May 7, 2015 Competition breeds excellence. But in the case of Eminem, Drake, and the song “Forever,” raising the bar to show off might have had the reverse effect on Slim Shady. Em’s style has become overly complicated in the five years since he appeared on the Canadian hitmaker’s first big-budget single. At the time, however, the Detroit spitter’s unorthodox tornado flow was unquestionably impressive. When “Forever” originally dropped in late summer 2009, Shady was fresh off Relapse, a period where the uber-talented MC channeled his arsenal through a Hannibal Lecter character. He was sober for the first time in his career and needed a vessel to channel his newly found clarity, since the reckless persona he was known for didn’t really exist anymore. Keep in mind, all of this was after a five-year hiatus. So when given the chance to be pitted against the current A-Listers — all of which he later admitted he once wanted to diss on wax — of course Eminem spazzed. Holding down the vital final spot on the posse cut, the 313 rhymer raised the bar on every aspect of his verse. By ditching the serial killer schtick and cueing the chest-thumping rapper who once said “A plaque and platinum status is whack if I’m not the baddest,” Em set himself up to steal the show before he put the pen to pad. There they go, packing stadiums as Shady spits his flow Nuts they go, Macadamian they go so ballistic, whoa He can make them look like Bozos He’s wondering if he should spit this slow F*ck no! Go for broke His cup just runneth over, oh no He ain’t had him a buzz like this since the last time that he overdosed They’ve been waiting patiently for Pinocchio to poke his nose Back into the game and they know Rap will never be the same as before But did going for broke and raising the bar invoke Marshall’s addictive persona? Did he convince himself this verse was his new lane? People clearly didn’t fall for the “3 A.M.” version of Eminem, but when he put the pedal to the metal and blew past Drizzy, Wayne and Kanye with a new, rapid-fire flow and aggressive delivery, well … the masses were right back on his jock. After the accolades rained down, he moved forward with a new, high-powered battery in his back. Eminem’s stop-and-go spitfire flow has been the prominent choice on every project he’s released since. The exclamation-point style was present throughout his follow-up solo albums — 2010’sRecovery and 2013’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2, as well as his Bad Meets Evil collaborative project with Royce Da 5’9”. In certain instances, the aggression makes sense. In others? Not so much. For instance, why does a somber song like “Space Bound” or an easygoing, fun single like “So Far” need multisyllabic babble flows? These aren’t Twista records and Em doesn’t need to rap fast to stand out. More to the point, when the extra effort comes so frequently, his delivery feels forced and jolty, like he’s trying too hard. That’s not appealing, especially because Eminem can ride a beat better than d--- near anyone. In recent months, Slim hasn’t stopped using the over-the-top flow, but he has altered it a bit. On “Speedum” with Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko, he took his RPMs further than ever and beat the rapid-fire Kansas City MC at his own game. Actually, the fact Eminem went insane on his feature, and the song still went under the radar to the masses, should reinforce how his speedy style has officially jumped the shark. Kendrick’s “Control” verse got a hundred times the press and isn’t nearly as impressive. On YelaWolf’s stirring “Best Friend” single, Marshall again starts off accelerated, but reels his flow in a bit as his verse progresses, almost easing into his form of old. By the song’s climax, he sounds on point as ever, spewing fiery spirit from the gut and coming across completely comfortable in his own flow. Eminem will always be a draw and, no matter how he raps now, his spot in history will be forever reserved. But, when he gets too clever with every verse, he stops sounding like the natural talent we’ve known for the last 20 years, his cachet suffers. Hopefully, he’s getting over the hump and can finally see beyond his 16 from “Forever” — the last verse people truly loved from him, and ironically, the one that would eventually turn many (aka @Koolo ) against him.
May 8, 2015 Only problem with this argument is Speedom is lacking in catching the masses because Tech N9ne is underground & it's through his promotion. Even his biggest collab will only get a quarter of the attention it probably should get because it's not get a major label type of promotion, Tech's fan base is loyal but isn't big enough to get the media to hop on Tech's nuts, it's 2015 & Eminem, though still one of the biggest acts in rap, is not as cared about as he was before. The new gen of "rap fans" (17-) isn't looking for his new music as much as previous ones.
May 8, 2015 he didn't say that word right...he paused before this word....he screamed too loud.....he said this...he said that....he makes music how he wants....do you think he goes to forums and says well...I better rap like what he says I should.....Get over it...he Raps how he wants...if you don't like it don't listen to it...and he will still do numbers...because you stupid a--- f---s wanna complain about how he feel off.....Get over it...you're just a f---ing idiot!!!
May 8, 2015 The forums do matter!!! Eminem sucks now he needs to make music that appeals to us or he can f--- off Idk how he's happy knowing his fan base is filled with virgins and 12 year old girls He should've retired after 8 mile
May 8, 2015 What do you define him then? Can't say mainstream, he's not a major artist, but you can say he's made music that sounds mainstream with major artists
May 8, 2015 He rapped fast on a song called speedom? I can't understand why he done that and space bound was near perfect and should not be used in this argument he become sober is what happened people overthink it too much but alot hate on him more than they should he still puts out good music every now and then but not to the level it was and not everyone can seem to accept it
May 8, 2015 On “Speedum” with Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko, he took his RPMs further than ever and beat the rapid-fire Kansas City MC at his own game. Actually, the fact Eminem went insane on his feature, and the song still went under the radar to the masses, should reinforce how his speedy style has officially jumped the shark. Kendrick’s “Control” verse got a hundred times the press and isn’t nearly as impressive. this part is stupid because logic
May 8, 2015 stop kidding yourselves. the incline em is on now, which started with relapse, has lasted longer than his hiatus did. hts bridged every gap left over from between tes and recovery, and mmlp2 is not going to be truly appreciated the way the project deserves to be for a very long time
May 8, 2015 I never understood people's praise for the Forever verse. I loved his style on drop the world, but Forever was awful IMO. Until our tooth fillings come out of our mouths rewind this? Lol s-----y as f--- IMO. WAs nice not to hear the accent at the time but I thought he had the worst verse on the entire song then and I still do
May 8, 2015 Eminem's Forever verse was at it's time one of the most revolutionary things in rap. When rap was in a state of despair with Kanye's emo 808's and the best thing around was Young Money and Gucci Mane, Eminem came with one of the most raw verses in years. The speed combined with the syllables and witty Hannibal Lecter references reminded us why he is king and made us realize how much we had lowered our standards in his absence. Rap from 2007 all the way to 2009 had basically been non existent, and with this monumental verse, Em resuscitated it.
