The Fingers Didn't Mean Much...

[EminemBase]

you know, Eminem was making this music WITHOUT the MMLP2 title to it. Paul and (presumably) Royce and Porter suggested the name.

What that means is we can never "compare the albums too much" because for 3 months after the title was announced that is all we have been forced to do. The promotion, the name, the visuals, everything is SCREAMING comparison so loudly it is annoying.

I actually love the album alot. So, i am not asking him to shock me in a lyrical sense. I am just saying the WHOLE marketing of the album was either Label pressure/ Lazy on his part/ a reason he doesnt wanna say. Have you seen his rolling stone interview? He MADE music to live up to the name but creatively, he was already in that headspace.

I dont know man. I just get very frustrated. I like Eminem too much. It frustrates me that alot of people had a diminished return in enjoying the music because of the marketing when it should have been the other way round. This album should be a classic and standalone like that. This is like Dre releasing Detox man You can never win. But with Dre, he is FORCED to release it as detox as that is the ONLY thing we want from him. Eminem ddnt NEED to name it this and i just... i just dont see how or why he had to create all that pressure from nothing except... and i hate to say it coz i dont want to believe it... but sales

Well I don't believe Em would name it this for sales...

I do believe him when he says his intent was to make people feel nostalgic and like when they fist heard him blow up / like on MMLP...

But I do think part of him didn't have a direction or theme... and that he was just making great individual songs without knowing what direction to go in or what his next theme would be... and when this was suggested he kind of made it make sense to himself with that justification.

I think he was just making music indiscriminately, then tried to vaguely justify the title.

[Jimmy Conway]

No, Paul suggested he color his hair blonde.


No one suggested he make MMLP2.

[_Hawk_]

^ It's not about shock tactics. That's tedious.

But just think a little harder on how to have that underlying attitude vs. a bit of everything again.

He is not replicating his attitude.

His attitude is contemporary on both albums, hence why this is him revisiting that MINDSET. Not the same mindset he had, but rather exploring where he is today.

[EminemBase]

^ It's not about shock tactics. That's tedious.

But just think a little harder on how to have that underlying attitude vs. a bit of everything again.

He is not replicating his attitude.

His attitude is contemporary on both albums, hence why this is him revisiting that MINDSET. Not the same mindset he had, but rather exploring where he is today.

His attitude is contemporary on ALL of his albums lmao... that's not unique to MMLP.

What is unique to MMLP is the almost single-mindedness of it. The single-mindedness of character-play with a consistent world view from beginning to end.

MMLP2 is no different to... TES, in terms of him having this range of themes and moods aka 'a mom track, a bitch track, a x track' etc. - that is what separates SSLP, MMLP and Relapse from other Em albums; that single-minded, forceful character in its own world set of themes.

And nowhere is that more present than on MMLP.

You could take a verse from any song on MMLP and put it aside another verse from any other song on MMLP and you will see similar themes, with the same mind attacking them... that's what gives the album this feel of a relentless attack.

Where as take a verse from "The Monster" and compare it with "Brainless"... there's an inconsistent person / character. It's just Eminem exploring multiple themes as he would on any other album.

[EminemBase]

I think it's pretty straightforward...I think you're putting way too much thought into this fam.

MMLP = Em's views in 2000 as a 27 year old, blowing up emcee
MMLP2 = Em's views in 2013 as a 41 year old, successful respected overflowing trophy cabinet artist

Not at all pham.

Go and watch Em himself explain MMLP in the time period.

People here / in general totally simplify and miss the point of MMLP1.

It wasn't 'just Em's views' lmao, it was a concept album summed up by the line 'I am whatever you say I am' (why do you think he said that?) - he felt misunderstood and knew he was not homophobic or as much of an evil, devil-minded psycho as mainstream America made him out to be...

So he exploited that and BECAME all those things.

Do you really think Em's real thoughts are to choke a slut until she has no air in her lungs? Lmao; there's even in a 2001 interview with Em explaining this / the ridiculousness in what he's saying.

MMLP1 was not Eminem's real views. It was him exploiting and becoming the misunderstanding.

All of Eminem's albums are his views on where he's at mixed with ironic violence, some social commentary etc. the point of MMLP is that he tipped the balance so that the line between his real views and what you think he is / his fantasies, is blurred.

[Coulter]

I think it's pretty straightforward...I think you're putting way too much thought into this fam.

MMLP = Em's views in 2000 as a 27 year old, blowing up emcee
MMLP2 = Em's views in 2013 as a 41 year old, successful respected overflowing trophy cabinet artist

That's exactly how I saw the album. His views were strong, and he let 'em go wild. He's acknowledged that he's not going to have the same outlook, and he'd have to grow-up a bit, to an extent.

