Eminem

Global rating of the product: lyrically: 4 stars
instrumentally:2,5 stars

Since the release of Relapse, Eminem’s music has taken a new artistic direction. More introspective, Marshall Mathers decided to give his public a glimpse of the real him. No more evil Slim Shady disguise, no other character to spit his rage on Recovery.
The very positive point of the whole album is certainly the return of the talented lyricist. As a matter of fact, many listeners had felt left down by the artist since the release of Encore that did not really meet the standarts that you’d usually expect from a good hip hop album.

Relapse was quite surprising in its concept: Eminem took the risk for his album to be overlooked in its depth, even by die-hard fans. It nearly happened to me, but after a second listen I discovered Eminem’s artistic intent. I thus became more appreciative of his lyrical and musical effort in Relapse.

From Infinite to Recovery, Marshall Mathers offers his audience a long path made of personal experiences and reflexions. Wordsmith Eminem always was and will stay.

Not Afraid embraces a powerful violin background while Eminem faces his public with sincerity. Of course it cost Marshall Mathers a lot to face his demons, to admit his mistakes during his career path. The song unleashes loads of dynamite. It is probably one of the best songs of the album. Eminem also promises not to let his fans dow. However, and despite the huge lyrical efforts set on his brand new album, we are entitled to ask: “Who are Eminem’s fans at the moment?” Undoubtably, they are probably not the same kind of people than the ones that supported the artist a decade ago (with a few exceptions, of course). It can be partly explained by the fact that the different albums’ tones and topics vary from album to album. A lot of Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP listeners actually think that Eminem lost his edge. Well, while I am a long term, adult fan and supporter of Eminem’s music and also very appreciative of the artist’s lyrical effort, I must admit that- musically speaking- the Recovery album barely meets my expectations. Where have the catchy beats gone, where have the mischievousness and the dark humored spirit of his former albums gone?
Too many metal and rock’n roll influences spoil too many songs in my opinion. While it is true that many hip hop artists used diverse varieties of other musical genres to compose their albums,their album’s main musical base remained mostly hip hop sounding.
Moreover, Recovery’s mood is morose and constantly self depreciating.

Cold Wind Blows starts with some icy lyrics. Eminem’s voice hits high notes. Dark guitar and piano sounds are combined with rhythmic claps. Em’s generous word mastery enlighten the song. Good flow too. This is another good song.

Talking To Myself: Time for instrospection on a keyboard background. I don’t understand why Eminem admits envying Lil Wayne and Kanye. He has nothing to envy massive commercial hip hop album sellers such as them. Maybe I would have preferred a wicked diss of both emcees. I probably would have felt better.

Won’t Back Down features pop artist Pink. Eminem excels in his art of rhyming. Unfortunately, the harsh musical background kinda spoils the well written song. I like Eminem’s flow on this one.

Going Through Changes is made of a soft bitter chorus. Marshall Mathers recalls pains and regrets, ancient memories, regrets about family life that didn’t really work out. The song’s tone is quite depressing. Why is Eminem crucifying himself all the time?
He can see clear in his life, realizes his mistakes, but I am not sure he is ready to fully accept himself the way he is. Get rid of this heavy self laceration and you’ll feel better, for sure!

On Fire is one of the tracks I enjoyed most-lyrically and instrumentally as well. However, when Eminem addresses critics, he seems to really miss the point. Why would he ask them to spit rhymes? A critic is there whether to point out a positive or a negative opinion 5or both) aboutr an artist’s work, in order to share some constructyive criticism with his readers and the artist. To each his/ her own: let the artist create and let the critic do his/ her job! This little point being raised, the song is great: good beats, nice chorus, nice instrumentals, nice flow, astute punchlines: in short, Eminem at his top. I recommend this song.

I’ve been disappointed by Cinderella Man and No Love. They are definitely not my type of songs. Eminem really good on Love the Way You Lie, but I don’t like the Rihanna chorus at all. It spoils the song in my opinion.

