Eminem – Relapse [2009]

Written by Big D



Eminem is such a tragedy to me. Not because he’s suffered any sort of major hardship (although the death of best friend and rap partner Proof was certainly tough for him), or because he’s pissed away all his money like Hammer, or because he became addicted to some sort of drug (we’ll get to that). Eminem was a tragedy in a totally different way – artistically.

Eminem was at one time the hottest act in hip-hop music. Nobody dominated the mainstream at the turn of the century like Marshall Mathers did. He found a way to bridge the gap. He found a way to appeal to the most hardcore of hip-hop heads as well as the teeny bopper pop fans who watched Total Request Live every afternoon at 4 P.M.

His first three major releases were critically acclaimed by anybody who isn’t fooling themselves. His last album however, Encore, was a complete failure of an album in terms of entertainment. Anybody smarter than a monkey and older than 16 thought it was trash, and it was. No, not just trash, it was like trash stacked on top of shit, on top of like… needles with STDs on them… on top of like… swine flu-infested pig feces, on top of rotting corpses from the Vietnam War on top of more shit and trash in a landfill. It was one of the worst albums ever released and it’s even more tragic because it was by a guy who was considered a pound for pound top 10 lyricist in hip-hop history, who captivated a larger group of people than anybody in hip hop other than the late Tupac Shakur.

After an extended vacation, Eminem apparently recharged his creative batteries and returned with 2009′s Relapse, one of the most highly anticipated albums of all time. Unless you are an ignorant soul who lives in the Pipe World of Super Mario Bros 3, hip-hop music is DEAD in 2009 and has been for some time. This album was a chance to give it a much-needed shot in the arm.

When I heard the lead single, “We Made You”, I feared for the worst. While the hook was undeniably catchy and the beat was fire (those bangin trumpets crash hard), the song is an epic fail. I know that Eminem’s lead singles are always goofball comedy songs, and this one is LEAGUES above “Just Lose It”, but it’s still nowhere near to the quality of “The Real Slim Shady” or “Without Me”. Those songs actually managed to bridge the gap between sharp lyricism and radio-friendly appeal. This song is somewhere in the middle. The lyrics are decently woven together, but Eminem does this annoying Arab-voice (which debuted on “Ass Like That”) for the entire duration fo the song and it ruins it. It’s a song largely about nothing with the typical pop-culture sattire about Sarah Palin and Kim Kardashian and people who are famous now, etc etc. It has shades of “Superstar” too, with the girl crap.

But I feared for the worst when I heard it. While I expected Relapse it to certainly be better than Encore, I expected a low quality album with Eminem using wacky voices and not evolving. What I find interesting is that I was right… AND wrong. I never expected Relapse to be the closest to a concept album that Marshall would ever produce in his career. Some will view Relapse as Eminem getting gimmicky, while others will view it as a concept album, and some will actually think he’s just being experimental.

The fact is, it’s a combination of all three.

Relapse takes us on a journey through the vision of a human being under the influence, facing what it does to himself, to those around him, and changes his view of the world. Drug-influenced lyrics are nothing new to music (see Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc). Relapse never takes itself too seriously (it’s Eminem, how can he?) and there ARE a shitload of immature moments from top to bottom, but amongst the typical Slim Shady gimmicks, there is a radical, brightly-colored, magical mystery tour of absolute madness.

Kids, don’t share your needles…

Relapse opens with “Dr. West (Skit)”, about Eminem’s rehab doctor, fighting with him over a bottle of pills. That already tells you what is in store.

Prior to the album’s release, there was a lot of hype coming from the Shady camp that Eminem was experimenting with all types of new flows and cadences, trying to expand his vocal range. That came to fruition. In some cases it was a success, and in others, not so much. “3 Am” blasts the album off. A satirical public service announcement about the dangers of drugs and the violence they cause. The story of Eminem being a uncontrollable pill-popper and having sick fantasies about late night homicides worked well on “Kill You”… not so much here.

I dreaded “My Mom”. I expected this to be another song about how much he hates his mother. Well it isn’t. He opens the song by saying “I know you’re tired about hearing about my mom”, so he read my thoughts there. He quickly segues into a song about his fabricated childhood where his drug-addict mother influenced him to be a valium-abuser. The production is your typical Shady-esque Dre beat, with boisterous trumpets and drums. Not a good start.

“Insane” is more of the same. Played-out Shady production annoys your ear drums yet again, except this time Eminem decides to tell more drug-influenced stories, this time the homophobia is turned up higher than any song in his career (including the Marshall Mathers LP stuff). This time he gets raped by his stepfather. Yes, we have to hear about Eminem’s make-believe stepfather making him drop trou’ and take a meat stick. If I wanted to hear this cockamaymee (sp) horseshit, I’ll buy a Bizarre record. What a piece of fuck. It’s not funny Marshall, it’s annoying. Give up the ghost, you pale asshole. I’d rather lick your mother’s yeast infected pooder than bump song ever again for the rest of my life. Look at me, I sound LIKE him!

