(by 2 people)
Three Names, One Man
The richness of Eminem's lyrical brilliance is difficult to sum up in a short paragraph about him. The important thing is that Marshall Mathers is so much more than the sum of his media coverage. He's smart and shy, caustic, has a biting wit, an extensive vocabulary (though he denies being a reader). He's a fan of SpiderMan and Tupac.
I find that extended listening to his work is constantly uncovering hidden depths to it and there's so much more too him than nonsense tracks like "Slim Shady" or "My Name Is".
When it comes down to it, for me the most compelling aspect of Eminem's music is not the beats, or even the lyrics, but his voice and the way that he uses it. He is very entertaining lyricist --- occasionally brilliant, usually witty -- but the way he uses his voice is what really grabs me. He can do so much with it.
Eminem at a Glance
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known as Slim Shady and his primary stage name Eminem, is an Academy Award-winning American rapper, record producer and actor. Having sold over seventy million albums worldwide, Eminem is one of the highest-selling rappers of all time.
Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP. The following album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling hip hop album in history, followed by an increasing amount of popularity, critical praise, as well as controversy. While Eminem has won many Grammy...
Eminem Music on CD
Infinite
Eminem's first album
Infinite is Eminem's first album, written before he came up with the Slim Shady persona.
If you've heard before in various bios that Infinite is his positive album, you'll still be blown away. It's crazy. It's wild. It's like a totally different person wrote this stuff. That's how freaking positive it is!
The music itself is very different too. I detect a Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch influence, except Infinite is more mellow and easy-going. Slow, funky beats. Even his voice is different. His precise elocution is missing. He really has come a long way as an emcee and for all that I love the music and the rhymes, the thing that most grabs me, the thing that I fell in love with is his elocution. No one nails syllables like he does and his delivery impresses me every time I listen to The Eminem Show. I think this is the reason that I have never grown tired of playing it and I listened to it every day for a good six months when it was first released.
Is it crazy to say that I find his voice very soothing?
Currently, the only way to get a copy of Infinite is off of Ebay.
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Runnin' (Dying to Live) (Uncensored)
2Pac, Notorious BIG
Eminem Videos
8 Mile
My Review of Eminem's Movie, 8 Mile
Eminem is really beautiful in this movie. In fact, beautiful doesn't even cover it. It doesn't indicate at all how delicate his features are and how fragile he seems, like you can break him into a million pieces with the wrong touch or the wrong look.The movie camera really loves him. It captures his radiance in a way still photography never will even when he is completely motionless on screen. And so much of this movie is about stillness, the pauses, the lulls between actions chosen and carried out. Most of the silence, the stillness emanates from Eminem. It's like his character finds himself, finds the words he wants to use in the protracted beat between breaths.
His performance is most strikingly conveyed through body and posture and facial expression throughout the movie until we arrive at the rap battle and then he unleashes this eloquent vocal assault that is all the more striking because the movie holds it back for so long. As usual, I'm in awe of his elocution. I think it's his greatest talent. I'm gnashing my teeth over the fact that this is not on the 8 Mile cd.
In all the buzz over this movie, I don't think enough has been said about the supporting performances. Everyone is amazing. Kim Basinger is absolutely stellar. It's always been a mystery to me how she could get an Academy Award for LA Confidential while the superior performances of Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce were ignored. I didn't find her character particularly interesting or her performance in that film particularly noteworthy. In 8 Mile however, she's excellent. It's a very layered and sympathetic performance.
I thought the weakest link in this movie was Brittany Murphy, but the role is pretty thankless. She's playing the "women can't be trusted" character. We're all out for ourselves and have ulterior motives. Blah, blah, seen it all before.
The sex scene was total hotness. It wasn't graphic in the sense that you see lots of naked skin. There are only glimpses of flesh. It felt very real in that it was a bit clumsy and quick. And there's a moment where Murphy has this incredibly genuine "in the throes of sex" look on her face that is just totally GUH. As I said, total hotness.
8 Mile (Full Screen Edition with Censored Bonus Features)
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 09/06/2008)
8 Mile (Widescreen Edition with Censored Bonus Features)
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 09/06/2008)
Eminem Online
- EMINEM official website
- Eminem's official website
- Eminem World - Eminem Pictures, Lyrics and more! The Official Eminem Fan Site.
- Eminem World your leading site on Eminem Pictures, Lyrics, Rumors News and Information.
- Eminem on MySpace
- MySpace music profile for Eminem with tour dates, songs, videos, pictures, blogs, band information, downloads and more
- Shady Records
- Official News, downloads, tour dates and artist information for the record label run by Eminem.
Like Toy Soldiers
Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers
"Like Toy Soldiers" is a song by rapper Eminem on his worldwide hit album Encore, that tells the story of his feuds in an attempt to settle down the rap community. He speaks his heart about problems with The Source magazine and its editor Benzino, as well as Murder Inc. Records. He explains the beef between Ja Rule and 50 Cent. He finishes off the song by offering a truce to his enemies. The song reached the top 40 in the US, and #1 in the UK. It samples heavily on the chorus from the song "Toy Soldiers" by Martika.
Runtime: 5:17
14879210 views
10 Comments:
Encore - Track by Track
At the time Encore was released it was pretty soundly thrashed in the press as being rubbish. I have my reservations about the album too, but despite them, I enjoy the album quite a bit. So with that I'll briefly summarizing my reactions to each track and whatever various crap pops into my head as I go along.
