Bad Guy

[therapist]

Bad Guy has been getting a fair bit of praise but fuck it doesn't get as much as it deserves.
As a sequel to Stan, which is probably the greatest storytelling or just plain greatest hip-hop song of all time, it says quite a bit about its brilliance that people haven't said anything negative about its worthiness as a sequel. But in spite of this, it isn't really thought of as being equal to, or Moretz forbid, greater than Stan or even as a top 10 greatest Em song.
...........
Guys, I think Bad Guy might be better.
Stan's brilliance comes mostly from its eeriely accurate potrayal of the gradual descent into psychosis of a crazed, obsessed fan. It's like audio Stephen King.
Bad Guy is an even MORE accurate potrayal of the psychotic break of Matthew
.............
Psychosis.
.....
"Many things can cause temporary
psychosis. Environmental triggers,
such as losing a loved one, are known
to contribute, as may excessive stress,
[3] or the interaction of strong social
demands with a pre-existing
vulnerability of self. "
Stan Mitchell's death, Em's apparent homopobia = likely causes.
....
In Bad Guy, Marshall, Matthew and Stan have not only clearly different voices but also different patterns/rap styles, Matthew seems to favour (slightly bad) puns while Stan is more into dizzying displays of verbal acrobatics ( hope foxtrot gets an aerial shot of your burial spot at least) and the way Matthew assumes Stan's persona as his psychosis progresses is sheer genius as...
"Psychosis is a symptom or feature of
mental illness typically characterized
by radical changes in personality,
impaired functioning, and a distorted
or nonexistent sense of objective
reality."
.......
As a potrayal of psychosis, Bad Guy has the edge on account of the sheer amount of fuckin' detail and accuracy this motherfuckin' 9th grade drop-out managed to somehow intuit and include so subtly in a 7 minute song, that you would hardly notice if you're not looking for it.
.........
I'm going to stop here 'cos this shit is getting waaay too long but basically
Bad Guy has a genius showing of a psychotic break, detailed and vivid storytelling "its now arrived and my mouth is full of saliva", the powerful last verse which is probably the most introspective and honest looks we've had at Marshall's life/fears/insecurities, classic Shady hand-on-the-pulse-of-society moments like "here's the sequel to my Mathers LP just to get people to buy", and beautiful, incredibly deep, poetic moments like "potrait of an artist tortured, trapped in his own drawings.."
Give this shit the credit it deserves.
.....
Forgive my rant.
Inbeforepovertythread.

Stan is an amazing song. Eminem is the greatest to have ever done it.

But Nas tells a story like that on every track just about. So you can't really say it's the best story telling rap song. I got love for you though brah

[therapist]

Am I retarded for not knowing bad guy was a sequel to stan?

Not if you didn't know who Matthew was. But anyone who has listened to Stan should know that Matthew is Stan's little brother...

I think it's funny how most of us actually predicted that there would be a "Matthew" track.

I think it's funny that everyone was saying they didn't want a Stan pt. 2 because it'd be corny as fuck, and now everyone's praising it.

Bad Guy is probably my favorite on the album, to be honest... and that's off pure nostalgia and not even counting the last 2 minutes. The last 2 minutes shoot lightning out my spine into the heavens every time I hear it.

[cityfan31]

Gotta be honest, I don't like his flow on this song until the beat changes.

[therapist]

But WHY is Stan a better song than Bad Guy? Anybody?

Better writing is immediately an advantage Stan has. I love Bad Guy, concept is fucking dope as hell. But the writing isn't close IMO. I'd also chose Stan's beat; set the tone and atmosphere of the song perfectly.

I agree for the most part... but the last 2 minutes of Bad Guy trump, lyrically, just about anything else he's done in my honest opinion.

"I'm your time that's almost up that you haven't acknowledged. Grab for some water but I'm that pill that's too jagged to swallow."

[kkaniff]

Check if the flow smooths out gradually as the song progresses, if it does, then its Em intentionally blending Matthew into Stan. Sorta like the slight hesitancy in the first two verses of Legacy which smooth out to show how Em gains confidence from rap in the song.

[kkaniff]

" But Nas tells a story like that on every
track just about. So you can't really
say it's the best story telling rap song."
Not as chilling as Stan.

[goatstatus]

Reading the OP sort of made me think that there will be a music video to this song for some reason..

IMO, Stan is > Bad Guy ONLY up until the last 2 minute mark where Bad Guy then makes a strong come back to leave both songs tied dead even for me overall.

They are both such great songs, it's too hard for me to say which one is better. I really like the scribbles and the rain in the beat of Stan though I must admit.

[nicknem]

Wowowow comparing Bad guy to Stan is a little....

Bad Guy is ok, the end is awesome, but the storytelling is like...boring at the beginning. It only gets better when he begins to say "Just me you and the music Slim, hope you hear it"

But during the begining I'm like : yeah, whatever;

[kpprasa]

Oh My FUCKING GOD. I just realized something. Each progressive verse in Bad Guy gets more deranged (from Matt's POV) but also, more importantly, more LYRICAL! He starts off weaker lyrically on purpose.
My mind is blown!!!

[RSoares]

It gives me goose bumps every listen.

[LolBurn]

As far as being a potential all time great hip hop song like Stan, Bad Guy has far too many problems.

Not amazing beat, generic and forgettable hook, weird chopped up flow for most of the song, and some really lame puns. I love how he continued the story, the last verse is great and the references to old em songs is really well done as well, but no way is it a patch on stan. 

[Mathers]

As far as being a potential all time great hip hop song like Stan, Bad Guy has far too many problems.

Not amazing beat, generic and forgettable hook, weird chopped up flow for most of the song, and some really lame puns. I love how he continued the story, the last verse is great and the references to old em songs is really well done as well, but no way is it a patch on stan. 

I don't agree with any of your problems.

[alicia11]

Bad Guy is one of the best songs after Eminem Show imo.

[Sofi1993]

I think it's funny that everyone was saying they didn't want a Stan pt. 2 because it'd be corny as fuck, and now everyone's praising it.

I said making a continuation for Stan would be a bad idea because honestly I didn't thought Em could pull that off. But he did it and it might actually be better than Stan. I think it's too soon to say that special since Stan is such a classic, but I feel like Bad Guy is lyrically better and it's more entertaining to listen to

And I do feel like Em is a member in TR because he knew we all thought making Stan Pt.2 was such a bad idea and he wanted to prove us wrong. AND because he made Headlight with the guy of FUN. Just saying

[4Corners]

Naw, it's the 4th or 5th best song on the album, IMO

I'll take Headlights, Legacy, and Brainless over this. And Evil Twin is about just as good.

In most sequel aspects of this album though....Em delivered worthy sequels. Bad Guy is a really really good song, not a classic track, but really good. MMLP2 is a very good album, not a classic album, but a good one.