Elevated Liver Enzymes and Wellness Failures.

Thankfully the album switches up quick. We’ve got some real good shit coming.

“Bagpipes from Baghdad” is the first FIRE song that Em has done in about six years and a welcome change. Scott Storch’s grubby, pig-like fingers are all over this beat. Eminem addresses the Mariah Carey situation and their alleged “breakup”. I don’t wanna say that this is a diss track even though it’s a safe bet, but it’s more of a satire pop-star clowning session. The strength of this song is the focus behind the lyrics (it seems like when Em is pissed at something, he’s at his best) and the beat, which is a fucking banger. The song actually ends with him humming a few bars in AUTOTUNE!? What… the SHIT? Yes, the new CANCER of the music industry has infected Slim Shady as well. I never thought I’d hear THAT!

The next song, “Hello” follows up nicely and is another banger. The production pounds you hard like it’s Lex Steele and you’re a poor, innocent blonde bimbo. The journey of Eminem’s search for more and more pills provide the wacked-out soundscapes that I expect from an album called Relapse. What I like about this song is that it can easily be a club-banger, but with much edgier subject matter.

The production on this album is 110% Shady-styled. Those of you who have listened to anything Eminem has produced since 2002 will recognize the dirty guitars and an overuse of synthesizers. Too bad Unknown Producer Show doesn’t make an appearance, but maybe one day Em will join D.I.T.C. with Big Pun. :blues:

“Tonya (skit)” leads right into “Same Song & Dance”. Like “Hello” and “Bagpipes over Baghdad”, this is a banger. This is the kind of music that I wish Em would do more often. This is a nihilistic and disturbing look at a girl named Tonya who was hit by a semi-serial killer, drugged-up driver (a character played by Em) and is trapped inside of her vehicle as he smashed into her. Em’s often overlooked storytelling abilities take center stage here, and while the song is an artistic success, I can definitely see it disturbing some into turning it off with it’s pure repulsiveness. Think “97 Bonnie & Clyde” type sick.

Oh Testify!

I’ve got to admit something. Those of you close to me reading this are already familiar with this, but I figure I’d tell the others. My tastes in hip-hop have slightly changed. I no longer am savagely craving the next pretentious asshole to come out of the underground to bitch on wax about how broke he is and how “real hip-hop is underground” and allathat rah rah bullshit.

If you wanna do a song flossin’, be my guest, but make it listenable. Make it a song I can BUMP. Make it something that I’d proud to like. So maybe I’d hate this album a lot more if I looked for “pure lyricism and social consciousness”, but fuck that. Sometimes, good music doesn’t necessarily have to be about these things. As Taboo as it sounds, there are times where I’d rather pop in a 50 Cent album than Common. Would I bump Common at a fucking party or while I’m driving with the windows rolled down? Hell no, and I don’t expect you to either.

Now, back to the album.

“I guess it’s time for you to hate me again” are the ominous words of the hook on “Medicine Ball”. The song, beat-wise, is another banger. Loud synthesizers, claps, and drums come in. Yeah, it sounds a little pop-ish, but it’s nice. This song is basically more of that odd brag-rap that Em spits, naturally with the motiff of ecstacy pills, crystal meth, and allathat garbage. While the song started off on a roll, there is a sequence where he ONCE AGAIN mentions Christopher Reeve and even raps in his voice for a bit. This is a joke that is staler than Ja Rule records, and yet part of me thinks Eminem purposely does this to piss his own fans off for critiquing him for rehashing the same joke repeatedly. I don’t hate him as much as I’m annoyed. Skip it.

“Stay Wide Awake” is more of the direction I’m looking for. Haunting keys provide an un-Eminem-like atmosphere. When the hook kicks in, they add these hard-ass guitar chords that sound “hella dope” (Palevue slang). This song, much like “Same Song & Dance”, is Eminem’s wacky horrorcore storytelling. This is a very cerebral look at more of the trauma that one goes through when under the influence. A typical look at the violent thoughts that creep into your mind and the borderline insanity that comes with it. It’s funny, this album is almost an 80 minute public service announcement for people – STAY AWAY FROM THE PILLS~!

Puff, Puff, Pass

I was shocked to find ZERO appearances from anybody from the Shady Records camp. No appearances by D-12 or any of their members, which is odd because there is a crew cut on every prior Em album. I fully expected Obie Trice or one of the new Shady Records clowns to pop up, but none. Eminem limits the guest appearances on Relapse, which is a HUGE pro. Specially since there are only two songs with guest appearances.