[Coulter]

I think it's pretty straightforward...I think you're putting way too much thought into this fam.

MMLP = Em's views in 2000 as a 27 year old, blowing up emcee
MMLP2 = Em's views in 2013 as a 41 year old, successful respected overflowing trophy cabinet artist

Not at all pham.

Go and watch Em himself explain MMLP in the time period.

People here / in general totally simplify and miss the point of MMLP1.

It wasn't 'just Em's views' lmao, it was a concept album summed up by the line 'I am whatever you say I am' (why do you think he said that?) - he felt misunderstood and knew he was not homophobic or as much of an evil, devil-minded psycho as mainstream America made him out to be...

So he exploited that and BECAME all those things..

If he made an album based off of that concept, he'd have to make MMLP2 full of mainstream, sell-out tracks. With washed up sounds and inconsistent beats. Maybe add a little Wayne and Drake in the mix. That'll solidify the new 'Eminem' image.

[EminemBase]

I think it's pretty straightforward...I think you're putting way too much thought into this fam.

MMLP = Em's views in 2000 as a 27 year old, blowing up emcee
MMLP2 = Em's views in 2013 as a 41 year old, successful respected overflowing trophy cabinet artist

Not at all pham.

Go and watch Em himself explain MMLP in the time period.

People here / in general totally simplify and miss the point of MMLP1.

It wasn't 'just Em's views' lmao, it was a concept album summed up by the line 'I am whatever you say I am' (why do you think he said that?) - he felt misunderstood and knew he was not homophobic or as much of an evil, devil-minded psycho as mainstream America made him out to be...

So he exploited that and BECAME all those things..

If he made an album based off of that concept, he'd have to make MMLP2 full of mainstream, sell-out tracks. With washed up sounds and inconsistent beats. Maybe add a little Wayne and Drake in the mix. That'll solidify the new 'Eminem' image.

Lmao true. Though he wouldn't have to become them, but just address them and combat them... he began to inhibit the attitude on "Rap God" ("Oh he's too mainstream") but it's fragmented.

I didn't want that concept again though. I'm just saying, that was the concept of MMLP1; people who say 'it's just his views at the time' are totally missing the point and simplifying the album.

[Coulter]

If he made an album based off of that concept, he'd have to make MMLP2 full of mainstream, sell-out tracks. With washed up sounds and inconsistent beats. Maybe add a little Wayne and Drake in the mix. That'll solidify the new 'Eminem' image.

Lmao true. Though he wouldn't have to become them, but just address them and combat them... he began to inhibit the attitude on "Rap God" ("Oh he's too mainstream") but it's fragmented.

I didn't want that concept again though. I'm just saying, that was the concept of MMLP1; people who say 'it's just his views at the time' are totally missing the point and simplifying the album.

Yeah, I understand where you're coming from. But I do think it was a worthy sequel. Of course, every album can be improved upon, but I think it's the best statement that he can represent. The last few lines of 'Bad Guy' set the mood of the album up pretty well. After hearing that, no matter what song I was listening to, it had a gloomy tone to it, as if these were his last words, and he was exaggerating the fun of, let's say, So Far. All I could hear was desperation to milk his last utter. No doubt, almost every song was fantastic.. but I just can't get out of that mindset when I listen.

[EminemBase]

^ There was definitely a poignant and... bittersweet feel to the album...

That definitely shows the power of how Em could perhaps set-up the entire tone of an album from the get-go, using the opening track to set the stage... not that he always hasn't but, he's never done it in that way, where his words make you feel this finite set of emotions and then the music corresponds.

[EminemBase]

He called himself the GOAT / Rap God / fuck top 5 I'm top 4, taking up 2 of those spots... he's cocky as hell this time around.

I think he TRULY doesn't give a fuck this time. He never admitted he thought he was the GOAT or anything in the past. He references it a lot on this album.

I guess there's at least that consistency of cocky confidence when rapping about himself throughout.

[EminemBase]

^ Nahhhh, of course the double middle fingers pic meant something.

The Eminem site had nothing but that image for a while and when the marketing was gearing up, Em made a point of making emphasized middle fingers with his cold-stone stare.

Where as in the Recovery-era / for a while, he had been throwing up peace signs and been relaxed.

[Trilla]

Thought the same when I first heard "The Monster", and then when I first heard the album...

It was all a publicity stunt. Him throwing the middle fingers and dying his hair back to blonde has nothing to do with the album...except for maybe "Berzerk", where he sounds somewhat 2000-ish...eh......

Should have just named the album something else and stuck with the black hair until he was ready to release a consistent and actually great album that would then be titled MMLP 2.

He thought he was ready, but nah, this album isn't worthy to bear the MMLP 2 name.

He fucked up.