Author Robert Greene Talks About How Eminem Burned Out

[CanadaPure]

@12characters, I think Slim Cary and Menzo just need to have a nice rasclart session each to take a minute and cool down.

You may have a point there. Nothing like an insipid masturbation session late at night to help you truly appreciate songs like LTWYL and Spacebound.

Or early in the morning.

[BlueberryWun]

How can Recovery be forced if it was bsed on over coming his drug addiction? something that is real serious and almost took his life

[EminemInsider]

Eminem was pilled out in 2004-2007. THAT is when he had no energy.

He had a fresh energy in 2009. It's not energy that's lacking, it's just that he's not the same asshole he used to be. He used to be pissed off, because he was so much smarter than 99% of the population. Stupidity pissed him off. Now he has holes in his memory and had to make an enormous change in order to get off the pills.

[Francesco]

Fair enough...

[Belle]

Ofcourse Jay is still mking hits and 50 isn't. When you work with already stablished artists (like Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West) anyone can still have hits.

The whole burned out thing it's true but every artist that i know of at some time or another will eventually burn out. Madonna, Prince, Aerosmith, Coldplay, etc all of those acts have burned out. In the case of Madonna and Aerosmith they got inspired again and cameback even better.

With Em it does feel sometimes like he's making music to satisfy the fans and keep himself busy but i still enjoy it and that's all that matters to me at the end of the day.

[Snakebeast]

I don't mean to sound odd to you guys but Eminem kind of seemed like he had a much bigger world view and what was going on and how he wanted to change it.

Ironically he said he was stepping out of the whole glass box shit with Recovery even though his mindset seemingly became a fraction as broad as it used to be. Eminem talks about almost nothing but Eminem on Recovery. Although he had already been back and made a killer album he treated it like his comeback album and every single fucking song was about him coming back. Also relationship problems. I mean horrible example but even on something like Yellow Brick Road he discussed racism with a comedic twist. That "Cause no matter what color a girl is she's still a hoe" line makes me laugh my ass off.

As to being burnt out as Robert Greene is saying he is the dude has been through a lot, he lost Proof. Losing Proof probably is the worst thing to ever happen to Em. I mean yeah the dude could live a much better life than he does but he doesn't want to. Eminem said it in like 2000 that shit wasn't what it cracked up to be. I honestly believe he sits in a studio ALL DAY when he isn't doing something with his children.

Relapse was Em visualizing a dark, drug-fueled fantasy version of his career, ending with his "snapping back to reality" moment in Deja Vu, along with the rehab and celebration (Beautiful and Crack a Bottle) as well as his return to the game "Underground". Recovery was Em in a crisp, clear state of mind recounting his descent into drug abuse and his near-death experience....but also showing how he was able to get out of that state. Something Relapse didn't show.

Relapse and Recovery showed both sides of Eminem. Relapse showed all of his multisyllablic, creepiness, storytelling, imagery, and general god-like skill, while Recovery focused on the personal struggles and the human side, sacrificing multis and artfulness for a raw, emotional "pour your heart out" version of Eminem.

I also found that while Relapse a side of Em's music was not like mainstream music in the slightest, and was not commercial (Even We Made You had a mention of him causing a fan "massacre"), Recovery showed a more commercial side of Em.

[Snakebeast]

I didn't quite mention Relapse but it's my favorite album by Em. You're right, Recovery is him in a nice, clear state of mind and there really isn't much dark about it. I just think it's bad music.

He absolutely did change a bit for the worse on Recovery, I agree. Whether or not it was an artistic decision or a commercial one, I don't know. But I recommend you give it another listen with a more open mind. Songs like Cold Wind Blows, Ridaz, Session One, Untitled, and Almost Famous should give you that "Crazy ass Shady rhyming his ass off" feel. And Space Bound, 25 to Life, GTC, Talking 2 Myself, and Seduction are all pretty fucking awesome and give a range of topics.

And on your saying that most of the album was about him coming back... I count 3 songs. Talking 2 Myself (maybe), Not Afraid, and Cinderella Man.

[sbolli1]

yeah like I said, when it comes down to it he's got one okay/mediocre album. The rest are impressive to classic.

And we're about to get another classic

[Snakebeast]

I didn't quite mention Relapse but it's my favorite album by Em. You're right, Recovery is him in a nice, clear state of mind and there really isn't much dark about it. I just think it's bad music.

He absolutely did change a bit for the worse on Recovery, I agree. Whether or not it was an artistic decision or a commercial one, I don't know. But I recommend you give it another listen with a more open mind. Songs like Cold Wind Blows, Ridaz, Session One, Untitled, and Almost Famous should give you that "Crazy ass Shady rhyming his ass off" feel. And Space Bound, 25 to Life, GTC, Talking 2 Myself, and Seduction are all pretty fucking awesome and give a range of topics.

And on your saying that most of the album was about him coming back... I count 3 songs. Talking 2 Myself (maybe), Not Afraid, and Cinderella Man.

Theres a seven-disc cd changer in your car and Recovery is in every single slot Relapse is not, AW!

