Where as, I think it'd be more practical to have a round-up when it seems obvious to have one, when the news permits and... that may be at a time when more than a week's worth of stuff has gone down. I think I'm starting to make less sense with this definition, starting to lose myself... gonna drive myself insane soon, let's just accept it and move on...
Also, this won't be a round-up of the exact last week as, I'm pretty sure much of the drama around the leaks was further back? But who the fuck cares, who are you my mother? Oh, it's just me here, brilliant.
Leek ala Leak
In case you were unaware of the recent leaks, which... if you're an Eminem fan and follow him, there's no way you would be so what's the point of this fucking post
ANYWAY, speaking on only the most recent leaks from that guy we all know the name of, the RB whore... the songs that leaked are - "Syllables", "Cocaine" and "Difficult"...
Let's break them all down:
Syllables ft. 50 Cent, Ca$his, Dr. Dre and Jay-Z
So, this song is a concept of sorts. A parody song of cliché and repetition.
Everyone did okay on the song, nothing spectacular... sounds like it was done around 2007 and I think Ca$his in fact recently confirmed that.
What is very good, is the chorus. A funny, inherently satirical pisstake of such lyricism and easy writing and proof that anybody with real talent could replicate the tacky success of such themes if they really wanted to. Also, it was nice to hear Em rapping about something topical for once again. Since The Eminem Show he's been almost unbearably self-obsessed. He's always been that but, from The Eminem Show to Curtain Call, 100% that. Rarely EVER straying from things concerning him or perceptions of him...
And after the mixed reaction of Relapse, he's gone straight back to that. He has so much he could rap about, so many more statements he could make, "25 to Life" is a step in the right direction, hopefully he will commit to more concepts and storytelling now.
Cocaine ft. Jazmine Sullivan
Don't have too much to say about this song...
I'm not as in love with it as most seem to be. Two decent Em verses with some great flow, a very 'meh' / spacious / aimless chorus. I know it was apparently unfinished but, I can't see how the chorus would of gotten much better, that part seemed to be pretty much done.
Difficult
So, this is of course the most significant leak, from a fans' perspective...
A somber, effective Proof tribute. It reads more like a letter to proof than an actual song and it sounds as if it was made when Em was still mourning his death, still in the crux of the emotional pain, still trying to figure it out and accept it...
Which is why it's so effective. Lyrically... Well, I mean to be honest, i think it's missing the point to debate the lyrical structure, the multi's and all that as... different songs have different aims. And quite obviously, the aim of this song is to be a fitting memory, a lasting last word from one friend to another, the music is merely a backdrop.
The production sounds like it may be Em's. From a musical standpoint, that's the most striking thing about the song, it's a very dark, heavy beat. But totally fitting for the aim of the song, a perfect backdrop and... I love Em's choice to put no chorus there...
A lot of people may think a chorus was to be added, but, I personally think the song was finished and there was no chorus to be added as... the way it's structured, with Em repeating the last line "as difficult as it sounds" of every verse, the piano lead-in / no chorus there sounds intentional...
My guess would be that Em felt it would be inappropriate to put a chorus there as, as the tag 'hook' implies, it's usually for the purpose of making the song catchy, to 'hook' the listener in an addictive listening loop and want to listen to reach it again...
So it's totally understandable how he may think that's not really right for that kind of song and why a poetic line, to summarize the whole situation at the end of each verse, leading into heavy musical emphasis would work better. It's almost as if that little lead-in and then... the wordless / music-only chorus so to speak, is like a emphasis on the emotion. Because, to be honest... not many words can match strings or chords, the sound of pure music. So it is a lot more powerful IMO to just let the music do the talking for a little bit... after the concept and feeling is established.
Also, the line when Em purposely struggles to say 'casket' is more poignant and powerful than practically all of "You're Never Over". I love "You're Never Over", and I think they're both worthy tributes, both fitting the opposite ends of the spectrum - one mourning his death and the other celebrating his life...
But, having had a best friend die myself, when he was just 17, having grown up with him... that 'casket' part is all the more powerful. It reminds me of when I had to walk past his grave at the funeral and was supposed to put dirt in but couldn't face bending down and facing the fact he was in a box in the ground. But, obviously... that's part of the song...
I think a lot of people think he literally struggled to say it then and there but I'm pretty certain he would of stopped recording or re-recorded it. I very much believe it to be intentional, as the next line "ahh, moving past it" sounds like a direct response to the supposed inability to say the word. So I think Em purposely wrote that in there.
"You're Never Over" is great for all that it is too though. I just wish Em had produced it and that he had re-written some of that 1st verse to make it more relevant.
