I don't understand why being black or white fan has to do with it... Im a Black Man thats always been a big fan of Em, but admittedly, I have not enjoyed his albums in a while, until now!!!

We do need to have an Adult Contemporary category 😆. LL is back, Common and Pete Rock, Nas has been consistently dropping....we need a category for them to be ranked in!

It might not be as impactful as the Eminem show or the Marshall Mathers LP, but whoever thinks this album is trash should switch genres and just listen to pop music.

It was easily his best work in decades. He is lyrically at his peak, and his voice is strong. The pockets he found on this album were incredible.

Em still in his peak lyrically.

I think Em is a time capsule artist, he reminds me of a throwback Adam Sandler movie lol

The album is a highlight in his discography. Aside from the concept, the rapping was phenomenal, beats were solid and one thing nobody mentioned is the hooks. There are entire songs in his last 4-5 projects with incredible verses ruined by random corny hooks or female voices. The only issue I have is that the songs in the first part (until GC2 where he kills off Shady) are way better than the songs afterwards. Somebody Save Me is a great way to finish the project though

Em was rapping from the prospective of if he was still abusing drugs or died from drugs, like an alternative timeline thing in Somebody Save Me. He definitely walked Hailey down the aisle, i think theres clips of it out there

If this is Em's last album, I think he delivered. Fans always say they want the "old ___" back, and this feels like the closest a rapper has come to recapturing the feeling of their heyday.

Just having a daughter, the song where he talks about Hailey almost made me cry.

You choose your words wisely and analyze every aspect, bringing context and crucial info which ultimately elevates the video. Amazing review, it feels good to hear a mature person in a sea of ignorance and clickbaiting shit shows.

I don’t think Em actually expected to get canceled. I think he was displaying the end of result of the Slim Shady character. He’s so crazy he intentionally wants to get canceled as a F U to Em for not bringing him out more. That’s why he has a back and forth with himself throughout the album. This way fans get old Slim again, but then Em can question “is this really what you want now that you got it?” Pretty clever imo and my favorite record since relapse.

When a person acts like Em hasn't contributed to Hip-Hop, I instantly know they have no idea what they're talking about. Em has put on more rappers and people behind the scenes than most rappers from his era. Em put Detroit on the map for Hip-Hop. No one in the D was getting looks from labels before Em. Before him, the only rapper to sign with a major label or have a national spotlight was The Boss when she was the first female rapper to sign with Def Jam. After Em and the success of 8 Mile people started getting looks. If anyone really knows Hip-Hop they know that rappers aren't monoliths. They rap from their POV which can differ depending on their background and mentality. I commend Em for coming into Hip-Hop and taking the art of rap seriously. He studied the game, continuously works at his craft and has given back to the culture many times. We have a platform like Sway In The Morning because of Eminem. People who are not familiar with Detroit Hip-Hop don't know that Horrorcore or Shock Rap was a Detroit thing before Eminem. Esham is an underground legend in Detroit and has over 20 albums independently. He came out in 1988. The Insane Clown Posse came out in '89. The Geto Boys were also doing Horrorcore when they first came out. You can hear this influence in The Slim Shady persona and Bizarre's styles. The crazy thing is, when Em first came out with the Infinite album people were comparing his style to Nas. After that Slim Shady was born. For fans of Horrorcore this album is a Tour de Force. Being white played a part in his success but that is outweighed by his skill. White rappers have been in Hip-Hop since the early 80s. The first rap album to go platinum was the Beastie Boys' License To Ill. A Hip-Hop classic. They weren't conscious, militant or gangsta rappers but it was still Hip-Hop because they were dope MCs. The same goes for Eminem, 3rd Bass, Lil Dicky, Lazarus, EZ Mil and others. Color has never been a disqualifier in Hip-Hop. The only things the culture has always been against is frontin like you're something you're not and biting off another rapper's style or rhymes. Let's not forget that Public Enemy and Da Bomb Squad mentored a Hip-Hop group of white boys from Long Island called Young Black Teenagers. Who's more Pro-Black than Public Enemy?........