No, I agree. Front to back I like Cold Wind Blows, On Fire, Seduction, I like what Em says on No Love, Almost Famous is badass and I can't not like you're never over. Also Untitled was a good bonus track.

Not to forget GtC, that song is fantastic but the rest of Recovery falls flat to me, 8-9 songs a good album does not make in my eyes. A lot of people don't give Relapse a chance and still call it awful, perhaps that's me with Recovery. Once Em's new album comes out we'll all be calling Recovery a classic .

To each his own. And besides, 8-9 good songs? I can only think of like 4 songs that weren't up to par. WTP, Not Afraid, Won't Back Down, and Cinderella Man.

Also, I really don't think we'll be calling Recovery a classic. Unlike Relapse, it wasn't a step forward. And I think its not Em's fault, actually, but his fans.

Take a look for a second. Visualize every album. All of them were steps forward. MMLP from SSLP, Eminem Show from MMLP, and even Encore was a step forward (not the right step, but a step, nonetheless). Then when his fans hated Encore, Em's ego must've been crushed. He went through changes (sorry, couldn't resist) then came back, confident. He came out with Relapse, which is, imo, fucking GENIUS. He was probably very satisfied and confident with his work. Then fans and critics alike bashed it to hell. Think about how much it must've crushed him. Recovery is a regressive step, but it was taken not because Em wants to be a pop star, but because he was uneasy and just had his ego crushed....again. Then Recovery didn't appease enough people either. Em must've been crushed, hence why he refused to continue with his repeated collaborations that he was in after his comeback.

But, as with everything stressful that Mr. Mathers experiences, after Em was taken aback by the response for Relapse and Recovery, righteous anger took the place of his uneasiness, and he released Hell: The Sequel, where he openly "bumped Relapse" and went back to his craziness. Of course, Interscope probably forced him into a poppy single, but Em still managed to sneak a few not-so-radio-friendly lines in there, probably just to spite the fuckers ("Like a switchblade through a hater's ribcage!"). The BME EP wasn't liked by critics because they felt Em should go back to Recovery style shit.

Since Em was in his angry state at this point, he didn't give a shit, and continued making meaningless guest verses in his old, misogynistic, crazy persona, this time with a white trash twist (probably inspired by Yelawolf), including Richard and Throw It Up. He then did the cypher with Shady 2.0, which was loved by many people, who (imo) still somehow managed to consider him sub-par. And thus, a culmination of his anger went into "My Life", where he used the double-time, yelling flow that many people didn't like, the food pun lines (a more clear "fuck you" to the fans) and a rather large amount of swear words (which further supports my theory that Em was seriously fucking pissed). Now that he's cleared his mind of the anger,he managed to make a more relaxed, though still clever guest verse for CMLR, which had a fantastic flow.

Sorry for the random ass rant, but I kind of got into the zone for a second there.

[Mr Change]

You know I was speaking about the inevitable album cycle that effects most artists. Once a new album comes out people tend to bandwagon on the previous one even if they hated it at the time.

But yeah Hell: The Sequel sometimes feels like something a lot of people forget about, including ME. Besides lighters I like just about every song on that Ep. I just hope Em comes with something good for his new album. It's almost like he's been in a fucking hiatus again. "4 years to just put out an album" Well it's already been three again Marshall. I understand the man has been busy though. Hopefully it's worth the wait.

You have to keep in mind that unlike his actual hiatus, he has put out some good quality Eminem content over this break including an entire EP. At least we know he isn't addicted to drugs again.



....right?

[Mathers]

The BME EP wasn't liked by critics because they felt Em should go back to Recovery style shit.

Where did you get that from?

[EminemBase]

The BME EP wasn't liked by critics because they felt Em should go back to Recovery style shit.

Where did you get that from?

The BME EP was more well-received by critics than Recovery.

And, Recovery wasn't well received critically either, it got about the same reaction as Relapse; in fact perhaps even worse as with Relapse it was pretty equally split... some people gave him 4 stars and said he pushed the boundaries of rap, and some said it was his worst album...

With Recovery... it was pretty universally received to have some great high points but many awful aspects. Recovery was in a way his worst received album critically.

[Snakebeast]

The BME EP wasn't liked by critics because they felt Em should go back to Recovery style shit.

Where did you get that from?

The BME EP was more well-received by critics than Recovery.

And, Recovery wasn't well received critically either, it got about the same reaction as Relapse; in fact perhaps even worse as with Relapse it was pretty equally split... some people gave him 4 stars and said he pushed the boundaries of rap, and some said it was his worst album...

With Recovery... it was pretty universally received to have some great high points but many awful aspects. Recovery was in a way his worst received album critically.

I got it from wikipedia. Critics thought that the BME EP was a "step back" for Em, due to his subject matter on the EP. And Recovery was received MUCH better than Relapse.

[HeySamantha]

I hope this upcoming album is more like the BME EP than Recovery.

[Francesco]

I hope this upcoming album is more like the BME EP than Recovery.

Well I kinda believe it's gonna be different to both of them.