the time between "encore" and "relapse" is now generally regarded as the "dark ages" for em, and his output during this time was certainly subpar to say the least. however, based on the few releases he had, did he ever really lose his technical skill with lyrics?
encore itself of course had some gems, songs filled with multis like spend some time, never enough, we as americans, etc. then the re-up demonstrated that he was still capable of some technically impressive flows and rhymes - jimmy crack corn and you don't know show this, even if they're not great songs overall (and of course "no apologies" shows his technical skill on display still).
then for 2007 and 2008, he had features on "touchdown", "peep show" and "who want it" with t.i., 50, and trick trick. i really don't like any of these songs, and i was not inclined in the least to revisit them after hearing them for the first time. however, listening back to them now, the multis are still there, and although touchdown had an annoying accent, so did relapse (which has been praised much for technical lyrical display).
so my question is, did his drug period really impair his technical lyrical ability that much? most of the songs from the era certainly weren't that great, and creatively he was at a low, but as far as rhyming and flow, it seems like he was just as capable as he was before (and is now) of creating some complex rhyme schemes and patterns. post your thoughts
sorry for the extra long post btw








