Do Underground and Bad twin give you false hope?

[Hopsinshadie]

I'm not advertently (Rap God word) trying to be negative here. I already said that the album was good. Having said that, I'm sure there are at least 2 or 3 people on here that really wish Em returned to full 2000 form in every way.

Underground and Evil Twin are very similar. When I first heard ''Underground'', it felt as if Em was saying that he is going to come back on his next LP, spitting 10 times harder than he ever did. That didn't really happen.

Then with ''Evil Twin'' it teased me again and made me feel like old Em was coming back. I mean the song title was very fitting. But then he shrugged off the Gaga and Bieber attacks and at the end just said, ''We are the same.''

So even though the album was very good (yes) it didn't serve me well in the MMLP department, which is what I was hoping for and expecting all along. Just the ruthlessness, and the attacking he had in MMLP was what got some of the true fans hooked. It feels like on most of his albums, he gives hints that ''Shady is back'' if you will. I mean the Real Shady. You know what I mean, please don't question it. But after this album, I kinda figured it's just not going to ever happen. He's just going to do 1 or 2 hard songs on each album that make you remember who he is, but he won't make a whole album out of it. And that's why no matter how good the album was, there are certain expectations that weren't filled. Not trying to be negative, just having a discussion.

[Despicable]

False hope? No.
Evil Twin is a 10/10 song.

Sure you are trying to be negative,youve made a few threads complaining about the smallest fucking things about the album.Yeah you mention the album is good but only make threads about the things you dont like about it,which makes it look like youre negative.

[mdemaz]

mino pls

[yoda you can call me]

I agree.

I think The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is an album-length bout of moral recidivism, Recovery’s motivational rehab narrative ditched wholesale for a second helping of the celeb-hating, self-deprecating juvenalia of Eminem’s beloved third album peppered with samples of and references to the source material. Opener “Bad Guy” is a sprawling epic that finds the brother of “Stan”’s titular obsessed fan hatching an elaborate revenge plot, and “Parking Lot” inexplicably revisits the heist in the middle of “Criminal” to inform us that the getaway driver split, and the shooter died. “Rap God” revisits a crass joke about the 1999 Columbine school shooting initially censored on the first LP’s “I’m Back”. Old nemeses like Insane Clown Posse, Everlast, and the Backstreet Boys are lampooned as well. But MMLP2 revisits more than just the characters and stories of the first installment. It also revels in its predecessor’s worst behaviors, bandying about misogyny and gay slurs as if Eminem’s conciliatory 2001 Grammys performance with a pink polka dot suited Elton John never happened.

“Rap God” is a gobstopping display of Eminem’s champion technical prowess that’s waylaid in every verse by brazen homophobia. “Love Game”, the hotly anticipated team up with Kendrick Lamar, is similarly assailed by lunkheaded chauvinism, both in Eminem’s gross rendition of a woman giving him oral sex and Kendrick’s barbs about a guy who “drowned like an abortion” and a clingy ex for whom “chlamydia couldn’t even get rid of her.” Elsewhere two songs are dedicated to crucifying the mother of his children and anyone else foolhardy enough to get involved with him. (“Bitch, you complain when you listen to this/ But you throw yourself at me/ That’s what I call pitching a bitch.”) Earlier in his career, Eminem delivered similarly gutbucket content with the shock of incredulity that anyone would find it offensive. It was an error of youthful carelessness. But in 2013, in the wake of the message of redemption he feverishly pitched us just an album ago, Eminem’s return to ruffling feathers carries the stink of desperation.

The only salvation for a lot of these songs is Eminem’s alchemical control of rhyme and diction, but even that can be a liability. Thirteen years after the original Marshall Mathers LP, the grating cadence-over-substance ethos of “The Way I Am”, once a stilted outlier on an album packed with otherwise limber wordplay, has now become the rule. “Legacy” pulls all manner of cockamamie pronunciation gymnastics just so Eminem can end every line with the same rhyming syllables, and the song’s decision to dispense with proper word accents and splay sentences haphazardly across the middle of lines makes for a flow that comes across overwrought and labored even as it plays Frankenstein with conventional word choice and rhyme patterns. Filler words frequently clutter lines just to make the rhymes look more dazzling, and in the process we end up with well-executed but empty lines like “I been driving around your side of this town like nine frickin’ hours and forty five minutes now” from “Bad Guy” and “The day you beat me pigs’ll fly out of my ass in a saucer full of Italian sausages” on “Legacy”. Play half of these songs alongside even the clunkiest Marshall Mathers LP cut, and the god of rap’s powers appear noticeably diminished.