Globally speaking Eminem’s efforts to be closer to his fans, his lyrical craft, his matured analysis of his personal mistakes really need to be appreciated. That’s why I chose to rate my review differently. A little bit disappointed by the instrumentals and musical genres that are used in the album, I nevertheless still admire Eminem’s lyrical genius.

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

A full review of Eminem’s Recovery album…stay tuned…I have a lot to say about his brand new album!

I had the chance to watch Eminem last Thursday on a French private channel called Canal Plus on a live show.

He performed some older famous songs like Stan and some more recent songs like “Forever”. But to the pleased listeners’ ears (that included French singer Marc Lavoine) he performed a brand new song taken out of his upcoming album, Recovery.

Any person who has been following Marshall Mathers since his beginning, from the Infinite album to now perfectly knows that is private and public paths have been far from easy. Despite his overwhelming success since 1999, Eminem has been facing loads of personal difficulties. He often complained in some of his songs about his demons spoiling his life. How many times has he tried to fight them? His desperate efforts to face his drug addiction sometimes made him look like Cervantes’ hero, Don Quixote de la Mancha fighting his windmills.

Year after year, drugs were slowly destroying him. In 2007, Eminem nearly lost his life. His near death experience made him realize that he needed to change, to be honest with himself, to have a clear vision of his addiction and to face his past mistakes with serenity.

Once you begin to accept your past and to learn the lessons from it, once you begin to love yourself with your weaknesses, a lot of things begin to get unstuck in your life. Eminem had the courage to do so in 2009. His Relapse album was the first step of a slow recovery. Today Marshall Mathers is back, offering his public a glance of the real him. No Eminem, no Slim Shady. On this live show, only the real Marshall Mathers was there. He looked different: slender, back in shape, he was able to offer his public the gift of a reborn, more matured and peaceful man.

That glance of the new, empowered Marshall Mathers, raising his hands towards the public and telling them publicly that he was “not afraid” really moved me. It gave me courage to go forward with my own life. The new album also promises to be lyrically sharp.

Let’s celebrate Eminem’s recovery. Be on the lookout for his new album!

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Check out Taking My Ball and Buffalo Bill here.

The flow and lyrical creativity are undeniably here, but I find Em’s voice weird…I don’t get why he choses that kind of strange accent…let me know what you all think…

So happy 37th b’day, Eminem:)

Feel free to add your comments:)

Read the original article and get more info from Eminem himself here.

Eminem recently stopped by his Shade 45 radio station for DJ Whoo Kid’s birthday bash and he ended up giving some details on his upcoming “Relapse 2″ album. “Me and Fif did a couple of records, couple of months ago in Vegas, one song for my record and another for his,” Em revealed in an interview.

Em then went on to give details on the 50 Cent collab. “We just wanted to like, I just had an idea to like ‘Yo, why don’t we do something we ain’t done yet.’ And kinda go back and forth, we’ve kinda done it on other records but not to the extent of what we’re doing on this one.”

Before he left, Eminem also talked about production for his upcoming LP. “The way that it’s going now, K’Naan has two [produced] tracks on the record and Just Blaze has four, possibly five…I definitely feel like I’m in a little different space right now. I don’t know, with the last record, it felt like a lot of it had to do with me being sober…With Relapse 1 — a lot of that album, I wanted to rap at fire and do punchlines.”

Global rating of the product: 4.5 stars

A pissed off Slim Shady with a dark minded spirit is addressing Mariah Carey’s recent ridiculous ” Obsessed” video. Unlike some ignoramus comments I read on you tube recently ( “Eminem barely disses anyone, so why did he get at poor Mariah?”), people who are less familiar with Marshall Mathers should know that disses are Slim Shady’s specialty. Eminem has been earning credibility on the local Detroit scene as a battle rapper. A battle rapper is not supposed to be nice, nor to show warm feelings to any opponent.

Some might object that Mariah is not an emcee and that a female shouldn’t be dissed. I’ve also heard from some commentators that the ” Mariah fling” dates back to 2001 and that it is childish to get back at ” such an innocent person”.