I appreciate the discussion man. You put a lot of thought in these things.

Em's substance has been my critique, the me vs the world gets old after so long, but I actually enjoyed this album a lot. The audacity and humor, presented with a level of lyricism and wordplay, while making it all work has been great. And to the substance stuff, he checked those boxes in my personal opinion. Somebody Save Me is fantastic and heartfelt. Then conceptually, you have multiple sides of Em at a clash, and it's a good concept. You can sonically hear the differences. Em is a great rapper, I would side with those who hold him in high regard. Not my favorite, but one of my favorites and rappers would be lucky to hit his lows. Em has pushed the envelope for the culture. I feel people are blindsided by the gimmicks he can get away with and his skin color. Without Em, we don't have many of the rappers we have today and that is a fact. Off topic, Cole on body of work deserves to be in that top tier. I know people drop him a notch for stepping down but I never bought into that. These battles tear down another person's character and I can't fault him for not wanting to partake, but he is indeed a warrior in a garden.

Enjoyed watching your take on the album. It was fair and coming from someone who said they aren’t the biggest Em fan, I truly respected it. I did however see the cancel culture part differently than you did. I see this as a movie that exists in its own universe and THOSE people cancelled him. We can hear the news talking about it before GC2. He also wakes up from dreams throughout the album that shows this takes place very much in his mind. The album gave me Fight Club vibes which is amazing. I think Em knows he can’t be cancelled at this point in his career and proud of it. He’s made it obvious in his songs (even Tone Deaf from MTBMB). Salute from Toronto 🫡

Eminem created his own hip hop universe. From the slim shady persona, his story, his skill, his topics, his enemies and allies. He’s a genius fr fr. He’s a real life cartoon character.

personally i don't think he's old slim but since kamikaze his word play has been impeccable second to none in my opinion. what do u think?

Preach my friend! Greatly articulated points about Ems contribution to hip - hop culture. Cancel Em is like canceling Ricky Gervais, Dave Chapel or Bill Burr. You can't do it with these guys (jokes, lyrics or video sketches ) is not enough. Tragedy - 😎 Wise Intelligent - God tier flow master 🕺

This was Classic Em. All the beats on the album sounded like classic Eminem type beats and the mix was super clean. He still sharp lyrically. This is a dope album for Em. The song with JID go crazy!

Eminem is one of few large rappers that actually does a lot of features to this day; Young Ma, Phresher, 2 Chains, Method Man, Kid Cudi, Hov, Kanye West, Missy Elliot, Buckshot, Redman, JID, Black Thought, Conway the Machine, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Tony Yayo, Busta Rhymes & etc. Also shouted out Pharoahe Monch on one of his biggest records, Rap God. Then when comes to Rap & Hip Hop Eminem is a major factor in why it is international. When comes to the overall narrative of the album, it's more so Slim Shady's being back but stuck in the past than being about the cancel culture. That is just Shady's modern-day interpretation of his past experiences.

Def Em's best album since Recovery. Although I REALLY liked Kamikaze. He had some of his best verses in The Ringer, Lucky You, and Not Alike.

He’s by far the most diverse and complete MC #UndisputedGOAT

Gotta agree, definitely the best Em project we've gotten in a long time. Its imperfect for sure but it has a good concept and mostly good execution. The songs that hit really hit - Renaissance in particular really gets me because of how much it literally sounds like a verse from 2003 era Em (to the point where people think he used AI on it). That song w/ JID is also fire - their styles perfectly compliment each other. Em gets a lot of hate nowadays in this era but im glad he put something out of good quality. Its been a good year for rap in general.

The album is dope. It’s just cool to not like Eminem.

The album is brilliant. One of his bests.