MMLP2 does step out from under the shadow of its predecessor in its choice of collaborators. Dr. Dre sits this one out, appearing as an executive producer but steering clear of any actual grunt work. In his place we get a spate of productions from Eminem himself (often aided by pop heavyweights like Alex da Kid and Emile) alongside a newly in-demand Rick Rubin. MMLP2’s production mostly hews toward the expected stadium rap sounds, but the Rubin cuts award the album a measure of old school rap-rock flair. Unfortunately what sounded like invention for the 1986 Beastie Boys often plays like butt rock in the hands of 2013 Eminem. “Berzerk” turns Billy Squier’s “The Stroke” into questionable back-to-basics posturing, and “So Far…” grinds Joe Walsh’s winding 1978 epic “Life’s Been Good” and Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. (What Does It Mean?)” into fodder for Eminem’s middle-aged finger-waving. (“Fuck I gotta do to hear this new song from Luda, be an expert at computers?”) “Rhyme or Reason” cleverly flips the “What’s your name?/ Who’s your daddy?” refrain from the Zombies’ “Time of the Season” into a tongue-lashing for an absentee father, and “Love Game” makes good use of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders’ “The Game of Love”, sexist lyrical putrefaction aside, but by and large, Eminem and Rubin are not a match.

Eminem is a titan with wordplay, but MMLP2 once again finds him at a loss for how to apply his talents. For three albums in the early aughts he devilishly rewrote the rules of pop music to shoehorn hip-hop into the national spotlight, but here he’s winded, struggling to keep up with modern pop conventions, genuflecting to trap on “Rap God” and EDM on “The Monster”, dragging his biggest competitor Kendrick into one of the worst songs of his young career, and soldering on hooks from singers of varying anonymity wherever applicable to ensure this patchwork monstrosity is too big to fail, all of this under the guise of a return to form, his second in three albums. Eminem’s too talented a rapper with too good a Rolodex for this to flop, but damned if Marshall Mathers LP 2 doesn’t give it a go. The lesson here, if there’s one to be gleaned from this 80 minutes of cold, clinical lyrical acrobatics, is that rap sequels are a lot like trying on old prom clothes: chance one if you dare, but the only thing you’re liable to display is how much you’ve let yourself go since your glory days.

so much effort put into this, but i don't think it'll be taken seriously.. shame
just one thing though, you said that he's struggling to keep up with pop,,, i dont think he gives a shit about pop.. maybe i read your meaning wrong, cause i lightly skimmed over the paragraphs

[Kill You]

False hope? Nope. The hope was very real. And it's EVIL Twin, not Bad Twin. There's also BAD Guy if you meant that song.

[Kill You]

I agree.

I think The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is an album-length bout of moral recidivism, Recovery’s motivational rehab narrative ditched wholesale for a second helping of the celeb-hating, self-deprecating juvenalia of Eminem’s beloved third album peppered with samples of and references to the source material. Opener “Bad Guy” is a sprawling epic that finds the brother of “Stan”’s titular obsessed fan hatching an elaborate revenge plot, and “Parking Lot” inexplicably revisits the heist in the middle of “Criminal” to inform us that the getaway driver split, and the shooter died. “Rap God” revisits a crass joke about the 1999 Columbine school shooting initially censored on the first LP’s “I’m Back”. Old nemeses like Insane Clown Posse, Everlast, and the Backstreet Boys are lampooned as well. But MMLP2 revisits more than just the characters and stories of the first installment. It also revels in its predecessor’s worst behaviors, bandying about misogyny and gay slurs as if Eminem’s conciliatory 2001 Grammys performance with a pink polka dot suited Elton John never happened.

“Rap God” is a gobstopping display of Eminem’s champion technical prowess that’s waylaid in every verse by brazen homophobia. “Love Game”, the hotly anticipated team up with Kendrick Lamar, is similarly assailed by lunkheaded chauvinism, both in Eminem’s gross rendition of a woman giving him oral sex and Kendrick’s barbs about a guy who “drowned like an abortion” and a clingy ex for whom “chlamydia couldn’t even get rid of her.” Elsewhere two songs are dedicated to crucifying the mother of his children and anyone else foolhardy enough to get involved with him. (“Bitch, you complain when you listen to this/ But you throw yourself at me/ That’s what I call pitching a bitch.”) Earlier in his career, Eminem delivered similarly gutbucket content with the shock of incredulity that anyone would find it offensive. It was an error of youthful carelessness. But in 2013, in the wake of the message of redemption he feverishly pitched us just an album ago, Eminem’s return to ruffling feathers carries the stink of desperation.

