Do you think Em was chasing the beat back on the MMLP?

[Amaranthine]

Do you? He does. I remember hearing / reading that somewhere. (If someone else knows can you post the link?)

“I do most of my stuff at my home studio,” Eminem says. “I make the beat and, depending on how late it is, I’ll either write the rap
there or wait until the next day. I’m taking whole days to write songs now—before I
might do them in twenty minutes. Once I lay down the vocals, then I see what the beat
can do, where it can drop out, what else can come in—most of that shit I learned from
watching Dre. Sometimes, though, I get a couple of lines in my head and find a rhythm
for them, then I’ll go downstairs and make the beat to that rhythm. That’s why a lot of my
drum patterns are kinda crazy and offbeat, because they were made to follow my rhyme.
Now more than ever I try to make my rap go right with the beat. I listen to my older shit,
even from just two years ago, from the second record, and I can’t stand it. I think I fell
behind the beat too much.”

I learned how to ride a beat better, like, that's what I wanted to focus on doing. On the last album, I hadn't completely mastered it yet, to sink into the beat? That's what I don't like about that second album-I'd listen, and I'd be like, Why am I so far behind that beat? [voice rising] The first album was TERRIBLE - like, I was playing catch-up with the beat constantly.

[Blu]

He didn't like The Slim Shady LP? Damn..

[shadymathers313]

Eminem has the worst taste when it comes to his own music. this i mean after he makes an album and looking back at it years later

[Blu]

Eminem has the worst taste when it comes to his own music. this i mean after he makes an album and looking back at it years later

This. If he doesn't think The Marshall Mathers LP is good, then he probably thinks Recovery is a masterpiece crafted by God.

[Amaranthine]

I don't know if it's a self-esteem thing, a creative thing [maybe he feels like he can always improve on his work], or what, but Em hates everything he makes once he releases something new. He called Infinite a "bunch of demos", SSLP and MMLP had shitty flows, Encore had "embarrassing" content and could have been "a lot better", Relapse is "in his trash". The only albums he hasn't criticized [as far as I can remember, if anyone has quotes/videos/links to prove me wrong, please do] are The Eminem Show and Recovery.

[Mathers]

Eminem has the worst taste when it comes to his own music. this i mean after he makes an album and looking back at it years later

This. If he doesn't think The Marshall Mathers LP is good, then he probably thinks Recovery is a masterpiece crafted by God.

Due to all the hate Recovery is getting he'll probably say it sucks soon but none of you will disagree on that anyway.

[momentsgolden]

I still maintain that Eminem on SSLP was borin. Thankfully, he agrees. I listen to it the least (after Infinite)... hell, i prefer Encore tbh!!! Most of tr doesnt though so w/e

[quote]When i listen to my shit from 2 years ago, i cant stand it because I was behind the beat all the time. My flow was lazy and lackadaisical even though, lyrically, i was trying to be complex./quote]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=142832

[SliK]

I still maintain that Eminem on SSLP was borin. Thankfully, he agrees. I listen to it the least (after Infinite)... hell, i prefer Encore tbh!!! Most of tr doesnt though so w/e

A lotta people are gonna maintain that you're wrong.

[EminemBase]

I understand what he means.

I agree that he became much better at riding a beat with The Eminem Show. And, I think this was mainly because he produced his own music full on, which I think he acknowledged too... so he perfectly fit melody with flow and just meshed the two musically.

His flows were still precise, and rhythmically on time on SSLP and MMLP, but I understand what he means in being 'behind' the beat in comparison to from then on. But it doesn't sound bad to me and most rappers never come close to mastering flow like him.

[momentsgolden]

I still maintain that Eminem on SSLP was borin. Thankfully, he agrees. I listen to it the least (after Infinite)... hell, i prefer Encore tbh!!! Most of tr doesnt though so w/e

A lotta people are gonna maintain that you're wrong.

I've stated this opinion countless times but have never attempted to Debate it because it'd be suicidal haha. U cant go against an album thats got Cum on Everybody

[DanWS]

He was definitely chasing the beat from 1997-2000. But that's not a bad thing in my opinion because his flow during that era is one of the things that made him so interesting.

It was during TES that he changed and rode the beat in the more traditional way.

[SliK]

I still maintain that Eminem on SSLP was borin. Thankfully, he agrees. I listen to it the least (after Infinite)... hell, i prefer Encore tbh!!! Most of tr doesnt though so w/e

A lotta people are gonna maintain that you're wrong.

I've stated this opinion countless times but have never attempted to Debate it because it'd be suicidal haha. U cant go against an album thats got Cum on Everybody

SSLP had a lot of great songs. Rock Bottom is a top 5 Eminem track.

He flows so well too. EmBase makes a good point about him producing almost all of TES, which would help him 'become' part of the beat so to speak, but I still think he flowed extremely well on both these albums.

[EminemInsider]

The pills played havoc with his brain, and subsequently on his understanding of what good rap is. That 2002 shit, he was already starting to struggle with the Ambien. He'd turn on the radio and go, "duh, why am I not mirroring the beat in the same generic, boring way all the other shitty rappers are?"

Hence, on Encore, you get shit like Like Toy Soldiers.

Reality is, Eminem had evolved beyond that amateur style of flow that you hear from most rappers. He was flowing like that on Infinite. Then he stopped flowing like that. There's a reason he stopped. It wasn't because he all of a sudden forgot how to do what every one of the thousands of netcees with a computer, a microphone, and Pro Tools can do.

I guarantee he now realizes Encore is garbage, though. But his attitude towards Relapse is pure self-consciousness after hearing about the fan reaction to it.

[momentsgolden]

Hence, on Encore, you get shit like Like Toy Soldiers.

Generic doesnt always equal bad though. I mean, Toy soldiers does lack that original flow but i find it freaking dope. E40 on the other hand got a very unique flow but is sorta irritating.

[MikeNUFC]

You know one flow I hate from prime era? Square Dance. Really, really generic and boring.