You naive people don’t get it: if Slim Shady is so much angry on the song, he’s got good reasons to be. If a former boyfriend denied dating me, believe me, I think I’d be angry too. Eminem astutely confronts Mariah lies by displaying her voice from the past voicemails she left into Slim’s mailbox.

The song is built on some catchy beats that totally fit with Eminem’s loud and angry voice that is shanking Mariah’s fakeness, step by step. Hammering piano notes accentuate the rapper’s ire. Here comes the thunderstorm: better be prepared for the avalanche of words that will follow, exposing true facts. I totally enjoyed Eminem’s honesty in exposing the truth.

Call it a revenge, yes, it certainly is, but moroever it is a lyrical slaughter in which the talented rapper shows some claws to rip his victim off in a very merciless manner. This is how the lyrical master will put sluts playing innocent virgins into a pool of blood- which is very enjoyable in my point of view.

Whatever dark and horrible “secrets” ( by the way, to know secrets about a man, it is quite obvious you must have been dating him, didn’t that pop up into “Mary Poppins” innocent mind?) Mariah might reveal about Slim Shady and even though he’d schock and lose some die hard fans because of them, the full mouthed rapper possesses a treasure Mariah aka ” Mary Poppins” seems to be totally deprived of: an undeniable talent!

I totally enjoyed the grimy spirit, lyrics and flow. Slim Shady is back. For good. You go, Eminem!

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Glad to share this exclusive diss with you. It is called The Warning and it is lyrical as hell. ou go, Em:)))

Here are the lyrics to the song, folks…enjoy:)

Eminem/ The Warning

Only reason I dissed you in the first place is because you denied seeing me
Now I’m pissed off
Sit back and relax homey, kick back and relax, grab a six pack while I kick facts
Yeah Dre’s sick track, perfect way to get back
Wanna hear something wick wack?
I got the exact same tat that’s on Nick’s back
I’m obsessed now
Oh gee, is that supposed to be me in the video with the goatee
Wow Mariah, I didn’t expect her to go balls out
Bitch, shut the fuck up before I put all them phone calls out you made to my house when you was wild n out before Nick
When you was on my dick and give you somethin to smile about
How many times you fly to my house? Still trying to count
Better shut your lying mouth if you don’t want Nick finding out
You probably think cuz it’s been so long if i had something on you I woulda did it by now
On the contrary, Mary Poppins, I’m mixing our studio session down and sending it to mastering to make it loud
Enough dirt on you to murder you
This is what the fuck I do
Mariah, it ever occur to you that I still have pictures?
However you prefer to do and goes for you too, Nick, faggot
You think I’m scared of you?
You gonna ruin my career you better get one
Like I’ma sit and fight with you over some slut bitch cunt who made me put up with her psycho ass over 6 months and only spread her legs to let me hit once
Yeah, what you gonna say? I’m lucky? Tell the public that I was so ugly that you fucking had to be drunk to fuck me?
Second base? What the fuck you tell Nick, punk?
In the second week we was dry humping. It’s gotta count for something.
Listen, girly. Surely you don’t want me to talk about how I nutted early cos ejaculated early and bus all over your belly, and you almost started hurling and said I was gross, go get a towel you’re stomachs curling. Or maybe you do.
But if I’m embarrassing me, I’m embarrassing you and don’t you dare say it isn’t true.
As long as the song’s getting airplay I’m dissing you.
I’m a hair away from getting carried away and getting sued.
I was gonna stop at 16. This is 32. This is 34 bars. We ain’t even a third of the way through.
Damn, Slim. Mariah played you. Mariah who?
Oh did I say ”whore”, Nick? I meant a liar too.
Like I’ve been goin off on you all this time for no reason.
Girl you out ya alcholic mind. Check ya wine cellar. Look at all the amounts of wine.
Like I sit around and think about you all the time.
I just think this is funny when I pounce you on a rhyme.
But it now i’m about to draw the line.
And for you to cross it that’s a mountain that I doubt you wanna climb.

