Concepts...

[EminemBase]

To be honest I'm getting seriously sick of Em's lack of... innovation. Not that he made a SLEW of concepts in his prime either but he still at least created little ideas with the hooks and basic song ideas rather than just random spitting.

I know he's done that a bit more recently like on Recovery. With songs like "Almost Famous" and "Cinderella Man", but I feel like... on his uphill climb to keep getting better, with this newfound passion for rapping again - he's wasting so much energy on... nothing.

Think of this concept (just to name one)...
He could for example, pretend that hip-hop is 'in jail' (a metaphor for its state: trapped in familiar walls), and that shit rappers, trends and corporations are what's holding it captive. And he could write letters to hip-hop, the first two verses a letter each, the lyrics being the letters, with the second concluding with him plotting on helping hip-hop escape...

Then the third verse could be him helping hip-hop 'escape' its current state with his talent, and this verse could be a showcase of skill and innovation. And he could try take it to a new level in terms of rhyming and delivery, make it obsessive and energetic beyond belief to blow your mind and it ends with hip-hop being free / restored.

That could maybe be a closing song on an album. Or an opening even.

--

But, that's just one concept I just thought of in a few minutes. So it's a fucking joke that this living 'genius' isn't thinking of even simple ideas to use his talents with lmao. And, I'm not aimlessly bitching, I think a lot of you feel the same as me.

I find his OTT misogyny funny, simply for the fact he knows he's flogged the horse deader than dead and is purposely flogging it until the bones have rotted away to stay in character BUT... it's still get tiring. And I really wish he'd justify his skills with ideas.

He could totally open up his mental horizons if he just took the spotlight off himself for one. He could pick an issue to rap about that bugs him, NOT to do with his own life, but put his spin on it so it's still 'by Eminem' and not corny or forced.

There's just so so much he could do.

It's just disappointing more than anything to see somebody you consider one of the legends unable to think up ideas to truly push boundaries or amaze you now.

[BumShiv]

totally agree

[Hadez]

i agree. it's either taking jabs at women or talking about how white trash he claims to be.

[Master Chief]

Agreed to the fullest extent.

For now, all I want Em to do is to STOP saying wack lines like "put this shit in park like dog shit" or "I'm done with this shit, might as well wipe". What the fucking shit is that? If you're gonna make a pun or punchline make it clever, Marshall. I don't care if he drops the punchlines, I just want him to make them GOOD if he's gonna do it. But, of course I don't want him to over-do it either, too many punchlines can get tiresome.

So Em...

- Drop the punchlines or make them good.
- Do what the OP suggests.
- Experiment with your deliveries.

Out.

[JeFFb68CAM]

I think this same stuff everyday.

I miss the conceptual songs that you could feel his real emotions in. I think it's due to his 'recovery' (no, not the cd). I'd assume that after someone goes through an overdose/near-death-experience, it has a significant effect on their persona. Mainly, in Eminem, I think it made him not want to be alone. I think a lot of his depression and drug addictions were due to how much he secluded himself. Obviously he can't just go down to the local Y and start shootin ball with the others down there like you or I can. I think this forces him to associate/collaborate more with fellow 'celebrities', rather than spending time alone with his genius. He has to be around (or at least in contact with) people, to keep him sane, to keep him happy.

His work then shows it, because instead of the raw emotion he could pour onto a song when he was locked away alone, now he more or less tries to just entertain his company and have a good time, allowing him to ignore his depressing/intrinsic thoughts.

It's been like this since Relapse. It's easy to tell. Relapse was a collaborative effort between Em + Dre, thus it was more of a 'fuck the world'/NWA attitude. Recovery was Em trying to "make friends" with Hollywood, if you will. Although Eminem has always been an A-List celebrity, I think the last 5 years he's been in a parallel alphabet. With Recovery, I think he was asking for his colleague's approval.. another sign of someone trying to avoid the depths of depression.

This is why it erks me when people say the Eminem "on drugs" was better than the Eminem now. I don't think it was the drugs, I think it was just the state that he was in that made the music so real, and so good.

Sadly, Eminem no longer has ambitions of pissing on the lawns of the white house, instead, he's just here to make music for us to enjoy.

Either way, that's what makes him one of the best artists to have ever lived. I have never "known" someone so well, without knowing them at all. He has let every one of us into his life, and allows each of us to take from it what we will.

[OMEGA]

Every Eminem album (with the exception of Encore maybe) has been a "concept album", and all of them were executed to almost perfection. SSLP, Relapse, Recovery -- all of them. Problem is that all of those (with the exception of Relapse in part) focused on his life, and at this point there's not much left to say about it. If he tries to make another song about, say, his daughters, people will complain. If he tries to make another song of when he was poor, people will complain. If he tries to do another Proof tribute or a song about his mom, people will complain.

What he needs to do is to attempt to create something like Relapse and go all the way with it. Just pick some theme that's interesting and create concept songs around it. Fuck, there are millions of things Em could do, so I fucking hope he gets out of his comfort zone and tries to create something that doesn't have to do with anything that's already on his past.

One idea that I had about a concept album for him was like this:

what if he actually died after the pill overdose and made a song/album talking as if he was a tormented soul wandering alone on earth. Tell me that wouldn't be a fucking awesome concept.

[xxTrigger1989xx]

He commits to a few more concepts on the EP than we like to give him credit for, but I agree. I want more songs like The Reunion, not necessarily LIKE it, you know (I know you're not a big fan of the song), but with the same style of storytelling, with better stories. I think BME is the right direction for Em, ATM.

