Just fuckin' read it, if you haven't already:
First, pay attention to the album's title. Relapse. It's titled that for a reason. This is important. Make sure you know what Relapse means. I'm guessing you know, you seem like a smart person.
He's not just Relapsing on drugs here. He's relapsing into Slim Shady. Keep this in mind.
"Dr. West" starts it off. So Em is about to come out of rehab here. They mention the 12 steps. Keep this in mind. 12 STEPS. Remember this. Now, as Dr West and Eminem exchange words, West starts pressuring Eminem to take drugs again. West turns into the devil, and then an alarm clock rings. Eminem has woken up. Obviously it was just a dream.
Guess when he wakes up at? Yeah, "3 A.M.". Now, he flashes back the night before. He takes you through the night and what happened. By the third verse, Slim Shady is in full control.
Now he flashes back again and tells you about how he became addicted to these drugs. He explains that it was his mother's fault. "My Mom" tells you this story.
He has another flashback in the song "Insane" telling you about him being raped as a child. And a number of other things about his mother and step father.
Eminem comes to the realization that he's crazy in "Bagpipes From Baghdad" which is what he's telling you through the song. That's why he raps about Mariah and how he wants her back, and basically brags about how he can kill you easily.
As you can tell in that song, Slim Shady is back. So, he decides to reintroduce himself to the world. In the next song "Hello" he does just that. He also basically tells the drugs brought Shady out.
"Same Song & Dance" follows Shady in stalking, inviting, and murdering his celebrity crushes Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, and some chick Tonya. Which is also the skit before.
"We Made You" is basically a lighter version of "Same Song and Dance" and is basically telling all of the lady celebrities that they want him even if they don't.
"Medicine Ball" tells you that Shady is laughing in your face because he uses you and the world as his medicine ball while telling you he's making a fool of Hannibal Lector, and teaming up with Dexter to do some crazy s***. And, of course he gets Christopher Reeves to come and lay his verse and how he hates Eminem. Shady tells you that it's time to hate him again for using you and the world.
"Stay Wide Awake" tells another crazy story of Shady and how you shouldn't doubt him. He tells you you better stay awake or he'll kill you and uses a story of him and a chick named Brenda as an example.
"Old Time's Sake" is him slowly coming back to his senses and is having some of Shady's thoughts, but also having a good ol' time with Dr Dre.
"Must Be The Ganja" is him telling you that it must be the ganja that's making him high. But by the third verse, he's telling you that all he needs is a pen and paper for lyrics. Basically it means that rapping is getting him high again.
"Deja Vu" is him accepting what these drugs do/did to him. He tells you how it effected certain people including his daughters and telling you that he's been through it before.
"Beautiful" is him reflecting on this.
"Crack A Bottle" is the celebration of him beating these drugs and becoming sober.
"Underground" is him telling you that he's back and he's going back to his crazy, witty rhymes that he used to do early on in his life.
12 STEPS! Count the songs. From 3 A.M. to Deja Vu. 12 songs. Deja Vu is the song where he accepts his problem which is the last step. Each of the first 12 songs were steps and stories to a larger one.
The whole concept of the album? Rehab. 12 steps, the reflection, the celebration, and then him being himself again.
The beginning were flashbacks, the middle were stories of Slim Shady and what the drugs did to him, the ending was him slowly coming out of his drugged state, and accepting it.
People don't give Eminem enough credit. He's not stupid.
It's not that hard to catch on to, and it's not complicated. You just have to listen. I mean, come on, he made three albums worth of material. It's no coincidence that these songs were picked for Relapse.
Special thanks to KillahBee for providing us with this review.
Peace out.
best one i seen