I can describe areas of your house that you wouldn’t find on an episode of Cribs
A blubba load ribs if I hear another word so don’t go opening your jibs cos every time you do it’s just another load of fibs
I ain’t saying this shit again, ho. You know what it is.
It’s a warning shot for before I blow up ya whole spot
Call my bluff and I’ll release every fucking thing I got
Including the voicemails right before you flipped your top
When me and Luis were tryin’ to stick two CD’s in the same spot
(Slim Shady I love you)
I love you too
Let me whisper sweet nothings into your ear, boo. Now what you say?
(It’s nothing)
Guess what I’ll do?
I’ll refresh your memory when you said ”I want you”
Now should I keep going or should we call truce?
(You think you’re cute, right? Hahaha)
You bet your sweet ass I do
(I’m Mary Poppins, b)
And I’m Superman, mmm
(Mary P. Slim Shady)
Comin’ at you
So if you’ll still be my (babygirl)
Then I’ll still be your (Superhero, Wilma M.)
Yeah, I’m right here
(You like this)
Nope. Not anymore, Dear.
It cuts like a (knife) when I tell ya get a (life)
But I’m movin on with mine
Nick, is that your (wife)
Well tell her to shut her mouth then I’ll leave her alone
If she don’t (sing this script?) then I’ma just keep goin
(I se Mary Ann. Mary Ann’s saying ”cut the tape, cut the tape”. Knife!)

Global rating of the product:4 stars

Any writer who would pendown articles about Marshall Mathers without mentioning his hometown or the Detroit hip hop scene would be in the wrong. Eminem is deeply rooted into Detroit. In his brand new video release, the brilliant emcee will take you for a walk at the Tiger stadium in the middle of demolition works. Now that it’s gone, Eminem’s video offers some remembrance to the outside viewers who didn’t have a chance to see the monument. With its loads of abandoned structures, its cement buildings and his manufacturing industries, Detroit might seem austere to the outsider. But one has to remember that the D-town is also the place of birth of Motown records and that its hip hop scene is pretty much alive.

Like the magical Phoenix, the town of Detroit has the potential to rise from its ashes.
A lot of groupies might be obsessed with his external appearance, but Eminem is taking you for a walk into a world in which only inside beauty matters. His universe is made of symbolism and metaphors and you listeners have to catch the meaning behind his words.
Like Detroit City, Eminem shows us how an individual can dig into his internal ressources in order to resurrect his personal treasures.
With the tornado of negative events that disturbed his life since 2005, and Deshaun Holton aka Proof’s death in particular, Eminem was drowning in his sorrow, he often felt like life wasn’t worth living and sought some solace in taking pain killers.
Pain killers didn’t help him soothe his daily spleen; they just took him a step closer to self hatred and doubts, to the hell of another near death experience. In short, Eminem had hit rock bottom once again- to the point he doubted his own rapping abilities.
Maybe he was about to retire, but the little flame that ignited his passion for rap music was still burning.

In the Beautiful video, Eminem gets very introspective, so introspective that he is not reachable. He crosses people on his road, but avoids eye contact and conversation. When you reach the depth of desolation, only God can listen.

At the time Eminem wrote his song, he was facing times of trouble in which the demons of the past would resurface.
To all of you who would be tempted to judge Marshall Mathers, the artist sends an insightful message: “walk a thousand miles in my shoes”.

From his unstable upbringing to his present life, you don’t really know all he has been through.

While being very personal, Eminem’s message is quite universal. It reaches out to a wide range of people of all races and from all continents. It could be summarized in one sentence: “don’t let them bring you down”.

Rather than wasting your time on the external beauty attributes, let your eyes embrace the universal inside beauty of mankind.

The way Eminem handled this video is impressive. It was very emotional to watch it from the beginning to the end. As the outstanding artist he actually is, he resurrected his craft from the ashes. Wow. Remarkable piece of work!

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Watch it here.

I’m not so fond of the Beautiful song in itself…but with this video, I was like ‘wow’…All I can say is that Eminem is truly a genius…this video raised tears in my eyes.

Despite my busy schedule, a review is coming soon:)

Isabelle