Eminem even admits a blunt bit of self-awareness on the track (“And I don’t know how to recapture that time and that era/I’ve tried hearkening back to, but I’m fightin’ for air/I’m barely chartin’ myself”). There’s even bits of the heartfelt Eminem on “Stepping Stone” as he details all the friends he let down in the wake of the death of D12 member, Proof (“Everyone tried to go solo, really nobody blew/I was hopin’ they do, so I ain’t have to shoulder the crew”). It’s like he saw all the memes people made about the ending of “Rap God” and thought, “Can I do that on a whole album?” That speed and accuracy can be heard on “Greatest” (“Bars are like bullets when I spit them schemes/That’s why I call the motherf***ers M-16’s/Float like a butterfly, I’m gonna sting like a bee/You ain’t harmin’ a thing”) and the surprisingly effect turn-up banger “Lucky You” with a solid Joyner Lucas feature (“Snakes in the grass tryna slither fast/I just bought a f***in’ lawn mower”). He’s in his mid-40s but has incredible flow and timing on these tracks, working with the triplet flow moderately well and even speeding that up on tracks.
These slivers of greatness are peppered throughout Kamikaze, chief among them being Eminem’s incredible verbosity and rapid-fire delivery.
#Eminem album review full#
Even through this seething hatred he has for critics and his peers, “The Ringer” has some sharp and focused bars about modern music (“Maybe ‘Stan’ just isn’t your cup of tea/Maybe your cup’s full of syrup and lean…Since nine tenths of your rhyme is about ice…You won’t ever see Em icy/But as cold as I get on the M-I-C”) and even some funny ways he defends Revival (“I guess when you walk into BK you expect a Whopper/You can order a Quarter Pounder when you go to McDonald’s/But if you’re lookin’ to get a porterhouse you better go get Revival/ But y’all are actin’ like I tried to serve you up a slider”). Album opener “The Ringer” has two things on its mind: the critical reception to Revival (You mention me, millions of views, attention in news/I mention you, lose-lose for me, win-win for you/Billions of views, your ten cents are two/Skim through the music to give s**t reviews/To get clicks, but b***h, you just lit the fuse” and the modern landscape of rap (“What the f**k half the s**t is that you’re listenin’ to/Do you have any idea how much I hate this choppy flow/Everyone copies though? Probably no”). Eminem said on Twitter that he “tried not 2 overthink this 1,” meaning that the songs here will seemingly be the scribbles of thought he spits out while thinking about his career recently. Which is a shame because for a few moments, there is excitement to be felt on Kamikaze. It helps that the record isn’t blatantly overproduced in an attempt to smother the listener, but there’s a lack of consistency and excitement on almost every song. Musically Kamikaze is the polar opposite of Revival in both a good and a bad way. It’s actually a questionable whether or not producer Tay Keith actually produced the song or if his producer tag was intentionally warped to let listeners know it’s not him on the beat.
“Not Alike” is a downright lazy remake of Blocboy JB’s “Look Alive” with practically the same piano loop, the same drum beat and even the same swelling effect leading into the verses. Some music on the album is ugly and annoying with the double-punch of “Nice Guy” and “Good Guy,” along with the title track that sounds like its being energized by a fart. “The Ringer” and “Lucky You” are propelled by light piano keys and trap drums while “Greatest” and the title track have spooky synthesizer effects. It feels more like a throwaway mixtape than a crafted studio album with its repetitive trap beats and lack of glossy overdubbing. Dre, it’s mostly a relief to hear that the album is only 46 minutes long at 13 songs. Kamikaze is Eminem’s 10th album dropped out of the blue last week. The bad news is that he didn’t take their advice. The good news is that he took the time to listen to his critics. It was almost shocking how one of the most acclaimed and influential rappers of the millenium could be so far out of touch and the world responded by giving Eminem some of the worst reviews he’s ever gotten in his career. It seemed more like Em was shuffling into the background chanting what everyone else was chanting than using his clout to make a real statement, while still trying to make rap about crazy women and the use of his dick. Unfortunately his head-first dive into the modern era of rap music and the Trump presidency was bloated, messy and confusing. So instead of being classic, Eminem tried being in the moment with last year’s Revival. He dyed his hair and his style back to its roots in 2013 with The Marshall Mathers LP 2, but his classic sound seemed more dated and less impactful than it was the first time around. But Eminem is no slouch and has tried his damndest to push himself back into relevancy.
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