You know when I said I wasn’t trying to turn this into some full fledged debate you should have taken heed to that and bowed out in grace rather than baiting one of the most argumentative pricks in this forum. But hey I haven’t done one of these in ages and it’s always fun to utterly annihilate someone’s shithouse argument for everyone to see.
Baiting you? Not my intention, but if you want to do this, let's do this. It's always fun to have a debate.
Not when the content takes a backseat to the rhyming and he has to form verses around his rhyming many of which are akin to intellectual masturbation; him stringing endless multies just cause he can solidify this. And hey if it tickles your fancy that’s cool, but don’t pretend like this is some deep, dark exploration of the human pshyce worthy of a dissertation.
Deep, dark exploration of the human psyche? No, it's not. It's Em putting a strange twist on a reflective album.
It’s been said before but I don’t give one shit about Tech N9ne literally the interest there is zero, I merely brought him up because like Crashband said the appeal of both Relapse and Tech is being horrocore stringed with an assload of multies and crazy flows, the only difference being that even if Tech is as bad as Relapse lyrically he is phonetically more pleasing and has a gift for sounding good; something Eminem had but completely shitted on when he adapted that “funny” accent. Also I like how you completely ignored me bringing up Rhyme Asylum, who also do horrcore albeit much better than Relapse and have an over the top cartoonish vibe to them whilst remaining punchline rappers and not sucking (no easy feat when guys like Chino XL and Bis exist).
Nonetheless, you did compare Relapse to Tech N9ne's stuff, while at the same time not knowing that much about Tech (since you apparently "don't give one shit"). Assumptions much? Sorry I didn't talk about Rhyme Asylum. I actually like their shit, therefore I'm not going to argue with you on the subject.
And
at him making them work, the majority of Relapse is him stroking his ability to link multies (like I said a million times before) except he just assaults you with a barrage of imagery that don’t go together and some pretty cringy lines to top off his verses. He barely keeps track of single train of thought and Same Song and Dance is the only “serial killer” song where he keeps a coherent narrative for more than just one verse and isn’t just loaded with random imagery and goofy lines.
I won't argue with the fact that Em forced multis on this album, and that he rhymed a fuckload on this album. But to say that's the main focus of the album is fucking retarded.
So dark and so cold, my friends don't know this other side of me
There's a monster inside of me, it's quite ugly and it frightens me
But they can't see what I can see, there's a vacancy in my tummy
It's making me play hide-and-seek, like Jason I'm so hungry
She's naked, see, no privacy but I can see she wants me
So patient, see, I try to be but gee, why does she taunt me?
Pulls the drapes and she goes right to sleep, I creep right through the front
See, so blatantly but silently cause I know that she's sound sleep
"Who's waking me so violently and why's he on top of me?
He's raping me," she tries to scream, "Somebody please get him off me
He's taping me, he's biting me, he's laughing like it's funny"
She's scraping me, she's fighting me, she's scratching like some dumb freak
Escaping me, no dice, you see, I might just be Ted Bundy
Or Satan, gee what a sight to see, I'm dancing in my red panties
I'm crazy but it's all right with me, man life can be so empty
Stay away from me cause I'm dancing to quite a different drumbeat
I'm not seeing any fucking forced multis or barrages of imagery here. While still managing to rhyme and keep up a great flow, he tells the story of his breaking and entering and subsequent assault. Switching from perspective to perspective smoothly and it sounds good.
Bravo, Bravo * clap clap* congratulations on saying what the painfully obvious first track is about. Also you seem to be confusing having a general concept with being a “concept album” lol, every goddammn Hip Hop album has a concept or theme to it. Relapse for the most part doesn’t really go anywhere with it other than “lol serial killer”, there’s no overarching plotline to it for the majority of the album other than arguably the climax like buttloads of rap albums. You naming it a concept rap album shows you have a fundamental lack of understanding as to what constitutes a concept album and shows you’re just throwing “concept album” as some buzzword to embellish your favorite album, which I don’t understand as being a concept album doesn’t indicate quality. You’re forgetting EXECUTION which is my biggest gripe with the entire album something you conveniently sweep under the rug.