I think some people hate him so bad that they can never judge him. You can tell the people that are his biggest critics have only listened to the singles and they’ve never actually sat down and listen to his catalog. First off I’m OK if someone doesn’t want to listen to him, there are plenty of artists that I respect but musically. They just don’t do it for me, but I’m not going to pop out every time they drop an album in write a 10 page essay about why I don’t think they’re important to hip-hop. When the dude says that shit about him not ever working with younger artist, right then you know that he doesn’t really pay that close attention to Eminem. He just hates him and he’s making assumptions. That’s right up there with “Em doesn’t give anything back to hip-hop” Em has went out of his way and giving more back than anyone else in that goat conversation. Even if you don’t have him at number one when you look at all the artist he put on in the first five or six years he got signed. There are a lot of people living in big houses right now, because he gave them a chance. Em has always been on the lookout for younger artist and if he sees one that has something special, he likes putting the spotlight on them. As he gets older that aged gap gets bigger and bigger, but dude put on seven motherfuckers from Detroit as soon as he walked in the door. You can’t say “oh we’ll just get rid of Eminem and nothing and hip-hop would change.” 50 Cent, Royce da 5’9” , G - unit, D12, Obie Trice, Westside Boogie……. In a while Em didn’t flat out, Discover Griselda, everyone needs to stop pretending like everyone was talking about them before he signed them to shady records. Even they admitted that he was the one that got them out of the local scene because the rest of hip-hop wasn’t paying them any mind and no one knew who they were outside of their region. It’s OK if someone doesn’t like any artist, but there are some people that are painting so hard and overlooking all of his contributions that I can only look at them as just somebody that’s a hater. Please show me all the other hip-hop Mogul that have put the same amount of people Em has put on. I don’t mean just signed because everyone has artist they signed and never did anything with you can’t find that many people that were signed by Diddy or Jay Z and hear them talk about them the way the people that Em put on talk about him.

not a classic, too soon. Far from trash. His best album since Relapse imo

SIMPLY PUT: THE PERFECT ASSESSMENT EM IS EITHER FOR YOU OR HE NOT! YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT!

12:28 the only thing I really can’t stand about Em is the stans. Most of them aren’t fans of hiphop but fans of him and then label him the goat without the due diligence.

This was a good Em album review! An objective review… Em’s albums are probably reviewed the best when it’s an Emcee doing the review. Whether u love or hate Em’s albums, the skill level that goes into the rhymes has to be considered. Shout out to Rob 🫡🫡🫡

I subbed at "nuance." Thank you. I finally found where the grown folks are hanging out.

i would like to hear more from eminem instead of waiting for years,i would like to see him work on other peoples projects too

Renaissance sounded like encore em fr fr

I love this album. Its my favourite Em album probably since the Eminem Show... Loved the cadence, flows, beats and concept. One or two misses that could have been cut or replaced but its hard to go 19 tracks with 0 skips. Overall, exceeded any expectations I had going in for sure!

Em is a national treasure

The real issue with Eminem fans is that if you black and you dont listen to him or if he ain't in your top 10,, you automatically a hater or a racist and most of the people telling me that are usually white lol Em can rap no doubt but his voice, his beat selection, subject matter and hooks are the reason he ain't my kind of rapper.

Fuel made me so hype, glad you agreed, JID snapped

He is floating the whole lp

It’s been a great year for Hip Hop and we’re only in August!

The album is flames. Undeniable high level rapping with top notch music production that proves again why he is the GOAT. And dope to see and hear how passionate he still is about Hip Hop and always gives it his all.

Definitely Em gives his flowers to the great before him. I can definitely saw has a huge hip-hop head, he definitely expanded my library of artists especially on his verses from the track Yah Yah, where he name drops a lot some I definitely knew and some never heard of.

11 minutes in and we're still not on the album yet, I'd have rather been disheartened for actual disagreements on the subject but oh well... Sometimes I feel a lot of us don't even deserve new Eminem anymore, that feeling started kicking in right about now

My problem with this concept is that nobody is actually trying to cancel Eminem at this point in his career. His “edginess” comes off as forced, especially when he says “what are you gonna do cancel me?” 30 years ago his bars had shock value. That’s gone at this point. The execution is a miss for me. I will say tho I think he’s flowing better compared to recent works, probably since MMLP2 or Recovery.