I agree with Omega, he needs to make another Relapse and go all out with it, only have it NOT be like Relapse lmao...new concepts, please. Only then, do I think he'll make music that all of his fans can virtually like, instead of half of them saying it's good, and half of them saying it's garbage.

[garycal5326]

He should diss more people, he is at his best in beefs

[Emadyville]

I agree with basically this entire thread, and been thinking about that concept shit myself so good OP embase

[randomgirl]

I agree with the OP. And I also love what this poster has said:

Either way, that's what makes him one of the best artists to have ever lived. I have never "known" someone so well, without knowing them at all. He has let every one of us into his life, and allows each of us to take from it what we will.

I can't think of any other artist in recent history who has let us into his life so much. Even the casual listener knows Eminem's real name, his daughter's name, his childhood, everything. You don't have to dig deep to find this stuff. People call him Marshall just as much as they call him Eminem. It's amazing. The problem is, his career was so dependant on his personal issues, that's what pulled us in, and now that his life has calmed down, he might not know where else to dig for inspiration. More often than not, his words had truth in them, so I guess coming up with concepts is more difficult for him now, as his creative juices just don't flow the way they used to. But we all know he is capable of it, I think he just has to somehow realize this himself.

[OMEGA]

On the other hand, I wouldn't worry about lack of concepts for the future too much. The stuff that's been lacking in those regards so far are the things that have come out after Recovery, meaning stuff that's not even for his albums but for other artists.

Recovery had a bunch of excellent concept songs, and the whole album had fantastic content. I'm sure Em is saving some interesting concepts for an upcoming solo, and not just put them out for verses for other people and not even the EP.

[xxTrigger1989xx]

I hope they see our reception for The Reunion and Em changes his style to that...

We'd get another classic, then.

[EminemBase]

Every Eminem album (with the exception of Encore maybe) has been a "concept album", and all of them were executed to almost perfection. SSLP, Relapse, Recovery -- all of them.

That's not true.

The Slim Shady LP is him in character as Slim Shady but, there's no set concept. It's just a collection of songs in-character. You could say that, by the very fact he's in-character that makes it a concept album but it doesn't have 'a concept' in and of itself, or a conceptual format or idea.

The Marshall Mathers LP... is actually more of a concept. And a fucking masterpiece. Which I say anytime I mention the album but it has to be said. But yeah, "The Way I Am" sums up the concept of the album and, it's just one big complex, theatrical, conceptual gem.

The Eminem Show isn't really a concept either. Again, I know what you mean in that the title / theme is conceptual because he was saying his life is like a show. I suppose this could pass as a concept album due to its structure and commitment but, that's really more-so just a credit to sticking to theme / vision more-so. But, it's really just a collection of songs again.

Encore actually does have a full concept behind it, it just wasn't followed through on. On Encore, he shoots the audience at the end of 'The Show' and then shoots himself. Which is depicted in the album art, and on one picture you see him holding a gun behind his back as he's bowing. And, on say "One Shot 2 Shot" the song actually commits to the concept except... none of the prior songs followed suit so, it's kind of wasted there.

Encore is actually most disappointing for that reason. If he wasn't so lazy and really went all out with that concept, he could of made it his best album and a TRUE encore to end on. It could of been truly theatrical and intense if he followed through that idea properly.

Relapse... yeah, more of a concept but mostly from the title again. I think people create their own concepts with Relapse and think Em was creating a story and I've seen all sorts of theories when in reality, all he wanted to do was 'relapse' to his old shit and be offensive as he could be. And the only way he could think of doing that was rape and drugs. And, the voice is just a style, just a concept. So the album itself isn't really conceptual, the style is just very weird and unique so it feels so.

Recovery isn't a concept at all. I know that you may think it is because he's saying he's 'recovered' now but... by that logic you could argue that pretty much any album ever made is a concept album. As all you have to do is explain what the title means (the word or phrase) and say the album is that, and that's 'the concept'. But, that's a theme not a concept. The album itself is just a collection of songs he made at the time again, it's not structured with a committed idea that follows through.

But, I wasn't speaking about albums anyway. I'm speaking about song ideas. A concept album would be cool too but he doesn't even need to think that big. I'm just talking about SONGS. He's wasting so much of his new passion on spitting about aimless shit when he could be putting it to use with such ingenious concepts. And by a song concept I mean something like "97 Bonnie & Clyde".

And, don't take that analogy literally (many do), I'm not saying I want a song about Hailie or that exact kind of concept. But, I mean an IDEA where the lyric depicts the idea and where the lyrics aren't aimless or for their own sake. And must follow a certain path to make the idea work in some way.

[JeFFb68CAM]

An Eminem "presidential campaign" album would be an interesting concept. With presidential elections coming around next year (2012, perfect timing for another Eminem LP), Em could stir up an incredible amount of controversy, we all know he's capable of it. And I just think an entire album of Eminem rapping as if he were running for president / involved in the elections would be well received.

[xxTrigger1989xx]

To be fair to Em though, Relapse was basically a concept album. It's like an adventure through what his mind was like when he was on drugs.

I remember reading some theory about how Relapse was an album based on the 12 steps of rehab (as mentioned in the Dr. West skit). If I find it I'll post it. Really interesting read. Not sure if Em intended it that way but it would make sense.

Yeah, you can't tell me there wasn't a story in songs like Stay Wide Awake, Must Be The Ganja, My Mom, Insane...