Eminem Entertainment Art "Relapse" (Shady / Aftermath / Interscope) Released May 19, 2009

On one hand, I view Eminem as one of the greatest artists in the history of Hip-Hop. With an extraordinary lyrical gift and a hyperactive, yet twisted mind, the artist born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, has managed to erase every preconceived notion that white MC’s are vomit-inducing gags that make fantastic punch lines on Comedy sketch shows. On the other hand, Eminem also represents the worst in what Hip-Hop has to offer. He is blatantly misogynistic and homophobic. Often times, the music relies heavily on cliché beats and lethargic hooks that make me wonder if he is truly serious in recording an album that will establish himself as the greatest MC, or is he just another bubble-gum Hip-Hop star with a flithy mouth.

Regardless of the criticism that has plagued much of his 10 year career, Eminem has the musical aptitude to redefine himself in an era much different than the one he made famous with The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. With songs like “Stan,” “White America,” “Lose Yourself,” “Sing for the Moment,” and the anti-George Bush tune, “Mosh,” Eminem proves that he is more than a foul mouth cretin from the lower depths of White Middle America.

But on his new album Relapse, Eminem doesn’t make room for any experimentation or to even breathe as an artist, he is clearly comfortable in playing the role of Hip-Hop’s vulgar clown prince. Or is he?

On the track “Medicine Ball”, Eminem sings I guess it’s time for you to hate me again/Let’s begin now hand me the pen/How should I begin and where does it all end/The world is just my medicine ball and your all in it/

He knows that the key to his success is for everyone to have an adverse reaction to whatever is spewing from his mouth. And he’s well aware that regardless of whatever response we might have to his lyrics, whether it be positive or negative, we’re all wrapped around his finger because we want to know what he’s going to say next. But he also knows that this shtick is wearing thin. His only road to relevancy is to freely dispense cuss words with or without any meaning to them.

The track “My Mom” is one of those cuts about a subject that is well beyond its expiration date. And when he sings My mom my mom I know you’re probably tired of hearing about my mom He knows that the subject matter he’s indulged us with is as stale as a box of year old crackers. The track is apparently an explanation of why he is so screwed up, which is followed up by another track called “Insane,” a provocative tale about child molestation. We’ve apparently been down this road before, but Eminem hasn’t finished cleaning out his closet. However, I’m probably in the minority when I say, it’s time to padlock the closet for good.

The track “We Made You” is a bit catchy at first, but when you immerse yourself in the song time in and time out, you begin to be quite annoyed by it, which is something Eminem has perfected throughout his career. However, “We Made You” is one of the weakest tracks in the Eminem catalog. Again, Eminem wraps himself in cliché by saturating himself in some of the lamest teenage-like obsessions ever displayed by a man who is pushing 40. The enforcer, look at the more woman to torture/Walk up to the cutest girl and Charlie-horse her/Sorry Porshe, but what’s Ellen Degeneres have that I don’t/Are you tellin’ me tenderness?/Well I could be as gentle and smooth as a gentleman/

“Deja-Vu” is quite possibly the best track on the record and the most honest without reverting to “Slim Shady” persona. The song is a brutal portrayal of his past drug addictions to pills and the effect it had on his young daughter. And you’d think with all I have at stake/Look at my daughter’s face…/Mommy something’s wrong with dad I think/He’s acting weird again he’s really beginning to scare me/Won’t shave his beard again and he pretends he doesn’t hear me/And all he does is eat Doritos and Cheetos/And he just fell asleep in his car eating three musketeers in the rear seat

Once again, the music regresses to the same tired formula that induces listeners who normally would be outrage by the confrontational nature of the record, but credit must be handed to the legendary Dr. Dre for making a career out of rehashing the same hackneyed production that transforms a lesser artist into a superstar. But then again, comparing Eminem to Dr. Dre’s former protégé Snoop Dogg is like comparing Lebron James to Tyler Hansbrough.

On the last skit of the album, Steve Berman eviscerates Eminem for taking a five year break while the entire recording industry bottoms out. You hide out in Detroit for almost five years while the music industry melts the fuck down? You know how many people lost their jobs because of your fucking vacation?

It’s obvious that Eminem believes he is the straw that stirs the drink. That without him, there is no recording industry. There’s nothing to talk about because the pop world hasn’t been spoiled by his astonishing gift to attract attention to himself by rapping about the perverse adventures of his evil alter-ego, Slim Shady. But since he went away, the award for the most outrageous artist in pop music has been fought between Amy Winehouse, Kanye West, and Britney Spears. He feels that the road to relevancy is by shocking us again. The problem is that the world is much more different than it was 10 years ago when the Slim Shady LP first shocked us all. No one is shocked anymore by what Eminem has to say because we’ve already heard it before. Like Marilyn Manson, Eminem was wildly considered to be a cultural malfeasance. And like Manson, Eminem sounds like he hasn’t grown up a bit. There are many critics who after listening to Relapse wish that Eminem would fade into utter obscurity. I completely disagree. The only detriment to his career is his reliance on the Slim Shady persona that, while it has made him a superstar, has also bogged him down to the point where he has low expectations on what direction he wants to go in. Slim Shady has worn out his welcome, but the question is, will Marshall Mathers ever realize it?

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