First of all, anyone that says Em hasn't contributed to hip hop and not apart of the culture is purely a hater. He's more ingrained in it than Drake to be honest. The shock rap wont get him cancelled in 2024 bc people are over the Shady act and its not a shock anymore. He's still dope asf and him buring the Shady act is the best idea he could have had. Marshall been dope without that.

28:00 - Rob, what you mention about Guilty Conscience 2 being the "axis" and the "crescendo" of the battle between the two coupled with an idea from Beezy 430 from DEHH that the album can be played backwards has me thinking what if this album is built as a chiasm between the two characters: Slim Shady on the first end, Marshal Mathers on the latter end and Guilty Conscience 2 being the meeting (crossing) in the middle between the two.

I agree that Em is a 🐐. I’m not the biggest fan, but I respect how he is a student of Hip Hop.

It’s not the same old tricks - he expounded what was behind the shady persona and the toll it took on him to inhabit that persona - also he weaved Eminem and slim shady in and out of each song and showed the difference between the two

And also, music to be murdered by WAS an incredible album too

This was his best album in a while. Sharp rapping, dope concept. Sounded focused

Yo. Check out the album in reverse. It almost makes the album make more sense. It's like Shady coming back, and him slowly slipping back into his old ways. The songs transition like it's setting up a side b or something. I think Em started doing this because a few years ago, Gen Z were trying to cancel him for his lines on Love The Way You Lie. Also, I think he almost created like a cinematic universe. Like, the characters have become almost like characters in a movie or something to me. Almost like the old Slim Shady show. Idk if you've seen it, but it's on KZfaq. It's like Shady isn't really a murderer and shit, but in his music, it's real. I think he takes inspiration from real life and blows it up into a dramatic animated film in his music. So, even if people don't get as mad as they used to, he can take just a little bit of backlash and turn it into a big thing for his music. I think going into the album with that mindset, makes it that much better. It's like watching South Park. If they talk about cancel culture, they're just using their characters to make fun of other things in the world. Occasionally, they'll make a joke that pisses a group off, and they'll make fun of them in a future episode. I feel like that's what Eminem does.

Saying nobody trying to cancel em tells me u don't be on ticktock. That aside who else doing concept albums with this much thought bro playing it front to back EM wins but back to front Slim wins that's another level

My favorite em is the Eminem show em. Favorite em song is probably “no apologies”. When em is or was in his pocket with his lyrics, the best, and flow it was a thing of beauty. But I haven’t heard em in that pocket in a very long time. His last album I thought it was okay to trash. I’ll check this one out tho before I write it off tho

It’s not a classic or trash. It’s a good Eminem album. We haven’t had one of this caliber since the Eminem show

Honestly, only listened to this twice but so far this might be his 3rd best album.

classic! i went into this album expecting ASS and got FIRE. shocked!!

I like Em for the same reason, his ability and technique is mind blowing. I don’t like all his songs but he has enough great ones to fill a lengthy playlist. Em s the GOAT in my opinion, not necessarily my favourite but he is the best.

CLASSIC ! OF COURSE.... IT'S EM !

When Em said that on Houdini, there was a few people wishing eminem woud die. Asking about why the fans still gives him a platform to talk shit and bla bla bla. People always tried to cancel him. He probably invented this culture. The thing is... His fanbase is bigger than this cancel culture so its impossible for them to cancel Em. But they definitely tried Like Em said on Chloraseptic Remix - "I Cut my MF Fanbase in half and still outsold you"

Honestly its an alright album.. It has good couple of tracks but nothing special.. i still feel he can make another classic but then again im not a rapper..

This is the best review of the album I’ve heard so far. Very accurate. If you hate Eminem, you won’t like it. If you like him you’ll love it. Great concept album. I knew a guy that hated Jordan, but admitted he’s the best basketball player ever. It’s OK to not like Eminem, but still admit he’s one of the dopest to rap. Two things can be true.