My thought overall is that this album is a reaction to how Hollywood and the media reacted to Em's work in 8 Mile. He appears to have panicked over the increase in expectations and he's a reactionary by nature, so while I'm disappointed that this album has not moved him forward artistically, when I stop to think about it I find myself unsurprised by his reaction to the increase in his stature and respectability. I also think there's something, a theme, travelling just under the surface of every single song and skit on this album and it's made even more apparent in the visual images that accompany the album -- self-destruction. Call me crazy, but I think this album was purposely designed to lower expectations.
I've created this review as a plexo so you can vote your own favorite on the list. So if you disagree with my assessment, feel free to vote the song up or down.
Curtains Up
You'd think there wouldn't be much to say about an opening track that lasts about 10-15 seconds, but the track is indicative of the problems with the album. It would be one thing if there was one running joke that ran through all of Em's albums, but when you have several running jokes (wacky first single, phone call skits) or formulae that repeat themselves across four albums, it makes even good songs sound tired.0 points
Evil Deeds
Dre is responsible for much of the Eminem "formula" and at this point in his career I think Em would be better off cutting him loose, but that said --- I happen to love this track. The beats are insanely catchy. Also, there's just something about Em's voice on Dre-produced tracks. It's like he really draws the voice up from inside himself, so the adenoidal whine tends to recede into the background and his voice deepens.0 points
Never Enough feat. 50 Cent, and Nate Dogg
I like this track a lot too. Normally I'm not a big fan of Em's collaborations because I just prefer to hear him by himself and I think many of the collabs are just crappy, but with the exception of the D-12 track I like the collabs on this album better than any of his previous efforts (except that Snoop Dogg song on MMLP)0 points
Yellow Brick Road
Hate it. There's a few decent lyrics here, but the beat is incredibly dull and he's dealt with this subject multiple times already and quite frankly I'm tired of the apologies.0 points
Like Toy Soldiers
I love this track a lot. It's one of the best tracks on this album. I really love the way that Em uses the Martika sample to increase the song's pathos. It's a very smart and mature piece of work.0 points
Mosh
I should love this song, shouldn't I? Just like I should love Lose Yourself. But I don't. I usually skip it. And I usually skip Lose Yourself on the 8 Mile soundtrack in favor of his other work there. I think both songs are an example of trying too hard. Don't get me wrong, I totally think Lose Yourself deserved the Osacr because it was the best song of the nominees selected, but both songs are so earnest that they make me want to skip them whenever they come on. They wear me out.0 points
Puke
This song is usually instantly dismissed as being gross and being part of the typical "Kim sucks" Eminem formula. I think the way to really get this song is to realize that Puke and Crazy in Love bookend each other. They express Em's obsessive attachment to Kim. She's the soulmate he hates. She's the devil he loves. He knows that most of his problems with her are created by himself. The flow and the rhymes and the lyrics to Puke are terrific. His voice strikes the perfect tone.0 points
My 1st Single
Another favorite. I wish it had been the first single, but my guess is it was not written until after Just Lose It aired on MTV.0 points
Paul (skit)
Okay, the skits are part of the formula, but they do kind of crack me up, mostly because I imagine that Paul calls Em dozens of times a week because he needs to "discuss" what an immature idiot Marshall is being. LOL0 points
Rain Man
This track has grown on me. I think it will continue to grow on me. Marshall as televangelist always cracks me up and it always makes me shake my head that songs like this are dismissed as typical of his homophobia when it is more than apparent that he's actually mimicking someone else's reaction to homosexuality, namely right-wing fundamentalists. Is he just too subtle? Or is it that the media and music critics don't actually listen to songs? Maybe they just skim, catch a few keywords here and...0 points
Big Weenie
Sometimes I listen to this, sometimes I skip it. It reminds me of songs on The Slim Shady LP. Actually many of the songs on Encore remind me more of The Slim Shady LP than they do The Eminem Show because they are much more light-hearted. That aspect of the album is a good thing. I'm glad he's not as angry, even if it does dull his edge a bit.0 points
Ass Like That
I'm very amused by the fact that Em has written a song about Triumph the Insult Comic dog, but not amused enough to listen to it more than occasionally.0 points
Spend Some Time feat. Obie Trice, Stat Quo, and 50 Cent
I love this track. It;'s another favorite and I particularly love the opening and the way that Em sings it. I basically want to have this song's little babies. I want to sing to it and make sweet love to it and buy it flowers. I really really want to know who the hell he is talking about in this song. I burn to know this. What I really love is Em describing in detail what a freak he is and exactky how to win his heart: be mean to him. Did I mention I love this track? I LOVE this track.0 points
Mockingbird
I love this too. Em's a sap, but I love him for it. I love it when he sings and I always want to break down sobbing when he talks about the 1000 dollars Kim was saving for Hailie being stolen. WAAAAAAAAH. He's so maudlin. Can I give him a hug?0 points
Crazy In Love
I love this song too. See Puke for further thought on the matter. The two songs bookend each other perfectly and as far as I'm concerned Crazy in Love is the best goddamn love song ever written. It captures the complete insanity of that intense emotion perfectly.0 points
Need Ringtones? Get 'em here.
The Latest Yahoo News on Eminem
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAre you in the Eminem Fan Club?
Share your stories, sightings, thoughts, rants, raves...
KudoSurf Me!
|
wowreviews
Thanks, RMS :) Posted September 07, 2007 |
|
rms
Nice lens! 5* Posted September 06, 2007 |
