlebrow audience, setting the stage for the ultimate crossover of 2001's 8 Mile. Directed by Curtis Hanson, best known as the Oscar-nominated director of L.A. Confidential, the gritty drama fictionalized Eminem's pre-fame Detroit days and earned considerable praise, culminating in one of his biggest hits with the theme "Lose Yourself," which won Mathers an Oscar. After all this, he retreated from the spotlight to record his third album, The Eminem Show. Preceded by the single "Without Me," the album turned into another huge hit, albeit not quite as strong as its predecessor, and there were some criticisms suggesting that Eminem wasn't expanding his horizons much. Encore, released late in 2004, did reach into more mature territory, notably on the anti-George W. Bush "Mosh," but most of the controversy generated by the album was for behind-the-scenes events: a bus crash followed by canceled dates and a stint in rehab. Rumors of retirement flew, and the 2005 appearance of Curtain Call: The Hits did nothing to dampen them, nor did the turmoil of 2006, a year that saw Mathers remarrying and divorcing Kim within a matter of four months, as well as the shooting death of Proof at a Detroit club.
During all this, Em did some minor studio work, but soon he dropped off the radar completely, retreating to his Detroit home. He popped up here and there, most notably debuting the hip-hop channel Shade 45 for Sirius Satellite Radio in September 2008, but it wasn't until early 2009 that he mounted a comeback with Relapse, an album whose very title alluded to some of Mathers' struggles with prescription drugs, but it also announced that after an extended absence, Slim Shady was back. While not quite a blockbuster, the album went platinum, and Eminem followed it at the end of the year with an expanded version of Relapse (dubbed Relapse: Refill) that added outtakes and new recordings. Recovery, initially titled Relapse 2, was issued in June 2010. The album debuted on top of the Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for five consecutive weeks, while its leadoff single, "Not Afraid," debuted on top of the magazine's Hot 100 singles chart.
The year 2010 also brought Eminem back together with Royce da 5'9" under the Bad Meets Evil moniker. In turn, June 2011's Hell: The Sequel marked the release of their first EP as a duo and -- barring the previous month's release of key EP track "Fastlane" as a single -- was their first batch of new material since a 1999 double A-side. After an intense period of recording, Eminem announced in August 2013 that his next solo album would be a nostalgically themed set of new material entitled The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which landed in early November. The album featured the singles "Berzerk," "Rap God," and "Survival," plus the chart-topping hit "The Monster" with Rihanna. In 2014, new tracks landed on the double-disc set Shady XV, which celebrated the Shady label's 15th birthday. The singles "Phenomenal" and "Kings Never Die" featuring Gwen Stefani arrived a year later, both taken from the Southpaw soundtrack.
Eminem resurfaced in October 2017 with a freestyle anti-Trump rap. The track didn't appear on Revival, the December 2017 album that was filled with cameos, including appearances by Beyoncé ("Walk on Water"), Ed Sheeran ("River"), and P!nk ("Need Me"). His seventh straight chart-topper, it ultimately failed to match the sales heights of past efforts, despite the international success of the "River" single. The next year, without warning, Eminem issued his surprise tenth album, Kamikaze. The set featured appearances by Joyner Lucas, Royce da 5'9", and Jessie Reyez, as well as "Venom," from the film of the same name.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Seemed like drama was always something Eminem craved, but in the year leading up to The Re-Up, the drama was heavy, a really, really bad kind of heavy. He checked himself into rehab, got remarried for a few months to the infamous Kim before that went south, then his best man and best friend Proof is murdered in a bizarre and depressing incident that made all the gangster talk that came previously extra chilling. A mixtape that was originally planned to be released on the underground circuit, The Re-Up has plenty of that serious heat that influenced Eminem to go aboveground with the release. There's the surging remix of 50 Cent's "Ski Mask Way," the excellent all-star single "You Don't Know," a couple clever redo's of Akon's "Smack That" single with various members of the Shady family, and "There He Is" with newcomer Bobby Creekwater living up to his hype over a rich Alchemist beat. Tacked onto the end is Eminem's shining moment, "No Apologies," which speaks to his frozen heart, then lashes out at critics. The man's lyrical dexterity is on display for the soul-searching closer, there's no doubt about that, but the target is questionable, since it didn't really seem like Em was getting a critical drubbing in 2006. A diversion maybe? Could be, since he's sidestepping a whole lot of the other issues here. While Proof gets his due with the intro to his unreleased track "Trapped," this is hardly his memorial, plus his D12 brothers Bizarre and Kuniva are in no hurry to lay off the gun talk with their visceral and knowingly irresponsible "Murder." The quick marriage/divorce and rehab are barely noted, either, and while Em has every right to keep whatever he wants private, longtime fans looking for that usual candor are in for a shock. Instead of using the mixtape format as an up-to-the-minute dispatch from the soul, Em has decided to bring the Shady empire back into focus with The Re-Up. 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew are brought back into the Shady scene when it seemed they just about outgrew it, and with Creekwater, Cashis, and Stat Quo all anxious to become "rookie of the year," the Shady spotlight is validated. Once the Eminem hardcore accept that this is more about the whole talented and hungry crew than the man with a devastating year on his hands, they'll co-sign.