I must agree with you about Music to be Murder By is my one of the best album on the back end of his career. I feel this s a classic imo. I listen to that album constantly follow by Kamikaze. This drop is classic EM and if you dint like classic Em nothing will change your mind. But here the truth that these individuals that believe that Em doesn’t belong in hip hop true hip hop artists young and old have him in the conversation and tell you that he played a major role in pushing hip hop globally. Plus he’s always giving flowers 💐 and making sure that the pioneers are not forgotten on every album he shouts some artists out. He also used his time when he was inducted in Rock & Roll hall or fane to call upon artists and grips that should be inducted.

I heard that we are supposed to listen to the album backwards and it will give us a better understanding I don’t know how true it is

Fuel is just a lyrical onslaught honestly favorite track in the entire album, Em and JID went insane and that beat was a banger 🔥 Em showed out with his verse after JID went HAM on his verse. The wordplay and rhyme patterns bruh 🤦🏾‍♂️ as both a lyricist and a long time fan, Eminem dropped a great album so I might be going back to this

Grip is one of my FAVORITES and Eminem signing him …best thing ever - Eminem is absolutely relevant in Hip Hop and always will be and his contribution to the genre is very appreciated

Fuel got everyone goin crazy

This album reminded me of Chris Rock's and Dave Chappelle's last couple stand ups. They have good points here and there concerning cancel culture but they come off like old men yelling at the clouds.

Rob, 2 Chainz is a feature on a bonus song for the album called Kyrie and Luka. DJ Premier produced it and it’s dope. Doesn’t fit the theme of the album but a great song and a dope Rakim sample

The pen was at work man that’s it that’s all godly work👨🏾‍🍳🤌🏾

His skills are all there and he’s flowing as good as ever. His storytelling and voices and characters is top notch. He just ran out of stuff to rap about so the content gets repetitive. I think I heard like 20 Caitlyn Jenner bars in there. But songs like Fuel, Temporary, and the outro are all great.

Jay z and nas and dot are in my top 5 but they can never do what em did on fuel that k rhyme scheme is phenomenal

Very much appreciate the nuance!!!! Things are complex and not so simple. Though it’s easier to just put things in boxes with labels.

Em got too many stinkers in his discography. Pete Rock & Common delivered a classic album I’ll say tho!

No offense to you man but this album cannot be reviewed yet with how long it takes to breakdown all of the lyrics, it needs to be listened to and digested and re-listened to

I see this going 2 ways, where people actually begin to try to cancel Em or people actually become more open with what they want to say. Just give the album some time to breathe, we'll soon see it's aftershocks.

For me, “classic” is anything timeless. If I can throw it in and rock to it in any era, it’s classic. But ultimately, it’s subjective. People saying Em didn’t contribute to the culture is absolutely insane. Shade45 alone was 100x more then Jay ever gave back to the culture. DJ Premier has been getting CHECKS for years through Shade45, along with a LOT of other “hiphop relevant” artists.

You and just listening to the album invoked a thought bear with me. Concept of the album is either a movie or comic book whatever. Slim is getting him cancelled with in the story of the album and he kills him. He don’t really expects to get cancelled in real life because this album is for the fans. Maybe im wrong though and he actually expects real back lash from the album.

We calling it a classic already now? Lmao

Thanks for keeping it Real my Brother

big em fan since sslp back in the day (like 3rd grade). His bars are crazy per usual. he always goes hard, but i guess im left looking for some kind of evolution on his part. I think him getting stuck in the shady persona holds him back from bigger introspection. I get that he's going at gen z and yadda yadda, but idk kinda crazy he has two songs going at candace o. i give it a 8 out of 10. love em forever and will always listen, but hard to call it a classic.

Same conversation in another day. Nothing new were said. I am from Russia, and we love him here, from him i find out other rappers. Now i am listening Royce, King crooked, and many others.

Definitely not a classic. 5.5 for me..I think his rhymes are corny

Another Classic Album in his Collection. Goat Status.

