Relapsing Back To Bad Habits

When I think about the first time I put on a hip-hop record, I think back to middle school. I've racked my brain trying to remember how or when I was turned on to Marshall Mathers, a.k.a, Eminem, but I find a blank spot there. What I do remember is being captivated by his "The Real Slim Shady" music video and the overall way he carried himself. A skinny, white blond kid who said whatever he wanted to and had no remorse. Em was one of the first MCs to blatantly attack celebrities in his songs, and through MTV's promotion of his music videos, his message and Slim Shady persona became public. When the Marshall Mathers LP dropped, I somehow convinced my parents to buy me the clean copy of it. If they had ever heard what I was listening to, my life might be a bit different. Anyway, I was amazed at what I heard. A combination of the shock value and Em's unique, technical flow kept me listening to that CD over and over again. Eventually, I had every CD Em put out, from Infinite to The Eminem Show. You could play any song on any of those CDs and I would spit every word right along with Eminem. The last time I heard that version of Eminem was on "Rabbit Run" off of the 8 Mile soundtrack. From that point on, Em kind of lost his ability to be the great MC he once was. "Encore" was one of the most disappointing CDs I have ever listened to, with Em's lame attempt at being funny coming off as annoying, like I was listening to a 8 year old laughing at his own immature fart jokes. It's weird because on the Slim Shady LP, besides a few songs, Em is genuinely hilarious. It wasn't forced, it was just Em talking about accidentally giving an entire bag of shrooms to a girl at a party and being molested by a fat girl. The humor on "Encore" was just so forced, and I never understood why Em went that route. So now, after a long hiatus, Eminem is back with "Relapse." And unfortunately, it does not stray far from his weak performance on "Encore."

I'm not here to give a full review of "Relapse." I just want to talk about what has gone wrong, in my opinion, with Eminem. "Relapse" seems almost just as forced as "Encore" was, but this time it's more than just bad humor attempts. It's like Em sat down, looked at what he had rapped about on his previous albums, and just tried to replicate that old formula. "We Made You" is a carbon copy of "The Real Slim Shady," and "Without Me" except that this time it isn't as clever or as funny. I feel like Em just asked someone, "What celebs are most relevant right now?" and then wrote a song about them. Em once again writes a song about how messed up his mom was on "My Mom," where at the beginning of the song he jokingly states, "I know you are tired of hearing about my mom." Yes Em, we really are. He pushes the envelope way to far on "Insane." No one wants to hear you rap about getting raped Em. Can you bump that song in your car? No. At a party? No. "Bagpipes From Baghdad," is another poor attempt at Em trying to be funny, calling out Mariah Carey and telling us listeners that he wants another shot at her. Sometimes I feel like when I am listening to Eminem, mostly recently, it is like I am listening to a grown man who hasn't fully matured yet and who, frankly, is just extremely annoying. The entire middle of CD, to me, is skippable. That's 9 tracks that I don't have any interest in listening to. Em still has that excellent flow, but most of the time he ruins by putting a strange and annoying accent on his voice, rapping about rape, kidnapping, or just plain nonsense. Maybe he did the same thing on his earlier CDs, but it was creative, funny, and just all together better. Maybe I just don't want to listen to those subjects in my music anymore.

Finally, the CD picks up towards the end, where Em digs deep and raps about his pill addiction and the hardships he experiences during his time away from the game. That is ultimately what I hoped to get from Em on this CD. I don't mind the jokes and the extreme subjects, but it takes the entire CD to finally get some seriousness from Slim Shady. "Beautiful," is my favorite song on the album. It showcases Em evoking thoughts of Biggie with the way his rhyme pattern and intricate look into his struggles. Unfortunately, "Deja Vu," and "Underground," are the only other really excellent tracks on the album. I hate to say it, but Em, it might be time to finally retire.