>maybe he didn't know exactly what he was doing, and now that >he does he scorns his earlier naivety
pretty much that. i think it was a Rolling Stone interview actually, though i'm not 100% sure. he said that on SSLP he hadn't developed his flow to the point where he could perfectly ride a beat. i think he'd focused much more on the content part of emceeing up until then, & so if he could shock & amaze, he was writing a dope verse. he didn't worry too much abt riding the instrumental. but w/ each new album, he studied the craft more & was more exposed to "riding beats" as an art...esp. being around Dr Dre a lot. & so he stepped it up on MMLP & stepped it up more on Eminem show. Eminem show was when he was finally *proud of himself* as far as his beat riding...& Encore was when he took it to a whole other level, completely abandoning content for the sake of riding beats like they had handlebars.
so yeah, he's said all that. he says he definitely cringes hearing his old material 'cuz he can't even hear the ill lyrics he's spitting: his listening experience is so bogged down by the 'amateurish' flow he's hearing. it grates.
now for ME...
i think that's stupid.
"riding a beat" has its place, but content is still where it's @ for me.
"I've come to realise that I never loved Hip-Hop as a whole, just a particular era that happened at the same time as I was actively checking actively for new music."