Written by Isaiah Salgado / Staff Writer
Rate: 2/5
It’s been about 13 years since Eminem has released “The Marshall Mathers LP,” an album that is now hailed as one the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time.
Eminem making his album a sequel to what many consider to be his best album feels like a desperate attempt for attention which is something he addresses on the album. For the most part, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” is extremely inappropriately named.
Eminem no longer sounds like an outcast who keeps pushing himself away from society, but instead sounds like an old man trying to say the most offensive things he can so a group of teenagers will think he’s cool.
This creates plenty of cringeworthy moments and it makes “So Much Better”, “Evil Twin”, “So Far…” very skippable.
Lyrically however, Eminem is almost always on point.
Every song has Marshall going guns blazing rapping with words that don’t rhyme together but still making it work somehow. Although his pure skill is impressive, it often sounds directionless.
This is most apparent in “Love Game” which features Kendrick Lamar. On the track both artists rap at top speeds, but Lamar seems much more coherent. Lamar tells a story about loving a girl who doesn’t share the same feelings while Eminem just flexes his muscles.
In “Rap God” Eminem drops jaws with an extremely fast paced verse, though the beat and hook are almost enough to ruin the track.
“Bezerk” faces the opposite problem, Eminem unsuccessfully tries to capture a “Slim Shady” feel, but luckily the hook and production by music legend Rick Rubin barely save the song.
It’s completely obvious that this album sees its high points when Eminem isn’t trying to recapture the past.
There is one exception to this, “Bad Guy” which is a sequel to one of Eminem’s most famous songs “Stan”. In this track Stan’s little brother has his revenge on Eminem by kidnapping him and stuffing him into the trunk of his car and going for a drive. The strongest part of the song comes after the beat changes and shows Eminem being completely self aware and scolding himself.
Lyrics like “I’m the bullies you hate, that you became” and “That, with the double-standards you have when it comes to your daughters” make the song one of his best. Unfortunately there are still throw away pop songs like “Monster” and “Survival” in which Eminem sounds completely out of place.
There are plenty of high points like “Headlights”, “Stronger Than I Was”, “Rhyme or Reason” and “Brainless” but the album feels extremely mediocre.