Were you not reading? I told you about the concept. The entirety of the album is Em's "serial killer" parody of his persona, his career, and his music, before coming to an abrupt end when we find out that he's simply been passed out on the bathroom floor.
For an example of a “concept album” with an overarching narrative where each song plays out episodically and the whole feel of it is reminiscent of a movie than check out A Prince Among Thieves, you don’t even have to listen to it. Simply looking it up would suffice, than again you might argue unfair as I’m comparing Relapse to arguable the most innovative and creative concept album off all time.
Prince of Thieves is fucking awesome, mate
Oh lawd insane is horrible and is one of Relapse’s worst songs, starting with the cringy opening line and is consistently shitty throughout with the lines “than he played ping pong with his own ding dog” QQ as well as a bunch of other miscellaneous fart noises which ruin the whole song. It could have been decent if he could have kept track of the “story” he was trying to tell instead of just spewing inane lines trying to be whimsical in a track that should otherwise be serious. And I have no problems with him being whimsical he’s displayed numerous times that he can tell a great story masked with humor but is actually mean to be looked at seriously with multiple relistens. As The World Turns is a humorous recount of his childhood, yet you can tell he was trying to inform us that he had a shitty childhood and wasn’t liked by his peers or teachers.
I think Em was trying to explain that he was....oh, I don't know...what was the word I was looking for? Oh yeah. INSANE. You know, the song title. A serious song? Why the fuck would a song starting out as "I was born with a dick in my brain" be serious? Not only is it Em exaggerating his father issues, it's a parody of his "shock" songs.
Bagpipes From Baghdad is a glorified diss track towards Mariah Carey (lol) which coincidentally happen to fall in the Eminem “serial killer, funny accent” era and seems like he just slopped it into this album for no real reason. Again I’m seeing a pattern here where he can barely keep track of his content and at best stays within topic for one verse before drifting off into gibberish. Gee instead of coming up with some distorted and warped fan theory conjecturing that he’s some genius for linking three songs about his hatred for people and that somehow equates to it forming a cohesive concept, why don’t you follow Occam’s Razor and see that maybe he just threw in that Mariah Carey diss for the fuck of it and also used his accent/ serial killer theme since that’s what was most prevalent in that era.
Once again, I am fully aware that Relapse has flaws.
Warped fan theory? This is Em establishing his serial killer persona and his background. I don't see what's so fucking "warped" about it. When has Em EVER thrown a song into an album JUST for "the fuck of it"?
Oh HELLO THERE YOU SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN HELLO, was it not good enough for a meandering explanation as to how it’s genius for continuing his serial killer “theme”?
I thought that would've been obvious, but I guess not. It's a parody of songs like "My Name Is", and "I'm Back". Hello starts off quite innocently (for an Em song). It's him rapping about alcohol and women. But then in the third verse, we see (surprise surprise) it's just him reminiscing about his past and about his downward spiral into drug use:
Tirelessly on the phone trying to russle up, muscle relaxants
For his back, and a couple of Pax's, now he's doubling backwards
And he's stumbling back, slipped and fell, hit his back bone
Heard something go crack, Now he's up in the bathroom
Without missing a beat, Em suddenly switches topics, giving the feeling that something's not right. But before he can elaborate on the topic, he abruptly ends the verse and goes with the hook, which leads to the next song.
This is actually one of the decent songs on the album and he actually tells a cohesive narrative in this song rather than assaulting you with a barrage of random imagery, drugs, and cringy phrases. Notice how his multies seem more potent because he isn’t just stringing together random words with no cohesion? Hell the last few lines of his second verse are great and if could have kept up this quality through the whole album I would have understood why some people think this album’s good-great.
No argument here.
I’m gonna repeat this ad nauseum you don’t know the creative process behind what goes into making a “concept album” merely following the same theme throughout (serial killer) doesn’t make a concept album, lol. How about instead of propping up this otherwise lackluster poppy single as some sort of continuation of his serial killer theme, you objectively look it at as the obligatory “single” that most rap records have.
Yes it's the obligatory "single" that most rap records have. I honestly don't like the song, but I understand it's place. As much as this is severely different from anything Em has done before, it's STILL an Em album, and it needs a single. Despite that, he manages to sneak a few weird lines in there, giving the feeling that this is another weird perspective.
