A little late to the party but this just popped up on my Google search
http://www.telegram.com/article/2013121 ... /3121299694/5
Equal opportunity offender Marshall Bruce Mathers III — alias Eminem, alias Slim Shady — is not out to make friends on his new record, "The Marshall Mathers LP 2." He's out to reclaim the rap-royalty crown that he feels is rightfully his.
And, the good news is, Eminem overwhelmingly succeeds.
Not unlike "The Marshall Mathers LP" he delivered 13 years earlier, the 41-year-old Motor City rapper and self-declared "boogie monster of rap" delivers his frenetic wordplay at breakneck speed while unflinchingly skewering his rap rivals and critics, airing his dirty laundry and unmercifully snarling his potty mouth rants about the endless burden of being Eminem. When he's not gushing how great God made him, the Pied Piper of political incorrectness thanks his absentee father, all the school bullies in his past and his less-than-perfect upbringing that made him the narcissistic, misogynistic, homophobic millionaire rapper he is today.
But, unlike many of his fellow rappers who boast how great they are, Eminem consistently shows why he's the true master of the genre. And, while it would be nice if he toned down the domestic violence roleplaying and the gay hate speeches (more so because they are as tired as they are offensive), Eminem doesn't bore the listener with a barrage of designer names (that is, unless you consider Kmart and Kool-Aid designer names) and nauseate us with the n-word (which, to his credit, he doesn't utter once on the record once).
Hero worship takes an ugly, grisly turn once again in the Eminem universe with the sick and twisted (and overly long) revenge fantasy "Bad Guy," the sequel to "Stan." If you recall, Stan was a crazed fan who killed his pregnant girlfriend and, subsequently, himself, all in an effort to spite the rapper for not acknowledging his deep, dying devotion. Thirteen years later, Stan's little brother Matthew Mitchell is all grown up and, it turns out, is a bigger psycho then his big bro. With an axe to grind and an abundance of killer rhymes, Eminem (in the guise of Stan's brother, Matthew) goes straight for the jugular and shows no mercy to the rapper or the listener's nerves. Eminem snaps, "You better go and get the sewing kit, (expletive)/Finish this stitch so you can reap what you sew, knit wit." How is Matthew going to finish Em off, you ask, with bad puns? No. Not only is Eminem eventually bound, gagged and dragged to the trunk of a car, the rapper is bombarded with gay slurs, insults against his beloved Denver Broncos and forced to listen to his own music. Oh, the humanity.
"Bad Guy" really gets chilling, however, when Eminem reveals that this all exists in a deeper, darker place he cannot escape — "I'm the bullies you hate, that you became/With every (expletive) you slaughtered/Coming back on ya, every woman you insult/That, with the double standard you had when it comes to your daughters." Shifting from some serious soul-searching from the grave to the eternal bitterness festering in a diseased mind, Eminem's taunt and riveting performance is enough for the rap artist to take a restraining order out on himself.
After the hyper-violent "Parking Lot (skit)" that culminates with shooting a dog point blank in the head (Now, that's one way to earn points with the PETA people), Eminem goes on a bile-spewing hate spree that is only rivaled by the 10 Plagues of Egypt on "Rhyme Or Reason." In addition to doing a killer Yoda impression (no kidding), "the king of nonsense and controversy" goes on a "beat killing spree" of the highest order. Craftily meshing The Zombies' "Time of the Season" with Eminem's unresolved (and unfiltered) daddy issues that makes Oedipus look like a crybaby (that is, if he had eyes to cry), the rapper comes to terms with the fact that he's "loco" and his job here isn't done.
When you care enough to send the very best, there is Hallmark. When you care enough to be blunt and to the point, there's Eminem. On "So Much Better," the rapper contends, "My life will be so much better if you just dropped dead." If that's too subtle, Eminem, with a nodding wink to Jay-Z, continues, "I got 99 problems and a (expletive) ain't one/She's all 99 of 'em/I need a machine gun."
Eminem is ready for hand-to-mic combat on "Survival." Originally making its debut on the "Call of Duty" game cartridge, "Survival" has plenty of macho sloganeering that couch commandos can rally behind as they clutch their game consoles but it's all about Eminem doing battle with his rap rivals.
Sporting a vintage, heavy-thumping, underage, house party vibe, "Berserk" masterfully weaves elements of Billy Squire's "The Stroke" and The Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right" but still allows Eminem to lead the keg party brigade. And not only does he "take it back to straight hip-hop and start it from scratch," Eminem also unleashes the album's most out-of-the-blue and uncalled for disses in the lines, "They say that love is powerful as cough syrup in Styrofoam/All I know is I feel asleep and woke up in that Monte Carlo/With the ugly Kardashian/Lamar, oh."
Eminem envisions himself as an almighty deity on "Rap God." You know it was just a matter of time. But instead of having a Christ complex, it turns out that Eminem has a General Zod and/or Odin complex (of Superman and Thor fame, respectively), both of which are referenced here. This all would be laughable if Em's delivery wasn't so intense. And, from the sound of things, Eminem is not a merciful rap god, either. If you can get over an unfortunate (and unnecessary) homophobic rant, this is Eminem at his most jaw-dropping intense.
Eminem bellyaches about how he wanted to receive attention for his music but was left alone on "The Monster," his fourth collaboration with Rihanna. With aspirations of being "the Bruce Lee of loose leaf," Eminem raps, "Call me crazy, but I have this vision/One day that I'll walk amongst you a regular civilian/But until them drums get killed and I'm coming straight at MCs, blood gets spilled." With Rihanna once again delivering the goods, this is probably the most radio-friendly outing on the album. As for genuine blood getting spilled, it reeks of corn syrup.
Eminem is down in the dumps because of fame on "So Far," which whimsically reworks the lyrical sentiment and unmistakable guitar-line from Joe Walsh's 1978 solo hit, "Life's Been Good." Despite not-so-elegantly pontificating about being harassed by a fan in a McDonald's bathroom (and, from the verbal exchange, it seems that he forgot to close the bathroom stall), the rapper actually sounds good-natured and so, too, is his self-lacerating wit.
Eminem works toward a long overdue (and, until now, unforeseeable) reconciliation with his mom, well, sort of, on the dysfunctional family tearjerker "Headlights." After confessing, "I went in head first, never thinking about who, what I said hurt," a guilt-ridden, angry and insecure Eminem acknowledges to his mother Debbie Mathews (one of his favorite and most infamous targets), "Our house was Vietnam, Desert Storm and both of us put together could form an atomic bomb equivalent to chemical warfare." Gee, it's enough to make you feel warm and fuzzy all over.
You've been on FIRE lately.