VA - Eminem Presents The Re-Up (flac 491mb)
1 Eminem - Shady Narcotics 0:56
2 Eminem, Obie Trice, Stat Quo, Bobby Creekwater & Cashis - We're Back 4:00
3 Obie Trice - Pistol Pistol (Remix) 2:26
4 Bizarre & Kuniva - Murder 2:11
5 Cashis - Everything Is Shady 4:30
6 Eminem & 50 Cent - The Re-Up 2:58
7 50 Cent , Eminem, Cashis & Lloyd Banks - You Don't Know 4:18
8 Eminem & 50 Cent - Jimmy Crack Corn 3:55
9 Proof - Trapped 0:58
10 Mr. Porter & Swifty McVay - Whatever You Want 2:49
11 Cashis - Takin' All That 4:05
12 Stat Quo - By My Side 4:07
13 Obie Trice & Cashis - We Ride for Shady 3:08
14 Bobby Creekwater - There He Is 4:25
15 Stat Quo - Tryin' ta Win 3:53
16 Stat Quo & Bobby Creekwater - Smack That (Remix) 5:12
17 Eminem - Public Enemy #1 1:55
18 Stat Quo - Get Low 3:20
19 Eminem & 50 Cent - Ski Mask Way (Eminem Remix) 3:04
20 Nate Dogg, Eminem, Obie Trice & Bobby Creekwater - Shake That (Remix) 3:00
21 Obie Trice, Kuniva, Bobby Creekwater, Cashis & Stat Quo - Cry Now (Shady Remix) 5:10
22 Eminem - No Apologies 4:19
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Eminem placed himself in exile shortly after Encore wound down, a seclusion initially designed as creative down-time but which soon descended into darkness fueled by another failed marriage to his wife Kim and the death of his best friend Proof, culminating in years of drug addiction. Em none too subtly refers to that addiction with the title of Relapse, his first album in five years, but that relapse also refers to Marshall Mathers reviving Slim Shady and returning to rap. Relapse is designed to grab attention, to stand as evidence that Eminem remains a musical force and, of course, a provocateur spinning out violent fantasies and baiting celebrities, occasionally merging the two as when he needles one-time girlfriend Mariah Carey and her new husband Nick Cannon. Strive as he might to make an impact in the world at large -- and succeeding in many respects -- Relapse is the sound of severe isolation, the product of too many years of Eminem playing king in his castle in a dilapidated Detroit, subsisting on pills, nachos, torture porn, and E! Daily News. As he sifted through junk culture, he also tweaked his rhyming, crafting an elongated elastic flow that contrasts startlingly with Dr. Dre's intensified beats, ominous magnifications of his thud-and-stutter signature. Musically, this is white-hot, dense, and dramatic not just in the production but in Eminem's delivery; he stammers and slides, slipping into an accent that resembles Paul Rudd's Rastafarian leprechaun from I Love You Man and then back again. His flow is so good, his wordplay so sharp, it seems churlish to wish that he addressed something other than his long-standing obsessions and demons. True, he spends a fair amount of the album exorcising his addiction -- smartly tying it to his never-abating mother issues on "My Mom" -- but most of Relapse finds Eminem rhyming twitchily about his old standbys: homosexuals, starlets, and violent fantasies, weaving all of them together on "Same Song and Dance" where he abducts and murders Lindsay Lohan, suggesting more than a passing familiarity with I Know Who Killed Me. The many, many references to Kim Kardashian's big ass and minutely detailed sadism can get a wee bit tiring, Relapse isn't really about what Eminem says, it's about how he says it. He's emerged from his exile musically re-energized and the best way to illustrate that is to go through the same old song and dance again, the familiarity of the words drawing focus on his insane, inspired flow and Dre's production. That might not quite make Relapse culturally relevant -- recycled Christopher Reeve jokes aren't exactly fresh -- but it is musically vital, which is all Eminem really needs to be at this point.