No, not really. But it is pretty obviously one of the worst songs on the album and encapsulated what’s wrong with Relapse imo. If I had to pick one reason why a lot of people don’t like the vibe Relapse gives off, than this is the number one song to choose. And again it’s cool if you like this sort of stuff, whatever, but don’t act like the people who criticize the damn album are grasping at straws or pulling it out of their ass.
It's an exaggeration of Em's obsession with Christopher Reeves. I don't see the problem with it. Yes, some of the lines simply sound random, but that's how Em works.
Lol, how many another “series of murders” songs are you gonna write? That’s another problem with Relapse is that a good portion of it can be eradicated and it would actually tone down the repetitiveness plaguing the album. Yeah the song has an astounding quality of multies and the chorus is actually pretty good, I can get behind people liking this song or even liking what Relapse stands for in general. However I’m much more impressed with subtle multies that aren’t astounding but are crafted in a way that seems like they were an indelible part of the song to begin with. For an example of what I mean listen to My Fault or for a non-Eminem example listen to Black Thought on How I got over.
In case you weren't listening, this is an album mainly about murder. This is (serial killer) Em focusing on a different part of it; the actual killing. And yeah, subtle multies are good, but I don't see a problem with multis in plain sight.
“Murderous interpretations”, lol, try filler. And hey I know you don’t want to use that because it would hurt your precious argument that it’s a “concept album” which is the fulcrum that hang your entire argument as to why Relapse is a good album. Filler can be good (the second verse of Must be the Ganja is great) but instead of admitting it, you keep on latching on to some horrible fan theory as how it continues his theme, really English teachers must love you. You’re probably the type to draw conclusions from a story that was never there to begin with.
I find that last sentence hilariously ironic
You know next to nothing about me, yet you're drawing conclusions by simply discussing a rapper's album. I don't see what I can argue against in this part of your argument. It's basically you going "No, you're wrong. THIS is the right answer. Listen to me, dammit! (insert baseless assumption)"
Anyways yeah it’s more like a continuation of him jerking off himself with his abilities to create multies all while seeming washed up and juvenile. And hey I’m not one to promote brooding , introspective, emo songs either and can see those being as much of a chore to listen too, if not more.
I can dig playful, whimsical, non-serious rap like Edan and Yak Ballz who are obviously just having fun with what they’re doing.
I don't understand where you're going with this, though yeah, I love playful rap. Ever heard of Lonely Island? Some of their shit is HILARIOUS.
You pulled this out of your rectal orifice a few seconds before typing it; and while it’s cool to address the accent portion. That’s A LOT of people’s griped with the album and it ruins the tone, and yeah I know the origin or why he did. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
LOVE that insult, bro
no seriously, can I use it? And yes, the accent grates on my fucking nerves sometimes, but I understand why it was there.
See this is what many people consider the best song on Relapse (notice how it has no accents, is cohesive/not random gibberish, and he doesn’t go crazy with the multies in an overt and obvious but his rapping’s much more subdued and subtle). A brilliant respite from the rest of the album
Yep. Great song.
And this is an example of a song that fits my description of me not giving brownie points to it just because it’s brooding and introspective. His rapping’s sloppy and very akin to Mockingbird, hell this song reminds me a lot of Mockingbird for a variety of reasons namely being him brooding and keeping a somber tone yet still raps in a sloppy garbled mouth.
I don't personally like the song, but it fits the concept. Em, now in the real world, has to come to grips with the fact that he hasn't rapped sober in years, and as such, his attempts to do so are awkward at first.
Try obligatory and jarring single, lol. i.e. See my response to your breakdown of We Made You
And it falls on all its face, trying to be a homage to early Eminem, Eminem on Relapse never matched the wit on SSLP-MMLP which is what he seems to be going for in this song, though he has matched TES in introspective, brutal self awareness with Déjà vu.
Really should have concluded with Beautiful, by making this song it’s almost like he’s admitting that all the previous “Serial killer” songs are a flop. He really needs to learn how to do stream of consciousness songs if that’s what he’s going for with his random barrage of imagery.
Falls flat on its face? How? How the FUCK does it fall flat on its face? Sans the detroit accent and high pitched voice, it sounds EXACTLY like the ridiculous shit Em used to come up with.
