With the buzz machine already in motion via the release of Detroit Tigers themed Eminem hats displaying "Champion" and each year of his album releases including 2013, I'm wondering which direction Em will go this time around.

Now, I know OKP hated Recovery but by all accounts, it was a smash hit that was definitely regarded as his "comeback" that Relapse was supposed to be. Packed full of mainstream radio hits, the obvious intention was to make sure that Eminem was more accessible to the masses and relevant in today's more pop friendly hip hop environment. It also showed a sharp change in direction from his typical pop star bashing, tongue and cheek lyrics to a more mature, older, Eminem.

So with his new album slated to drop in Q1 2013, will he try to follow the same game plan that Recovery followed? If so, can he equal or top the success that it achieved? It's been rumoured that he intends on working mostly with Dre this time around. Being that he had always been the one that pushed him in the Slim Shady direction, will Eminem instead fall back to old tricks?

This could also quite possibly be his last album so that might influence what direction he chooses to go in and dictate what he wants to accomplish before hanging up the mic.

What do ya'll think he'll do this time?

Honestly, I don't care, I won't buy it either way.

A lot of people, myself included, didn't realize how good we had it with that album until he shat on our chests with Recovery.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

I actually loved Relapse from the jump. Hated Recovery, though.

Em was rapping his ass off on Recovery.

I guess we can hope

It's just a matter of seeing what he does. If he's primarily working with Dr. Dre, I'm happy to hear that; I loved Relapse, and that's the only Em album Dre produced from top to bottom. One of the big things that annoyed me about Recovery is that he brought in so many notable names on the production side, but it still didn't *sound* that much differently from his other material. Eminem and Dre is what I like to hear.

Relapse was a dope concept record, so it'd be dope to just see them go back to making a dope rap album. Great rhymes, great beats. I respected him for at least going outside of his usual comfort zone a bit on Recovery and Hell The Sequel, but he didn't really sound comfortable on those at all. I'd like to see him go back to what he's good at. I'd rather him just go back to the lab with Dre and do what the two of them are good at.

Eminem's sales are always going to be crazy, that's never a question. But we'll see if it does better than Recovery.

>One of the big things that annoyed me about Recovery is that
>he brought in so many notable names on the production side,
>but it still didn't *sound* that much differently from his
>other material.

Recovery sounded nothing like any of his past material IMO, and that was the problem with it. The beats all had heavy rock elements, Eminem was screaming like an asshole, and the emo themes were in full force. Awful album.


>Relapse was a dope concept record, so it'd be dope to just see
>them go back to making a dope rap album. Great rhymes, great
>beats. I respected him for at least going outside of his usual
>comfort zone a bit on Recovery and Hell The Sequel, but he
>didn't really sound comfortable on those at all. I'd like to
>see him go back to what he's good at. I'd rather him just go
>back to the lab with Dre and do what the two of them are good
>at.

Yea I'd like to see him go back to basics, too.

Which is too bad, I'm firmly in the "Relapse was far, far better" camp.

>Which is too bad, I'm firmly in the "Relapse was far, far
>better" camp.

Relapse wasn't great by any means but it certainly got a little bump in overall grade after Recovery dropped leaving its shit stain on the world. I came to appreciate the overall concept, lyricism and tone of the production way more.

and maybe quit the horrible punchlines.


Like why does the mainstream think that yelling voice is acceptable? its teh most grating thing ive ever heard.

Those beats were awful, too.

at first i was annoyed by the accents, but now i think they really add to the crazy psychopathic character was playing in Relapse.

There is nothing okay with his yelling.

I want the accents and drug using Eminem back. However, I would like an album with no dre or em production. Lets hear him over all alchemist beats.

"Swing my dick in a circle, so you know I'm not fuckin' around"

smmfh

because at first I felt that way too

but after about a week, Recovery was one of the corniest sets of rhymes I'd ever heard regardless of scheme/meter

and the beats didn't help at ALL

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

I'm more on SSLP vs MMLP vs TES
I'll take any of those over his last two.
I'm just hoping that the man studies his own work and what made it good/bad, gets other producers, and just raps well.

