With "Rap God", Eminem...

[EminemBase]

Reinvented himself in the sense of 'cool'.

(the visual elements like him speeding up between spots as he's rapping, and the visual metaphors going on... not even conceptually but just how well it was all made... is easily another level to all of his other videos. Finally feels like he's trying to push visual boundaries again too.)

With "Without Me" and TES... it kinda felt like he hit a roof... he started out totally taking the piss out of himself and being this detached caricature (SSLP) - then with MMLP, he was more of a real-world villain, then on TES it felt like both worlds met but he was natural and true to life...

Then with Encore, Relapse and Recovery - it felt like he was unsure of himself and what he was presenting; either like he was going through the motions or trying to convince himself of a presentation which didn't feel quite right.

With "Rap God" / the vid - he looks genuinely comfortable in his own skin, totally confident in his presentation and like he's found a new style to exist in 'cool' without questioning himself.

This video was definitely a VERY positive progression...

His musical and technical ability in this era is amazing. I feel a little frustrated that IMO, we didn't get a classic album out of it though, when I think there's the material there to make a classic... I just feel MMLP2 lacks a consistent vision and feel, it's just a bit of everything.

Also, I feel his writing and performance on this track... it's up there with as good as ever.

With that said, I'm finna blast MMLP2 about now. Word up.

PS. his sarcastic facial expressions throughout the Max Headroom montages >>>>

[cheeseburger]

Everything you stated is exactly the reason why im confident its Eminem season right now. He is confident enough to tell another rapper to shut the fuck up. Even though no one big enough would even consider going at him.

[Kill You]

MMLP2 classic in modern rap doe. Not an overall classic like his first 3, no, but for 2013 this is really the best this year has had to offer.

[kkaniff]

I think I understand what EminemBase is saying; he's thinking classic as in "perfect example of a particular style" like The SSLP or Flockaveli. Or The MMLP.
MMLP2 isn't a classic by that definition as it doesn't really have an overall uniform sound like the examples above. It does have an overall theme though and songs that I suspect are going to be timeless.
It's also the most enjoyable album I've heard this year; Kissland is great but has a couple of weak songs, Yeezus was enjoyable for a coupla weeks but the novelty soon faded and the whole album felt like it would have been vastly improved by Kanye's absence. I hate NWTS, Drake saying the same old shit in uninteresting ways and MC;HG resides in my recycle bin's tummy.
Until somebody resolves the whole overarching sound vs. overarching theme debate, MMLP2 is classic in my book.

[Shady-Yo]

PS. his sarcastic facial expressions throughout the Max Headroom montages >>>>

Exactly. The best part of this video

[Kill You]

Does it realllllly all have to sound the same to be a classic? All the songs just can't be great anymore, they have to all sound the same? Lol EmBase tbh I don't want them all to sound similar because that's boring. Now, all these songs do sound like they all belong on the album with the exception of Survival and I'm pretty sure Em loves that song so that's why he added it.

[EminemBase]

Does it realllllly all have to sound the same to be a classic? All the songs just can't be great anymore, they have to all sound the same? Lol EmBase tbh I don't want them all to sound similar because that's boring. Now, all these songs do sound like they all belong on the album with the exception of Survival and I'm pretty sure Em loves that song so that's why he added it.

Does "Kill You" sound the same as "Amityville"?

A unified sound doesn't mean the songs sound the same lol.

It means it's clear they're from the same family... of musical DNA.

Does "Guilty Conscience" sound like "Just Don't Give a Fuck"?

Not really. Structurally and conceptually they're totally different... even musically - but they're from the same family and Em's rap style corresponds on both, again, despite being slightly different.

It's about creating a sense of unified sameness, whilst making every track unique.

Does "White America" sound like "Square Dance"?

Bad artists/rappers make the mistake in the other direction, of all the tracks sounding almost identical in some way... Hopsin did this recently, and Necro is famous for it. Eminem used to be famous for making totally unique tracks but an album which sounded totally cohesive.

It's the equivalent to having a human and a chimp in the same room vs. a human and a banana.

Human + Chimp = classic. Human + Banana = odd coupling/inconsistent.

[Kill You]

But literally all of those songs on that album with the except of Survival do SOUND like they're from the same family. The production is pretty coherent considering Eminem himself produced about half the album and co-produced the other half.

Maybe not ALL of the lyrics themselves are MMLP-esque but I'd say about 80% of it is. The other 20% are the odd serious songs that he felt he had to put on the album. But even those fit and quite surprisingly so. Only changes I would even make is to take The Monster off and put Survival on the bonus. Replace both tracks with Baby and Groundhog day and to me that will be THE perfect album. That is my only gripe with it. But even then I don't dislike those two songs but they are my least favorite.

[EminemBase]

But literally all of those songs on that album with the except of Survival do SOUND like they're from the same family. The production is pretty coherent considering Eminem himself produced about half the album and co-produced the other half.