Also, it would of been good if a song like "Difficult" had been near the beginning of Recovery, then a song like "You're Never Over" at the end, to signal the recovery process. And if maybe the album had been more cohesively structured in that way, it would of given the title Recovery more resonance, more of a concept and could of been quite powerful...
The album is seemingly structured a bit like that anyway though, with "Talking 2 Myself", his lowest point at the beginning then stuff like "Cinderella Man" and "You're Never Over" at the end but, if things like "Difficult"; heavy, depressive stuff that really encapsulated his lows better were there, I think it could of been a little better as a top-to-bottom album experience.
Recovery Named Top-Selling Album of 2010
So, Recovery was now officially the biggest-selling album of 2010.
With over 3.4 million sales domestically (US) and over 5.7 million worldwide. Shows how much record sales have declined when the year's biggest selling album is 5 million worldwide. I'm not actually sure if that's purely physical also, or if they're counting digital too? It all gets quite confusing when they start mixing and matching digital and physical sales... and it never seems concrete, when they count them or don't and to what degree. Seems on and off.
Even so, this is another significant achievement for Em as it means this is twice he has had the year's biggest selling album, making him the only artist in Nielsen SoundScan history (since 1991) to do so. It also sold 741k in its first week, making Em the first artist, again in SoundScan history, to have four albums debut with over 700,000 copies in its first week.
Em Touted for 'Random Acts of Violence' Movie
Another movie-role, apparently.
This, along with Southpaw - seems to have a valid back-story, seem possible and viable and... for that reason, seems more than a rumour yet it's still not confirmed. By Em's camp.
So who knows how valid this is, but it appears to have some merit. For those who haven't heard about it, it's a supposed upcoming movie called Random Acts of Violence - an FBI / crime thriller along the lines of The Departed, with Em playing an ex-con who, is coaxed by the feds to take down his old gang. Not massively original but it's all about execution.
Certainly sounds like more of a stretch and, if it really is along the lines of The Departed, I'd very much like to see it surface. Apparently, the script started out as a Grand Theft Auto movie or, a movie inspired by its spirit but, through various rewrites and the involvement of Em's camp, turned into what it's now described as, produced by Fox.
Although I'm excited by the sound of this, and want it to come into fruition - I think Southpaw makes more sense for a second-role. Southpaw is enough of a stretch to be a character indulgence yet has a metaphoric link to the second phase of Em's career thus far and, although previously I wanted Em to do anything BUT something even close to following anymore of his life... this is, a broad metaphor. It's in a different context and, there hasn't been that many good boxing movies so, there's room for this kind of movie and if Em could pull off a brilliant character-study, it could be something special.
A major factor, will be the director.
Plus, there's something about it, I'm usually very logical but... the title, the sound of it, the description... it all adds up to that 'buzz' feel in my mind. You know, when something just 'feels' right. There's nothing magical about that of course, it's just hard to explain exactly why but, I really think Southpaw is an excellent idea for the next movie, for all that it is.
I do hope that Random Acts of Violence goes ahead sometime in the near-future too though. Perhaps as the movie after Southpaw. I do think it could do with a new title though, that title sounds like a B-Movie horrocore title or something. Even simply, Acts of Violence would be better. Let's wait for confirmation before assuming anything though.
Shady Quote
As a kind of, consistent feature, I thought I'd choose a memorable / timeless Em quote for the end of each round-up with a little summary to match...
Eminem wrote:Homophobic? Na, you're just heterophobic
Strikingly clever line. Like much of The Marshall Mathers LP, it's a purposely juvenille line, a schoolyard provocation. In an adult context.
It's childish in structure, but noteworthy in execution...
And, what's incredible is, the stupidity of the people at the time. Gay people who simply listened to other gay people, ironically - acting in a prejudice-mindset, not thinking for themselves or intelligently judging things.
Simply going on public perception and protesting by default
Anybody who doesn't get the basic idea of what he's doing on that album, or in that line... should, be fucking shot basically lmao. It's not even difficult. What's intelligent and complex is his execution, the whole package. But the basic idea, of... becoming the critcism, throwing back the alternative and provoking for its own sake, creating a question in jest... I just cannot understand how stupid some people are. The people who were genuinely protesting that album; it would be like people protesting Taxi Driver, calling De Niro a racist and demanding the movie be banned
Which, isn't a totally valid comparison as, Em wasn't even fully embracing his various roles on that album, he was constantly presenting paradoxes and questions. Constantly self-aware, analyzing the things he was saying after saying them, it was verbal art but... I make that analogy to highlight the fact, people were protesting fiction as reality, ignoring artistic structure and context. It was fucking insanity, and profound stupidity.
That quote of course, from "Criminal"...
Tune in next week fuckers. Well, not next week as, like I said it's no longer wee... let's not even get into that again, my head's hurting already, I need some pancakes.