Dr. Dre pops in with his, as expected, ghost-written rhymes on “Old Time Sake” which is a borefest. What Shady and Dre attempt to pass off as a jam session quite frankly puts me to sleep worse than a Triple H vs. Randy Orton main event. Shady and Dre trade decent verses, both penned by Marshall, but it matters not. This is filler hash, pun intended.

Dre returns with 50 Cent on “Crack A Bottle”, which is the first song that leaked from the album (well technically it was a “street release”), so I heard it at LEAST 100 years ago, or last Thursday. Again: boring. The lack of charisma from Dre can no longer be ignored (even though his verse ain’t bad *cough cough* *ghostwriter*). Shady and 50 are charismatic enough to carry the track and the production has that three-ringed circus epic feel, but it’s just not anything deserving of multiple spins. I’m sure Detox will be decent.

UPDATE: I heard today that Detox is dropping the same week as Raekwon’s Cuban Linx II, Nas’ Lost Tapes Vol. 2, and Papoose’s album. The day after never. :blues:

Blue and Yellow Purple Pills.

“Must Be the Ganja” is skippable. More wacky voices, more decent production, more wacky voices. Like I’ve explained to Headcase, the problem with having albums longer than 12 songs is that you start to wear thin after about an hour of listening. The artist 99% of the time begins to run out of ideas and become repetitive. Some artists use concept albums as a crutch to do this, but it nevertheless becomes a nuisance unless you can musically stimulate for those extra minutes. Still, “Must be the Ganja” is somewhat catchy and may even be a top 20 drug anthem (Bone Thugs & Harmony dominate the Top 20 currently).

Now we come to the two best songs on the album, and songs that I consider “New Em Classics”, meaning that they can be considered top 15-20 Em songs in his catalog.

“Mr. Mathers(skit)” is a lead-in to “Deja Vu” (I hate skits). It’s about him OD’ing and whatnot. “Deja Vu” however, is amazing.

Firstly, “Deja Vu” is a BANGER. I’m talking about a SERIOUS banger. You can bang this anywhere and get anybody’s head boppin’. For the first time on this album, Eminem puts away the wacky, gimmicky, joke-rap and looks at the serious side of drug addiction. Em’s lonely and cold road through the side effects of pill-popping take the foreground, as he watches his entire family abandon him and the deeper that he digs this hole of addiction, the more miserable he feels. He takes us step by step as to how the drug seemingly takes over his life. This is the kind of artistic, creative, and eye-opening stuff that really grabbed the attention of even the pickiest of music fans.

Secondly, “Beautiful” is an aptly titled track. I view this in the same vein as “Stan” and “Sing for the Moment”. Em’s depth is not often seen, but it is in this instance. On this song, he expresses the pain and problems that he runs into, even with sacks of dollars. Granted, it’s tough to sympathize at times, it’s understandable that everybody has problems. Em takes a reflective view at the last five years and his attempts to come back. He sort of half-heartedly admits the failure that was Encore and grew inspiration to do this. The sombre production shares the spotlight with the heartful lyricism. Ironically, this is the only beat on the album produced by Eminem (even more ironically, it doesn’t sound like The Cross). Em breaks kayfabe with a short inspirational speech at the end of the song; the truest moment of his career.

The album fittingly closes with “Underground”, a throwback to “Still Don’t Give A Fuck” and “Criminal”, ending the album with a big middle finger to the critics. This song is refreshing to listen to and belongs in the Marshall Mathers catalog. Em’s tongue-twisting rhymes and sharp ass wordplay and alliteration show the fire that Em hasn’t shown since his prime at the turn of the century. Homophobic (“raggety Andy and Andy”) lashes, violence, make-believe homicides, drugs, and everything that made him such a hit. This is followed by a Ken Kaniff skit to close the album (which is why it’s labelled as “Underground/Ken Kaniff”, it’s one track.

Relapse is somewhat refreshing to listen to on the whole, but there are enough crappy songs on here to not warrant a purchase. At the same time, there are some true bangers on here that you MUST listen to. ARGHHH. I hate these average albums because I don’t really know whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money, in THIS economy, on THIS album. I’ll tell you what, if you are OKAY with some songs being crappy as long as you get some gems, then fine. But if you are looking for something more complete, ehh, just go to I-Tunes and download the good songs (the ratings are below).

Another quick thing I wanted to point out is that the Paul Rosenburg and Steve Berman skits are back, so Em was truly trying to go back to his old style here.

Okay, now that the album is done, time to answer some questions.

Is Relapse a display of Eminem back to form? No sir. Is this album better than Encore? OH YES. By LEAPS and BOUNDS. Eminem attempted a forward pass here, but instead wound up with a lateral pass. He tried to advance his style with a semi-conceptual piece about all aspects of drug abuse and psychotic, Detroit-style horrorcore. As I’ve said a few times, he succeeded in some aspects, and in others, he tediously failed.

3.5 Stars