“Believe” continues in the same vein, with Em casting himself once again as an underdog confronting a musical landscape in which he may no longer be welcome. First track “Walk on Water” is a treatise on artistic frustration, as he despairs of never again reaching the heights of his early-2000s peak over the sounds of pen scratches and wadded-up notebook pages: “It always feels like I’m hitting the mark / ‘Til I go sit in the car, listen, and pick it apart.” Eminem has been compulsively examining his own place in pop culture for virtually as long as he’s had one, but this glimpse at his nagging imposter syndrome adds an intriguing wrinkle. Kicking off the album with a wash of piano and a gossamer Beyonce hook – a far cry from the “Slim Shady does not give a f- what you think” preludes of his heyday – Eminem stretches himself most obviously in “Revival’s” opening stanzas. It’s a shame, because Eminem still has plenty to say, but even his newfound political consciousness can’t steer him away from some of his worst instincts. Leaning on charisma-free collaborations, histrionic productions, and nearly half a dozen attempts to rewrite his 2010 hit “Love the Way You Lie,” “Revival” is a messy, ultimately exhausting misfire. On his very long, jagged-edged, oddly sequenced ninth album, “Revival,” Eminem remains one of the most accomplished technical rappers of his generation, but his taste in beats and subjects lets him down mightily. ![]() After years spent out of the spotlight, the parking garage-set display showcased a looser, more heartfelt side of the rapper than his recent records have allowed it saw him tackle politics with sincere fury, even at the risk of alienating his own red state fanbase and it offered a rare glimpse at the onetime battle rapper performing entirely a cappella.Īs it turns out, that last part might have been the most important. ![]() ![]() When Eminem made a surprise appearance on last October’s BET Hip-Hop Awards to freestyle a long anti-Donald Trump rant, the performance was surprising for a number of reasons.
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