Commercially, it'd be difficult i think. That shit sold like 5 million in this climate, that's damn near 10 mil+ in the early 2000's, so it'd be difficult for him to surpass that..

However...

Artistically, he could...If he quit with the yelling and the corny one liners and went back to just flowing his ass off ala kill you or criminal he's easily to surpass it. The way he rhymes now, if he had the same flow and content of yesteryear with slight alterations to how he flows, he'll obliterate his recent output...

No question, but can/will he is the million dollar question

but it won't do better commercially.

1. Beats mostly by Dre, mixed with a little Mr. Porter, 45 King, Salaam Remi and 40.
2. NO YELLING
3. Braggadocios rhymes (it's about time he talks more about how good he is just like rappers with half his talent do)
4. Topics: The state of hip hop or what hip hop means to him, a tribute to Detroit posse cut, reflection on his career, some subliminal disses towards popular MC's (Rick Ross would be a good target), a song aimed at haters in general that don't give him the respect he deservers.
5. Guest Appearances by Royce, Obie Trice, Proof (an old, never before used verse), Xzhibit and Red Man.
6. No song about his mom! (Though I might be interested to hear what's up with Halle these days)
7. A couple freestyles type interludes a la BET cypher where he just blacks out for 2 minutes.
8. Did I mention no yelling?

I actually like the idea of the cypher-style interludes...like what wayne did on carter 4, but just eminem going over a beat that builds each time he gets on it, between songs about whatever, that would be 19 different kinds of ill!

Nas wanted him on a remix for Daughters & Em turned it down b/c he said he'd done enough rapping about her

And I haven't dropped 1 cent for Em since The Eminem Show.


"I halfway hope people put "btw, rappers lie and shit" on CD covers, like a parental advisory sticker." - OKP Villain

www.twitter.com/lexlamont

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQFETJqRctw

I think that song sounds more like his way of saying "I feel good" "I'm a new man" and almost trying to convince himself that he's ready to be back. Like a self help book or something.

I'm talking more like "I'm iller than any MC in the game. You can't fuck with me".

Interludes, intro/outro, tracks...

but the reason such a question gets asked is because:

At some point in time, Eminem decided to write his way into the archetypical pop artist. And it's seemed contrived to me at parts....but that's his bottom line in his artistry. He's making a story.

And that's why one billion people will buy a completely unaccessible record like 'Relapse' and why one billion people will buy his new record.

They want to see where the story goes. He tells a good yarn and it's easily reducible to the rags to riches, dealing with fame, excess, fall-back, recovery, triumphant return, etc.... It's an ARCHETYPE and he knows his way around it.

I suspect his next album will have some songs that are less personal than Em's normal thing. Basically, I think he's gonna be more like a Springsteen thing or something. Trying to speak to the common people's problems instead of his own.

The following link don't always sound good....but the writing and the variety of content is astounding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA-qj_oL_14&feature=related

I still, after all this time, can't believe people like this album.

It's not Eminem.

It's contrived, cookie cutter, huff pop rap.


Fuck this album. It sucks all of the dicks.


Eminem already fucking DID top Recovery, with every other album he released.

>It sucks all of the dicks.

Priceless. I'm dying.

glad you laughed.

http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2524082&mesg_id=2524082&listing_type=search

Yet could only be made by someone that really got stuck on something. And they sound like someone who hated hip hop in 1985 to me.

I can understand if he did a "sell out" album, but does he actually realize how corny this album was to actual fans of hip hop? And the YELLING has to stop. Does he have anyone around him that can tap him on the shoulder and say "dude...the fuck are you doing"?

Because outside of OKP and "under ground" websites, the rest of the world loved the album. So I doubt he really cares.