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On Relapse, Eminem Still Nasty, Still Genius

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted May 14, 2009 1:43 PM CDT

(Newser) – Eminem’s new album, Relapse, is as crude as you might expect, but his unflinching examination of his drug addiction has floored some critics. Overall, people love it or hate it.

  • "The power of Relapse comes from Em aiming his beat-downs at his truest target, himself," Rob Sheffield writes in Rolling Stone. It's "a more painful, honest and vital record than anyone could have expected at this late date."
  • "For anyone who carried a glimmer of hope that this talented if perverse MC had a great album in him," Greg Kot writes in the Chicago Tribune, "Relapse is a wake-up call."

  • Neil McCormick, writing in the Telegraph, gasps at Em's "verbal dexterity and audacity," and applauds the move to drop "his own often substandard production work to let original musical collaborator Dr. Dre handle backing tracks."
  • Eminem may be a fantastic rapper, Jim DeRogatis writes in the Chicago Sun-Times, but "there's an air of weary resignation in those words and in the rapper's delivery as he returns to venting his frustrations and taking out his boundless anger on any target that's handy: This shtick is well and truly played, and he knows it."

Eminem in 2003.
Eminem in 2003.   (AP Photo)
Eminem.
Eminem.   (AP Photo)
Eminem in 2004.
Eminem in 2004.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
Robert_Dada
May 14, 2009 11:04 AM CDT
I do
freethemall
May 14, 2009 8:02 AM CDT
I don't know how to answer you, voice, except to acknowledge that it's pointless to argue about personal taste. It's just that I find rap and hip hop disturbing. The artists seem genuinely angry, and I get angry listening to them.
freethemall
May 14, 2009 7:55 AM CDT
OK Nutsin, I guess you got me, but who wants to hear somebody belly aching, piss moaning, or otherwise carrying on about somebody belly aching, piss moaning or otherwise carrying on about a genre of music they don' t enjoy?

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