Eminem - Relapse (flac 519mb)
01 Dr. West (Skit) 1:29
02 3 a.m. 5:20
03 My Mom 5:20
04 Insane 3:01
05 Bagpipes From Baghdad 4:43
06 Hello 4:08
07 Tonya (Skit) 0:43
08 Same Song & Dance 4:08
09 We Made You 4:30
10 Medicine Ball 3:57
11 Paul (Skit) 0:19
12 Stay Wide Awake 5:20
13 Old Time's Sake 4:35
14 Must Be the Ganja 4:03
15 Mr. Mathers (Skit) 0:42
16 Déjà Vu 4:43
17 Beautiful 6:32
18 Crack a Bottle 4:58
19 Steve Berman (Skit) 1:29
20 Underground 6:19
Relapse : Refill is a re-release of Relapse containing seven songs from the supposedly scrapped album Relapse 2. Genuine songs or simply a cheap money-maker? Refill kicks off with 'Forever', which doesn't have jack shit to do with any of Relapse. It's pretty much a disposable song, Em himself is the only one coming correct on it, but fuck the others. Yes, even Mr. West, who I am a big fan of. After that we jump right back into Relapse though, which is a good thing, as Eminem gets back to spitting that crazy shit. 'Hell Breaks Loose' is nice, but not really that spectacular. The bloody fun really starts with 'Buffalo Bill'. It's Em spitting some crazy shit. Some might not feel his delivery much, but to me it's just the same thing he had been doing on the original release. 'Elevator' would have fit nicely on the last (kinda introspective) part of Relapse and is another nice track. 'Taking My Ball' and 'Music Box' are also great fits with the other tracks on Relapse. I especially like the latter, as Eminem isn't pulling any tricks and is just using his normal voice. It's a very good reminder of his older material and how good this guy can be. Also I just love the sick ass lyrics. By now you should know what to expect from the material on Relapse and this is more gore and sick shit. I happen to like it (what does that say about me!? HUH!? HUH!?). A bit of a shame he ends with 'Drop The Bomb On 'Em', on which he kinda dropped his ball. I just wasn't feeling this track a lot.
Beats on the extra material is still mostly done by Dr. Dre, though he had some help on some beats. It's still very good, but I felt some of it just wasn't touching the level of some of the better beats of Relapse. 'Buffalo Bill' could easily have messed with the beat for stuff like 'Same Song & Dance' though and it's easily a favorite. I just like how Dre was kinda experimenting with his sound for some of the tracks on Relapse. Eminem himself does a nice job on 'Elevator' and it might be one of the fresher beats I have heard from him in a while
Eminem - Refill (flac 227mb)
21 Forever 5:58
22 Hell Breaks Loose 4:04
23 Buffalo Bill 3:57
24 Elevator 4:53
25 Taking My Ball 5:03
26 Music Box 5:05
27 Drop the Bomb on 'Em 4:48
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
With Recovery it becomes obvious that Eminem's richest albums aren't necessarily his most structurally sound, which isn't much of a surprise when considering the rapper's full-on embrace of flaws and contradictions. This lean, mean bipolar machine began life as Relapse 2, but when Shady decided he wasn't really Shady at the moment and that he was no longer keen on Relapse -- or the last two albums as he states on “Talkin' 2 Myself” -- it became Marshall Mathers time again, so damn any 11th hour issues. This results in an album where a shameless but killer Michael J. Fox punch line (“The world will stop spinnin’ and Michael J. Fox‘ll come to a standstill” from “Cold Wind”) is followed by a song with another, less effective MJF joke (“Make like Michael J. Fox in your drawers, playin' with an Etch-A-Sketch”), although that song is the lurching heavy metal monster “Won't Back Down” with P!nk, and it could be used as the lead-in to “Lose Yourself” on any ego-boosting mixtape. Following an apology for your recent work with a damnation of critics and haters is just sloppy; taking off the skits and then overstuffing your album by a track or two is undermining what's good; and the beats here are collectively just a B+ with only one production (the so good “So Bad”) coming from Dr. Dre. Add to that the detractor idea that being privy to the man's therapy sessions just isn't compelling anymore and the only persuasive moments remaining are the highlights, but fans can feed on the energy, the renewed sense of purpose, and Marshall doing whatever the hell he wants, up to and including shoehorning a grand D12-like comedy number ("W.T.P.," which stands for "White Trash Party") into this emotionally heavy album. It’s fascinating when Em admits “Hatred was flowin’ through my veins, on the verge of goin’ insane/I almost made a song dissin’ Lil Wayne” and then “Thank God I didn’t do it/I’da had my ass handed to me, and I knew it” before sparring with said Weezy on the Haddaway-sampling “No Love.” When the recovery-minded “Going Through Changes” gets back on the wagon by sampling Black Sabbath’s very druggy “Changes” it’s a brilliant and layered idea that’s executed with poignant lyrics on top. Add the man at his most profound (the gigantic hit “Not Afraid”) and his most profane (“You wanna get graphic? We can go the scenic route/You couldn’t make a bulimic puke on a piece of corn and peanut poop” from “On Fire”) plus one of thickest lyric booklets out of any of his albums and the fans who really listen are instantly on board. It may be flawed and the rapper’s attitude is sometimes one step ahead of his output, but he hasn’t sounded this unfiltered and proud since The Marshall Mathers LP, so to hell with refinement -- bring on the hunger and spirit of 8 Mile.
