Hip hop and music has had a decent year. It appears the lyricists are returning and it's not just ignorant anthems about sex, partying and drinking. Eminem restores our faith once again in hip hop with his newest release, the Marshall Mathers LP 2.
Being a hardcore Eminem fan, I wasn't the least bit skeptical that this album would be successful. The deluxe edition is 21 tracks, and most every track is worthy of a second listen. You can get the basic CD for about $10 if you don't want to pay the extra $6 for the deluxe. Even at a $1/song (5 tracks on the 2nd CD), it is still worth giving Slim Shady your hard earned money.
He has his usual bizarre and scary lyrics, with an ill rhyming style almost hard to emulate. He mixes his cameos and samples well with the varying styles of songs. The cameos include Rihanna, Nate Reuss, Kendrick Lamar, and newcomer Skylar Grey who kills it on probably the best track on the entire album "***Hole". Renowned producer Rick Rubin produced most of the album and was criticized, especially for his incessant sampling on tracks such as "Rhyme Or Reason" "So Far" and "Love Game" . However, I believe his beats and samples blended well with Eminem's. It's just different with Dr. Dre, that's all.
While "***Hole" may again be the best song, the released singles are nice "Berserk, Rap God, and Monster". Em's slow melodies were also a winner, especially "Legacy" and "Headlights" I feel "Bad Guy" was too long and drawn out though.
Nevertheless, this is another timeless, four and a half mic classic for Shady. You can let it play and not be easily tempted to skip songs. Some of his verses are worthy of repeating, just so you can get the full meaning of his cypher.
Eminem has definitely matured over the past couple of decades, but is still an artist at heart. I would definitely suggest picking up either version of MMLP2. Real hip hop and Eminem fans should not be disappointed.
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