By Shane Rabacs ’18
Shady’s back, tell a friend. Marshall Mathers- AKA Eminem, AKA Slim Shady came out with his ninth studio album, “Revival”, December 15.
“Revival” has a little bit of every side of Eminem; “Relapse”-style horrorcore on “Framed”, “Recovery”-esque flow, punchlines and storytelling on Tragic Endings and River. Post Marshall Mathers LP2 technical onslaughts in “Offended”, Marshall Mathers LP2 inspired rock beats in songs like “Remind Me” and “Heat”. Eminem gets personal in “Walk on Water”, “Bad Husband”, “In Your Head”, “Castle”, and “Arose.”
Eminem goes after President Donald Trump throughout the album but especially in “Like Home”, featuring Alicia Keys. He also criticized the current state of race relations in “America is Untouchable.”
Eminem mocks the triplet flow, popularized by Migos in their recent songs, in “Chloroplastic” featuring Phresher.
The lead single, “Walk on Water”, dropped Nov. 10 to much fanfare, followed by “Untouchable”, which came out on Dec. 7.
Many of the beats on this album are minimalist, which was disappointing overall. “Offended”, for example, had great lyrics, but it is bogged down because of the bad beat.
If you aren’t an Eminem fan, this album will not sway your opinion. He said himself that he tried to appease his fans in this album by giving them a little bit of everything.
Best Songs: “Framed”: This is vintage Slim Shady right here. Rapping over an eerie beat, Eminem raps how he was arrested for murder because of his previous verses in the song.
“Castle/Arose”: This counts as one song for me. Eminem writes three letters to his daughter, the last one being right before he famously overdosed. The story continues in “Arose,” where he is in the hospital and raps on how he died surrounded by his daughters and says his goodbyes; but revives (album name) and turns back time and flushes the drugs down the toilet.
“Chloraseptic”: the song has an awesome beat, great lyrics and flow by Eminem. Phresher kills the hook as well. This is Eminem trying to keep up with the current state of rap, and surprisingly works.
“River”: Never did I think an Ed Sheeran feature on an Eminem song would work, but it does. I can’t explain it, you have to listen to it to get it.
Rating: 8/10. While there are a few low points in the album (Nowhere Fast, Needed Me). Eminem clearly hasn’t lost a step even at 45 years old.