The only salvation for a lot of these songs is Eminem’s alchemical control of rhyme and diction, but even that can be a liability. Thirteen years after the original Marshall Mathers LP, the grating cadence-over-substance ethos of “The Way I Am”, once a stilted outlier on an album packed with otherwise limber wordplay, has now become the rule. “Legacy” pulls all manner of cockamamie pronunciation gymnastics just so Eminem can end every line with the same rhyming syllables, and the song’s decision to dispense with proper word accents and splay sentences haphazardly across the middle of lines makes for a flow that comes across overwrought and labored even as it plays Frankenstein with conventional word choice and rhyme patterns. Filler words frequently clutter lines just to make the rhymes look more dazzling, and in the process we end up with well-executed but empty lines like “I been driving around your side of this town like nine frickin’ hours and forty five minutes now” from “Bad Guy” and “The day you beat me pigs’ll fly out of my ass in a saucer full of Italian sausages” on “Legacy”. Play half of these songs alongside even the clunkiest Marshall Mathers LP cut, and the god of rap’s powers appear noticeably diminished.

MMLP2 does step out from under the shadow of its predecessor in its choice of collaborators. Dr. Dre sits this one out, appearing as an executive producer but steering clear of any actual grunt work. In his place we get a spate of productions from Eminem himself (often aided by pop heavyweights like Alex da Kid and Emile) alongside a newly in-demand Rick Rubin. MMLP2’s production mostly hews toward the expected stadium rap sounds, but the Rubin cuts award the album a measure of old school rap-rock flair. Unfortunately what sounded like invention for the 1986 Beastie Boys often plays like butt rock in the hands of 2013 Eminem. “Berzerk” turns Billy Squier’s “The Stroke” into questionable back-to-basics posturing, and “So Far…” grinds Joe Walsh’s winding 1978 epic “Life’s Been Good” and Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. (What Does It Mean?)” into fodder for Eminem’s middle-aged finger-waving. (“Fuck I gotta do to hear this new song from Luda, be an expert at computers?”) “Rhyme or Reason” cleverly flips the “What’s your name?/ Who’s your daddy?” refrain from the Zombies’ “Time of the Season” into a tongue-lashing for an absentee father, and “Love Game” makes good use of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders’ “The Game of Love”, sexist lyrical putrefaction aside, but by and large, Eminem and Rubin are not a match.

Eminem is a titan with wordplay, but MMLP2 once again finds him at a loss for how to apply his talents. For three albums in the early aughts he devilishly rewrote the rules of pop music to shoehorn hip-hop into the national spotlight, but here he’s winded, struggling to keep up with modern pop conventions, genuflecting to trap on “Rap God” and EDM on “The Monster”, dragging his biggest competitor Kendrick into one of the worst songs of his young career, and soldering on hooks from singers of varying anonymity wherever applicable to ensure this patchwork monstrosity is too big to fail, all of this under the guise of a return to form, his second in three albums. Eminem’s too talented a rapper with too good a Rolodex for this to flop, but damned if Marshall Mathers LP 2 doesn’t give it a go. The lesson here, if there’s one to be gleaned from this 80 minutes of cold, clinical lyrical acrobatics, is that rap sequels are a lot like trying on old prom clothes: chance one if you dare, but the only thing you’re liable to display is how much you’ve let yourself go since your glory days.

Wow, what the fuck are you even talking about? It seems like you literally pulled all that out of your ass. Butt rock? What the fuck is that?

[BILI]

But underground sucks

[SoldierShady]

I just listen to the songs for what they are. You're a fucking idiot that needs to stop living in the past. He will NEVER sound like 2000 Em again. Ever.

[Kill You]

I just listen to the songs for what they are. You're a fucking idiot that needs to stop living in the past. He will NEVER sound like 2000 Em again. Ever.

[Accor]

underground is garbage

[Drax207]

Underground sucked. The flow, the beat and the hook were the only good things about it.

Well good flow, beat and hook is 3/4 of a good song

Lyrically it's not that bad. It's just ... random.

[Kill You]

Also this nigga just said "advertently" in the OP lol.

[kkaniff]

Mononym obviously can't form an opinion without Pitchfork's go ahead.
Silly fuck.
You too Hopsinshadie.

[Hopsinshadie]

I agree.

I think The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is an album-length bout of moral recidivism, Recovery’s motivational rehab narrative ditched wholesale for a second helping of the celeb-hating, self-deprecating juvenalia of Eminem’s beloved third album peppered with samples of and references to the source material. Opener “Bad Guy” is a sprawling epic that finds the brother of “Stan”’s titular obsessed fan hatching an elaborate revenge plot, and “Parking Lot” inexplicably revisits the heist in the middle of “Criminal” to inform us that the getaway driver split, and the shooter died. “Rap God” revisits a crass joke about the 1999 Columbine school shooting initially censored on the first LP’s “I’m Back”. Old nemeses like Insane Clown Posse, Everlast, and the Backstreet Boys are lampooned as well. But MMLP2 revisits more than just the characters and stories of the first installment. It also revels in its predecessor’s worst behaviors, bandying about misogyny and gay slurs as if Eminem’s conciliatory 2001 Grammys performance with a pink polka dot suited Elton John never happened.

