Eminem has a new video out, and, of course, he mocks nearly all of the recent tabloid stars. I think Oxy will enjoy Em's take on Bret Michaels. My favorite bit may be at approx. 2:17, when "Sarah Palin" dances in a bustier with a polar bear and an eskimo. But that's just me.
Edited to add: I don't know how to make this little video box smaller!
7 comments:
Love it! I'm so glad he's back...I can't help but think he's really gifted, even he's a bit of a nutcase.
...and I, calling down all of my authority as a former hip-hop journalist and lifelong fan of the art, fucking hate this.
Kim Kardassian ("famous for her big ass and her sex tape" - Joel McHale) has a big ass? Thank you for the trenchant observation, Marshall. Also, thank you for repeating the supernasal staccatto of "Ass Like That"-- that isn't ever so 2006 either.
This song makes me nostalgiac for the days when Eminem made bad albums regularly and we didn't have to pretend that this was a watershed moment in pop culture.
But, Roof, do you even like it in terms of its composition? The hook, the chorus? Anything?
Back in the late '90s, at the time of the Slim Shady EP (not LP), I was a big supporter of the then unknown, unsigned Eminem out of Detroit. I liked him and his peers so much that I later joined the writing staff of the primary webzine engaged in underground nerdy rap.
And have (with the exception of 8 Mile and its soundtrack) been increasingly more disappointed with everything he has done since. The at times complex lyrical wordplay and multisyllabic feminine rhyming have turned into boob jokes and poorly sung hooks. The perversly enjoyable celebrations of ultraviolence have mellowed into boob jokes and poorly sung hooks. The hyper-critical (not hypo-) self-regard has turned into a song and video which mocks the weight of others while never even mentioning the reports that no one saw Eminem for three years because he got out of shape.
And the music that Dre [pays others to pretend he] backs the lyrics with are tinny and redundant.
I miss this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5TGy3nmwak
Not meant as an offense, but he stopped making music for angry (white) men and started making music for white ladies.
He stopped making songs like "Kim" and started making songs that Kim would like.
...sumpin' sumpin' sumpin' "I get weeded" /
My daughter scribbled on that line, I couldn't read it
Well said Roof, and I understand what you mean. But, I wonder if Em's shift is because he's "lost his touch" or because all artists need to "sell out" every now and then? And I thought we didn't see him for 3 years because he was on the pills again (in addition to getting out of shape?
Your point about "Kim" is well taken. I couldn't bring myself to like that song, but I respected the creative energy behind it. This also makes me wonder what else Em has in store on his latest CD...More of the "Rock Star" variety? Or something better?
I can't disagree with you, the hooks are poorly sung and the lyrical content has gone downhill. To be fair, he has been poking fun at celebrity most of the time he has been in the limelight. In the past that has not meant that he didn't put himself under the microscope for much of the remainder of those albums. Do you doubt that he will deliver other tracks that are self reflective this time out?
Did he stay away because he got fat, or did he get fat because he was away? I thought his time away was planned before the weight gain or possible pill addiction. Before he left it seemed like he was tired of being in the limelight and had lost the fire that fueled his greatest moments. Without having heard anything but this I think it is safe to assume this has more to do with wanting to be the heavyweight champ of hip hop again (and you can never discredit the desire for cash) rather than being driven and really having something to say.
I'll agree that the EP was one of his best moments. It had all of the things that made him great, lyrical structure, compelling subject matter and a great delivery. Since then his production is spotty at best, but I think those other elements were still present for half of the albums preceding Encore. Encore really felt like an album that shoudln't have happened, and reinforced the notion that he needs chaos in his life to be worth a damn on tape.
The production on this track has grown on me since I first heard it, and I love his non-chorus delivery. I don't care if it sounds like it came from 2006. I won't buy the album based on this one song, but I will play the video a few more times to hear it again.
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