The ppl that say Em isn’t a goat they were not outside at the time. Those that were ain’t got Em know w what deal is

I think if 50 was blackballed then you have to give Em the credit Because you can have all the talent and cult following in the world but it takes more than that to make you what 50 became Same with Dre Em was always gonna pop but it wouldn’t of been what it became

I don’t understand at 25 yrs in the game we still need to have the race conversation? Who gives a fuck. Idk who’s die more for hiphop paid more homage and garnered respect from all legends more then em?

love these breakdowns, appreciate the good faith commentary!!!

SOO many people hate on Em who don't even know much of his stuff.... In many cases it's just RACISM

I felt like a dope concept for this album would have been about the irony of not being canceled in real life. Slim Shady could of been the antagonist telling Em he lost his touch However resulting in Em wanting to kill him to prove otherwise

Album is fire honestly, too early for the classic talk but far from trash… Em still got it

not a classic not trash tho, salute to Rob Markman from Istanbul-Turkey.

It’s interesting that Alec’s Baldwin’s trial started the day of this album drop and caused controversy? Daily Mail: Eminem SLAMMED over 'sick and tasteless' album song referencing Alec Baldwin's Rust shooting: 'Get popped like Halyna Hutchins' ….

The Lucifer beat reminds me of Lloyd Banks south side story beat

The album can be so many things besides a classic or trash. It’s basically saying that this album is just a piece of shit or it’s an all-time classic when in fact, most albums aren’t either there’s a lot of space between classic and trash. I don’t know if it’s a classic think you can tell if an album is a classic within the first week it is out. I feel like we have this discussion more and more in the past 15 years. Anytime one of the top tier figures, and hip-hop releases an album, everyone wants to call it a classic in the first 24 hours or you have haters that are going to hate it no matter what was on the album. For me personally, I think it’s his best album since Recovery pretty easily. I would rank it as probably his fifth best album right behind his first three and recovery. I feel pretty comfortable putting this album there. I really like Kamikaze and MMLP2, but this album was better than those. We just have to get past this mindset of albums, being trash or Classics, because most albums aren’t trash or Classics.

em pays so much respect to hip hop legends. the commenter is so full of shit

It's different generations. My parents hated the hip hop and rap I listened to now I don't like the rap my kids listened to. Different times. I grew up hearing em, Nas, ja rule, Tupac and biggy. Just like in basketball, I grew up watching jordan and I got to watch lebron play. To me jordan is the best, the goat. But the younger generation today that didn't get to see jordan will say lebron. Just appreciate greatness.

MY FAVORITE ALBUM UNTIL B SIDE DROPS

I completely agree, the protests and outrage wasn't there. People just turned off the record and said they didn't like it, and moved on. No outrage, no nothing. Also, we know that he has a kid that's genderfluid (trans) so like he doesn't mean alot of the stuff he's trying to flare up. And the whole satire and separation between em and slim fails when half if not more of his audience want him to mean exactly what he's rapping about for 3/4 of the album. by the time of the turn at guilty conscience 2, the point feels tired. idk. def not for me.

That dvndwr dude is narrowminded. he basically in one sentence acknowledges that Eminem is a good rapper but Em is also not relevant to hip-hop culture? LMFAO what, how does that work?? He doesn't understand that for some people the main enjoyment is technical skill/schemes/wordplay/delivery. And that will ALWAYS be relevant to hip-hop culture. Good rapping doesn't equal good music? Yes, it does, at least for me and millions of others. I can get goosebumps hearing Pavarotti sing, I can also get goosebumps hearing a good flow and delivery, regardless of any politics or motives behind it. Turn it around, mumble rap and SoundCloud rappers were for a while very relevant to "the culture" Does it mean that that is good music, for some yes. But many can't stand it. It's the same old eminem doesn't make club bangers argument. And that's fine everyone looks for something different in an artist. But hip-hop culture and rap go faaaar beyond what's happening in a club. And if anything involves using the same old tricks, it's creating hit club bangers. Often formulaic garbage.

New Em, old Shady, white, black, I don't give a shit. Does the music make me think or feel something. In that regard, this album dope AF.