MMLP2 General Discussion

[DetroitSkills]

well, I posted that because I just noticed it. I thought it was dope. Sorry

All good, we were just bustin yo chops

[slims]

he's joking.

[shadyblogger]

Bumping Berzerk currently

[kkaniff]

^ Dope af

[shadyblogger]

I can't believe I'm still finding stuff (puns/wordplay/geniusness) in Evil Twin. Holy shit that song is a lyrical masterpiece. Just by lyrics alone that song is probably top 3 of MMLP 2. And I'm just talking about if you were to look at the lyrics (not the actual rapping). Evil Twin's lyrics are to Evil Twin as an amazing movie script is to a great movie. I can't get over some of the amazing lines and lines within lines on Evil Twin. It's mind blowing.

[JamaicanPattlez]

Would be cool because Jay Elec definitely can write, so as much of a 'nobody' he may be to some, he's still a pretty respectable emcee that the whole Hip-Hop community knows.

Em would lose in the public's eyes because it's cool to say he's shit now.

That's probably true.

Em could bring back his 2002 voice, his overalls, Jason mask and a chainsaw and the people would think he fell off. Shame.

[kkaniff]

He could release a song recorded in 2002 and people would say it can't be compared to 2002 Em.

[slims]

I can't believe I'm still finding stuff (puns/wordplay/geniusness) in Evil Twin. Holy shit that song is a lyrical masterpiece. Just by lyrics alone that song is probably top 3 of MMLP 2. And I'm just talking about if you were to look at the lyrics (not the actual rapping). Evil Twin's lyrics are to Evil Twin as an amazing movie script is to a great movie. I can't get over some of the amazing lines and lines within lines on Evil Twin. It's mind blowing.

guess that's why I''m an evil twin addict, and it's so small up there.

[EminemBase]

So Far is my favorite out of the Rubin produced tracks

''So Far'' is fun as fuck.

It's one of his actually fun tracks in about over a decade.

I mean I find a lot of his material, especially angry shit, really fun to listen to. But I mean - from 2002 onwards it's like he couldn't make FUN or funny material without it being goofy, as you see on Encore. Like, it was either very self-serious or juvenille and silly aka Ass Like That or Big Weenie, with a loss of musical focus.

Where as ''So Far'' is musically cool as fuck, lyrically superb - like... technically, his wit, his hook, his rapping, everything about it MUSICALLY first and foremost is classic and really catchy and well-done, but then the content and his attitude is free-wheeling and genuinely entertaining without just being silly or pointless rambling.

That song is a really fresh and cool glimpse of a possible direction he could go.

It's like, he's just about maximized the psycho, women-hating vibe to the utter-max and I'm not sure he can truly shock or do things that overly dramatic any more with it feeling fresh or daring. Where as strangely - hearing him talk about stains on his couch and playing Ninento sounds fresh as fuck because he never raps about things so casual yet real in his life, whilst fictionzlizing them/himself like he would in extreme psycho shit.

I definitely think he could run with that 'out of touch retro grump' vibe commenting on the confusion around him and create some really funny and original shit which sounds totally new from his other work.

Because it's either been a) extremely dramatic and serious elements of his life such as his marriage or his daughter or his mother, or his stress or depression or b) some kind of extreme and intense mix of those realities on the basis of a concept, or fame or something... but it's always been very intense and serious. Where as something like ''So Far'' is serious enough where it's intriguing, as it's actually a commentary on the world around him and his life, yet conceptual and casual enough to be entertaining and story-driven.

It actually feels like some kind of realistic, new-day SSLP or something.

[EminemBase]

SMB may thematically stick out a bit more, but I think the rest sandwich in pretty nicely.

Not even thematically yo... just sound-wise.

It sounds like TES meets a good version of Encore... you got that dramatic piano Em production... and the concept is too... committed in a way, hm, or themed. Like... MMLP material felt ''free-wheeling'' like he was just rattling off, and Rhyme or Reason and Rap God capture that... but after that he began to create ''theme songs'more, like FEMALE TRACK etc. and it would just feel too... crafted to a topic.

That track feels like a 02-04 Em song and not some fresh sound and loose/funny vibe like RoR... feels off.

I think it's his style of writing/rapping on it too is what I mean. Like, he's being funny but he's very loud and serious, more like TES Em. RoR Em feelsand sounds MMLP-esque, So Much Better Em doesn't at all.

I get what you're saying when it comes to production, but c'mon, the I lo- lo- lo- lo- LESBIAN! scream sounds like a sound clip taken straight out of the original MMLP recordings.

I just loved the vibe on that song, the hook is one of the best on the album and too many quotables.

Think I just relapsed, this bitch pushed me over the brink
Hop on the freeway trying to get some time alone and just think
'Til the cops pulled me over, but they let me go
cause I told 'em I'm only driving drunk, cause that bitch drove me to drink

And I'mma have a whale of a time being a single sailor
For the night, bitch on a scale of
1 to 10, shit, I must be the holy grail of
Catches ho, I got an Oscar attached to my fucking name (De La)
I might hit the club, find a chick that's tailor
Made for me, say fuck it, kick some shots back, get hammered and nail her
These bitches trying to get attached, but they're failing to latch onto the tail of
My bumper they're scratching at the back of my trailer
Like I'm itching to get hitched
Yeah, I'm rich as a bitch
But bitches ain't shit, I'd rather leave a bitch in a ditch
Bitch you complain when you listen to this
But you still throw yourself at me, that's what I call pitchin' a bitch
That's why I'm swinging at this chicks on-site
Long as I got a bat and two balls it's foul, but my dick's on strike
So all that love shit is null and void, bitch I'm a droid
I avoid Cupid, stupid wasn't for blow jobs, you'd be unemployed

I got 99 problems and a bitch ain't one
She's all 99 of 'em; I need a machine gun


Too dope, best song to listen to when you're pissed at your partner.

