Eminem – Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013)

I’ve often sat around pondering the demise of Hip-Hop and Rap.  How are no-talent people like Nicki Minaj, Drake and Lil’ Wayne making it big when they clearly suck?  What is happening to the industry?

Enter the saviour of rap: Eminem.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Guess who’s back?  And I don’t mean back like how he was back with Encore, Relapse and Recovery.  This is Em going back to what made us all fans in the first place.  By the time you read this, most of you would already have heard the singles ‘Berzerk’ or the super-sonic, insanely great ‘Rap God.’  You might have already heard that he spits over 1450 words in 6 minutes in the latter or seen him machine-gunning it live during his MTV EMA performance.  You might have already heard that legendary producer Rick Rubin is on board, and really makes his presence felt on selected tracks.  You may have already heard that the album was featured on almost every ‘Most anticipated albums of 2013’ list in existence.

You may have heard all of this by now because that’s what a giant this album is.  That’s what a titanic force Eminem is in rap, hip-hop and the music industry as a whole… and he by no means disappoints.  By naming this album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, you need to understand the gravity of the expectations placed upon him; but as the man himself says during the killer Rubin-produced ‘Rhyme or Reason’ – “Hip Hop ain’t dying on my clock.”

This is Eminem at the best we’ve seen him in years.  You could kind of feel the man was getting his feet back in Relapse, and then Recovery felt like he was out to prove a point – that he could still deliver the commercial smash-hits.  These albums were good, but at the end of the day in many ways The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is the album WE have been waiting for.  This one is for us, and more importantly this one is for Eminem.

Scan the net and try to find a negative review on this album, I couldn’t.  I can see why, this may very well be the best album I’ve heard all year.  The technical rapping skills are flat-out fuckin’ astounding.  The production choices prove that he’s taking it seriously, he’s smart, he knows what he’s doing.

I think you all get the point, I couldn’t do this album justice with a mere review.  Whether you’re a fan of his previous work or not – you need to go and listen to it, and soon.  I grew up listening to The Slim Shady and The Marshall Mathers LP’s – this album took me straight back there.  Living it hard, balls to the wall and not giving a shit about anything that didn’t REALLY matter.  This album took me back.  I’m ready for another 13 years of sticking it to ‘The Bastards.’

When asked in an interview about what Rick Rubin brought out in him that other producers hadn’t, Eminem answered: “The Devil.”

Praise him, The King has finally returned.