“Rap God” is a gobstopping display of Eminem’s champion technical prowess that’s waylaid in every verse by brazen homophobia. “Love Game”, the hotly anticipated team up with Kendrick Lamar, is similarly assailed by lunkheaded chauvinism, both in Eminem’s gross rendition of a woman giving him oral sex and Kendrick’s barbs about a guy who “drowned like an abortion” and a clingy ex for whom “chlamydia couldn’t even get rid of her.” Elsewhere two songs are dedicated to crucifying the mother of his children and anyone else foolhardy enough to get involved with him. (“Bitch, you complain when you listen to this/ But you throw yourself at me/ That’s what I call pitching a bitch.”) Earlier in his career, Eminem delivered similarly gutbucket content with the shock of incredulity that anyone would find it offensive. It was an error of youthful carelessness. But in 2013, in the wake of the message of redemption he feverishly pitched us just an album ago, Eminem’s return to ruffling feathers carries the stink of desperation.

The only salvation for a lot of these songs is Eminem’s alchemical control of rhyme and diction, but even that can be a liability. Thirteen years after the original Marshall Mathers LP, the grating cadence-over-substance ethos of “The Way I Am”, once a stilted outlier on an album packed with otherwise limber wordplay, has now become the rule. “Legacy” pulls all manner of cockamamie pronunciation gymnastics just so Eminem can end every line with the same rhyming syllables, and the song’s decision to dispense with proper word accents and splay sentences haphazardly across the middle of lines makes for a flow that comes across overwrought and labored even as it plays Frankenstein with conventional word choice and rhyme patterns. Filler words frequently clutter lines just to make the rhymes look more dazzling, and in the process we end up with well-executed but empty lines like “I been driving around your side of this town like nine frickin’ hours and forty five minutes now” from “Bad Guy” and “The day you beat me pigs’ll fly out of my ass in a saucer full of Italian sausages” on “Legacy”. Play half of these songs alongside even the clunkiest Marshall Mathers LP cut, and the god of rap’s powers appear noticeably diminished.

MMLP2 does step out from under the shadow of its predecessor in its choice of collaborators. Dr. Dre sits this one out, appearing as an executive producer but steering clear of any actual grunt work. In his place we get a spate of productions from Eminem himself (often aided by pop heavyweights like Alex da Kid and Emile) alongside a newly in-demand Rick Rubin. MMLP2’s production mostly hews toward the expected stadium rap sounds, but the Rubin cuts award the album a measure of old school rap-rock flair. Unfortunately what sounded like invention for the 1986 Beastie Boys often plays like butt rock in the hands of 2013 Eminem. “Berzerk” turns Billy Squier’s “The Stroke” into questionable back-to-basics posturing, and “So Far…” grinds Joe Walsh’s winding 1978 epic “Life’s Been Good” and Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. (What Does It Mean?)” into fodder for Eminem’s middle-aged finger-waving. (“Fuck I gotta do to hear this new song from Luda, be an expert at computers?”) “Rhyme or Reason” cleverly flips the “What’s your name?/ Who’s your daddy?” refrain from the Zombies’ “Time of the Season” into a tongue-lashing for an absentee father, and “Love Game” makes good use of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders’ “The Game of Love”, sexist lyrical putrefaction aside, but by and large, Eminem and Rubin are not a match.

Eminem is a titan with wordplay, but MMLP2 once again finds him at a loss for how to apply his talents. For three albums in the early aughts he devilishly rewrote the rules of pop music to shoehorn hip-hop into the national spotlight, but here he’s winded, struggling to keep up with modern pop conventions, genuflecting to trap on “Rap God” and EDM on “The Monster”, dragging his biggest competitor Kendrick into one of the worst songs of his young career, and soldering on hooks from singers of varying anonymity wherever applicable to ensure this patchwork monstrosity is too big to fail, all of this under the guise of a return to form, his second in three albums. Eminem’s too talented a rapper with too good a Rolodex for this to flop, but damned if Marshall Mathers LP 2 doesn’t give it a go. The lesson here, if there’s one to be gleaned from this 80 minutes of cold, clinical lyrical acrobatics, is that rap sequels are a lot like trying on old prom clothes: chance one if you dare, but the only thing you’re liable to display is how much you’ve let yourself go since your glory days.

Thank you. Now I just want everyone to agree with everything you said. Beautifully put my man.

[cheeseburger]