The song is dope af maiyne, I lud it.

In fact I don't think there is a lyrically bad song on the album and there's so many unique flows and inventive styles of rapping (which he doesn't get nearly enough credit for. The amount of styles he's come up with and comes up with every album is just ridiculous) - and even all of the production is pretty fly, some of it I think is some of my favourite production he's spit over...

The only problem is just the songs being together, like, them flowing and making sense as the same album. Not conceptually or lyrically, just in the way they sound yo.

I get it was an intentionally eclectic attempt though, a bit like Adventures of Bobby Ray (not in style, but in the genre-juggling), but I'm not sure it quite works for me. When I first heard it I think it did; all of the songs work individually and I think that bar Stronger Than I was - he was pretty consistent with the MMLP attitude... I think the problem is he's just TOO good at making defining sub-genre tracks now, so if he makes a rap-rock track - it's REALLY gonna sound like that and stand-out if the rest ain't...

Endlessly dope rapping and music, miles better than Recovery, but doesn't work as an album I think. It's more like Em just going ''here, I've been in the lab for a few years and created some amazing shit... here is a big varied mix of some of the best shit. See what you think'', as apposed to a single focus of THIS IS THE ALBUM, THIS IS THE SOUND AND THE FEEL, LET'S NAIL IT like he used to and which I think all classics need.

[yoda you can call me]

^Ok, i'm with ya base, but i recall you saying he's afraid to attempt that one vision theme which made his first 3 albums, classics.. Why would he be afraid?.

[EminemBase]

^Ok, i'm with ya base, but i recall you saying he's afraid to attempt that one vision theme which made his first 3 albums, classics.. Why would he be afraid?.

What I meant was... afraid to stick to his guns with an overriding sound and direction, after Relapse. I think he's convinced after Relapse that all his albums need to be very 'balanced' aka have 'this kind of song, that kind of song; this kind of sound, that kind of sound' - he's basically trying to please all of his fan-base, all the time.

Where as his first three... he didn't.

MMLP has one attitude, carried throughout. And even though there are different styles of beats, there is an overriding aggressive sound and thump which remains. He was unafraid to just hammer you in the face with a single-vision on that album. Doesn't mean the album is not varied or balanced; it's hardly one thing - but the sound and his mindset - are. Which is why it feels so consistent as a body of work and an album.

And he very nearly did that again with Relapse and I believe it's because he was out of the spotlight for so long so forgot to care about what people wanted, which is a very very good thing for his art and any artist.

But then he got caught up in it again. But rather than rebel it and create something even more extreme to his own liking - he buckled and tried to sincerely please people, and apologize.

So I believe he thinks for his albums to be good now - he needs this mixture of light styles, dark styles, a rap-rock track, a pop smash, a dark story; a silly adventure etc. etc... and whilst all his albums are that to a degree, his first three stuck to a particular mindset and sound 'tone' throughout, which is why they have such musical identities.

And I don't believe another Eminem classic can be made until he re-embraces that ethos, and the reason I think he is afraid to do that is due to the shock of the Relapse reaction. I think he genuinely laboured and loved that material and thought what he was presenting was a classic and when it wasn't received like that; due to the fact he'd been away and doubting his own ear and place in music; I think he thought it would be wiser to listen to fans and critics than trust his own artistic confidence and that is why ''The Monster'' is on MMLP2 and why it is everything for everybody.

[kkaniff]

That would have made sense if Eminem hasn't had songs like The Monster on all of his albums.
TRSS, Without Me, We Made You are all like The Monster, if you look at it objectively.
You're trying so hard to make your point that you contradict yourself; you said in the first paragraph of the above post that the mixed reception Relapse got is the reason Em tries to make a "balanced" album nowadays, while admitting later on that Relapse itself was made to be balanced.
Anyhow, while I agree that albums need a certain coherence to be "classic", I don't think it's as strict a requirement as you're making it seem.

[EminemBase]

That would have made sense if Eminem hasn't had songs like The Monster on all of his albums.
TRSS, Without Me, We Made You are all like The Monster, if you look at it objectively.
You're trying so hard to make your point that you contradict yourself; you said in the first paragraph of the above post that the mixed reception Relapse got is the reason Em tries to make a "balanced" album nowadays, while admitting later on that Relapse itself was made to be balanced.
Anyhow, while I agree that albums need a certain coherence to be "classic", I don't think it's as strict a requirement as you're making it seem.

How in the flying fuck are ''The Real Slim Shady'' and ''Without Me'' like ''The Monster''?

They're catchier and more condense versions of his personality and style, sure. But they do not completely musically venture away from the sound of the rest of the album, and they are still full-blown rap songs, not weird concoctions of pop-rock beats with ready-made cliche hooks. They are Eminem hooks and concepts, they are Eminem songs and sound like full-blown Eminem songs start to finish, and fit the albums totally.

[kkaniff]

Dude, your point was that Eminem post-hiatus was so bothered by the mixed reaction Relapse got that he now feels the need to make an album balanced in order to appeal to each dmographic.
My point was that he did make song like that pre-hiatus, The Monster and the other songs I named; TRSS, Without Me, We Made You (regardless of how you feel about ready-made cliche hooks, pop-dance beats)are all similar in the sense that they were made to be chart-topping singles.
The means with which the chart-topping is accomplished, whether wittily bashing celebs or a catchy Rih hook, just changed.
Your opinion that The Monster doesn't fit in with the rest of the album is just that, your opinion. Personally, I thought it fit quite well between STIW and So Far and you can't say that the production of The Monstr sticks out because there's hardly a uniform sound on the album for it to stick out from.