Eminem - Recovery (flac 551mb)
01 Cold Wind Blows 5:04
02 Talkin' 2 Myself feat. Kobe 5:01
03 On Fire 3:34
04 Won't Back Down feat. P!NK 4:26
05 W.T.P. 3:58
06 Going Through Changes 4:59
07 Not Afraid 4:08
08 Seduction 4:35
09 No Love feat. Lil Wayne 5:00
10 Space Bound 4:39
11 Cinderella Man 4:39
12 25 to Life 4:02
13 So Bad 5:25
14 Almost Famous 4:53
15 Love the Way You Lie feat. Rihanna 4:23
16 You're Never Over 5:06
17 Untitled [hidden track] 3:15
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
After centering himself with the confessional 2010 release Recovery, Eminem entered his forties while watching his beloved city of Detroit literally go bankrupt. The cover here displays this descent with an updated picture of the rapper's teenage home, first featured on the MM LP of 2000 but now boarded up, and yet this 8 Mile child cares much more about the present than the past, as this vicious, infectious, hilarious triumph is no nostalgia trip, just the 2013 version of Marshall the experienced maverick on a tear, dealing with the current state of events and kicking up dust with his trademark maniac attack while effortlessly juggling his over-40 wisdom with stuff you'd slap a teenager for saying. Key cut "Rap God" is the quintessential track as it blasts out homophobic cut-downs and other inexcusable lyrics, because Marshall's the "Dale Earnhardt of the trailer park," but "I still rap like I'm on my Pharoahe Monch grind," and suddenly his Stan Lee-like origin story begins to take shape. Marshall is a super villain so familiar with hate and depression, he's powered by all shades of anger. Be it pissing off the neighbors (rocking the house with a some Beastie Boys and Billy Squier samples on the Rick Rubin-produced party starter "Bezerk") or being threatened by critics (and his biggest ever, too, as "Bad Guy" revisits the MM LP character "Stan" via his revenge-obsessed brother Matthew), it all feeds into his super nova, and it’s a unique spectacle when it explodes. It does so gloriously on the stately arena rap anthem "Survival," which injects the listener with martial beats and a pre-game pep talk worth hearing. "Asshole" takes the decidedly low road to destruction, slapping girls "off the mechanical bull, at a tractor pull" while using controversy to make the front page, then offering the idea that he's "white America's mirror, so don't feel awkward or weird," because there's no sense in leaving the sewer if you don't crawl out enlightened. Love it or hate it, nourishing his same old murder fantasies is what drives Eminem to make the vital music found here, and yet there's room for polished and clever frivolity on the album. The grand "Love Game" with Kendrick Lamar whips a Wayne Fontana "Game of Love"-sample into a thrilling swagger cut, while "So Far…" re-edits Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good" so the Madden and MP3 generation can also understand the sweet irony of mansions filled with Kool-Aid-stained couches. Silly, manipulated voices and all, "The Monster" with Rihanna offers insight with its "I get along with the voices inside my head" attitude, then "Headlights" ups the game and offers mom an apology, referencing his earlier hit "Cleaning Out My Closet" and explaining it as an angry and irresponsible moment. Funny thing is, most of the best moments on MM LP2 are just as angry, and just as irresponsible, but like "Closet," this is the tortured soul and self-reliance ninja known as Eminem at his very best.
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (flac 545mb)
01 Bad Guy 7:14
02 Parking Lot (Skit) 0:55
03 Rhyme or Reason 5:02
04 So Much Better 4:21
05 Survival 4:34
06 Legacy 4:56
07 Fuckhole feat. Skylar Grey 4:27
08 Berzerk 3:59
09 Rap God 6:04
10 Brainless 4:47
11 Stronger Than I Was 5:37
12 The Monster feat. Rihanna 4:10
13 So Far... 5:18
14 Love Game feat. Kendrick Lamar 4:57
15 Headlights feat. Nate Ruess 5:43
16 Evil Twin 5:57
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2 Bonus (flac 163mb)
17 Baby 4:23
18 Desperation feat. Jamie N Commons 3:57
19 Groundhog Day 4:53
20 Beautiful Pain feat. Sia 4:25
21 Wicked Ways 6:31
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Many thanks for the education on Eminem. As a casual listener of rap--maybe once a month--it helped put his output and his story in chronological order! - Stinky
ReplyDeleteMiddle Ages? I think not - but there are certain protocols etc & so forth. It's no big deal in the grand scheme of things and I’m sure it will all come out in the wash. As for the tabloid press - hang ‘em all.
ReplyDelete