Maybe not ALL of the lyrics themselves are MMLP-esque but I'd say about 80% of it is. The other 20% are the odd serious songs that he felt he had to put on the album. But even those fit and quite surprisingly so. Only changes I would even make is to take The Monster off and put Survival on the bonus. Replace both tracks with Baby and Groundhog day and to me that will be THE perfect album. That is my only gripe with it. But even then I don't dislike those two songs but they are my least favorite.

I don't think they do...

I think "Berzerk", "Brainless" and "Love Game" sound from the same family...

And then I think all of the other tracks are pretty much just great-brilliant tracks in their own right. All of the production, and lyrics - are all good-great, there's no duds or weak moments - but that lack of a unified feel just makes it a good album and a collection of great Eminem songs to me.

No album like that could be a classic to me.

So, you shouldn't be offended that it's not a classic to me. I'm not saying the album is not good, but just that it sounds like a collection of individual songs, not a unified album.

[Kill You]

I'm not offended I just don't understand what you mean...the production sounds similar throughout and each other these songs sound like they belong. I could care less if you believed it a classic lol I even know it's not really a classic but imo it is.

I just still don't understand what you mean is the thing, we must be hearing two different albums because this album is pretty coherent. To the point where I think Em put specific songs on there just for coherency. It all sounds like the same family to me, if it was just a collection of songs I don't feel like songs such as The Monster and Stronger Than I Was would even be on there.

Brainless...doesn't sound a thing like those two songs lol that confused me.

[EminemBase]

I'm not offended I just don't understand what you mean...the production sounds similar throughout and each other these songs sound like they belong. I could care less if you believed it a classic lol I even know it's not really a classic but imo it is.

I just still don't understand what you mean is the thing, we must be hearing two different albums because this album is pretty coherent. To the point where I think Em put specific songs on there just for coherency. It all sounds like the same family to me, if it was just a collection of songs I don't feel like songs such as The Monster and Stronger Than I Was would even be on there.

What I mean is - I disagree with you. Why is that hard to grasp? Lmao.

Just because you think they sound like a unified family of songs doesn't mean I do.

I don't think they do, they don't make me feel that way, they sound of entirely different worlds to me... "Rap God" sounds like of the same family as "Stronger than I was" or "The Monster"?... "Rhyme or Reason" sounds of the same family as "Headlights" or "Evil Twin"?

If they do to you - great. To me, they don't. The production and musical styles is vastly different throughout, it's an entirely eclectic mix... and eclectic mixes are hard to pull off. It doesn't sound unified, to me, they sound like a lot of different musical directions on one CD.

[Kill You]

It all sounds like the same family to me, why I keep asking you what you mean is I wanted to know exactly what makes you feel that way because I don't understand it. To me the album is just as coherent as Relapse.

I'm not sure what makes things "unified" for you is what I'm getting at...like do they all have to sound the same? Same idea throughout?

If you don't look at this album TOO MUCH then it is very easy to see the coherency. If you listen to the album LISTENING for something to be wrong then you will find something wrong, like telling yourself that it isn't coherent lol. Idk but I think it is, I think it's his most coherent project since The Eminem Show. You would argue that Relapse is and I love Relapse but it's not perfect and I find myself listening to almost every track from MMLP2 often and I never did that with Relapse. As much as I love Relapse I would always skip around because honestly not every single track is great or should even be there. MMLP2 isn't like this for me I can straight up listen to that front to back and not feel the need to skip a track.

That is a modern classic to me. Maybe not a classic by hip hop's definition but it's a classic by my definition. And a very coherent project as well. More coherent than you're giving it credit for. Don't listen to it saying "omg Em didn't make exactly what I wanted" instead try to sit back and appreciate it with an open mind.

[EminemBase]

^ I'm not looking for problems... why would I? lmao. I WANT Eminem's albums to be classics, I WANT to like his music, why would I go out of my way to not?...

I like the music, but disagree that the album sounds unified.

No, the tracks sounding 'the same' does NOT make the album unified.

Again, does "My Mom" sound like "Stay Wide Awake"? NO. But his writing/rap style and the production sound of the same DNA. The production of "Rap God" does not sound of the DNA to... "Berzerk"... or "Rhyme or Reason", because it AIN'T. The same reason Recovery suffers from inconsistency - is because there's a bag of producers working towards different sounds and Em reacts differently to different sounds.

SSLP sounds consistent because it's Em and Bass Bros working towards one sound... all the tracks sound different, and unique, but Em is reacting similarly to the sounds and all the producers are producing within the same realm, because they're all in the same mindset, making the same album.

Same with MMLP, same with TES and same with Relapse.

MMLP2 is a bit of Em, a bit of Rubin, x random beat, y random beat... and there is no aim of any one album, it's just Em recording a shitload of totally different tracks, trying everything, and then picking the ones he likes the most. They do not sound like a unified album to me, because of how different and of other worlds they all sound to each other - what is hard to understand in what I am saying about that... to you they DO... to me they DON'T, they SOUND too different, musically and rap-wise - there's polar opposites and endless different directions on the same album. There doesn't feel like an underlying unified sound of any kind.

[OutlawƎ]

Rap God is his best single since SFTM imo