Re Up

Ever since the Eminem/Nick Cannon/Mariah Carey furor broke out on the international network, I have read the arguments for & against the particular prose involved. Good or bad, a lot of the reasons on both sides were valid. I also read the the general disses leveled at Em's latest opus, most of which was random & misguided. "Relapse is garbage" or " his latest album's trash" were the phrases of choice. They were always countered with " so what Em can't spit now?" or "stop being a hater". But one particular comeback resonated with me... "Well since Dre did pretty much all of the beats you must think that he fell off too, right?" And all of a sudden those same detractors were conspicuous in their lack of an answer. I guess it's a lot harder to disparage one than it is the other. As a black man i'm disappointed that the 'white' factor still plays a part in a Hip Hop fans thinking. Think about it, internally Hip Hop should be a haven for all creeds, yet i'm still hearing all the same prejudices being spouted across various internet based media. You can call the man whatever names you like but that shouldn't stop you from looking at the mans music objectively. Having listened to Relapse, Dr. Dre is pretty much the force he always was. It's been a good few years since a heavily Dre influenced long player last hit shelves & on this evidence Detox (if it actually drops) is gonna be a banger of quite some proportions. The trademark crisp claps come snares coupled with the understated, yet thumping kick are there for all to hear. As are the floating keys & perfectly placed bass guitar. Apart from the weak (yet understandably necessary when you think about it) ‘You Made Me’ & the 808esque monotone drone of ‘Same Song & Dance’, I'm struggling to find fault with the backdrop. Em is also back to his malevolent, mischievous, politically incorrect best. Far from deciding which spice girl to procreate with, Em has evolved to gay rape allegations & impersonating the late Christopher Reeve (RIP Superman). Yet although some of the subject matter hasn’t changed. There is a noticeable difference in the way he’s spitting. He’s still firing off those rhyming couplets, triplets & quadruplets, but there is something that has changed that i cant quite put my finger on. Conceptually the album is spot on(3am is conceptual genius & superbly exewcuted), with ‘a not all there’; almost sociopathic element to a lot of the material on show. Let’s be honest, as much as people from certain circles are up in arms when he takes it there, that side of his psyche as an MC is probably the reason why most of us (and yes I had heard of him before Dre signed him) became fans in the first place. So, sorry to disappoint certain heads but Neither Em or Dre have 'fallen off' anything. uite the opposite in my view. This is definitely their best work since Marshall Mathers & I do think that Em the MC is superior to his previous efforts. It's just a shame that too many people are jumping on the 'lets trash Eminem' band wagon instead of forming thir own opinions.

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