The Marshall Mathers LP2
When Eminem put out the sequel to *The Marshall Mathers LP* in late 2013, he joined a small handful of rappers—including JAY-Z, Q-Tip, and the late MF DOOM—who’d managed to still sound relevant after hitting 40. Age hadn’t matured him—at least not so much that he backed off the violence, misogyny, and homophobia that made him a lightning rod 15 years earlier. But on *The Marshall Mathers LP 2*, there was a sense of awareness about his place in the culture that could be interpreted as maturity. He wasn’t a dark, twisted rapper; he was the dark, twisted rap *guy*: That was his role. So while the album’s shout-outs to Phife Dawg (“Legacy”)—as well as the old-school feel of tracks like “Berzerk” and “Survival”—could be described as nostalgia, they’re also Eminem’s way of saying that, no matter how good he is, he knows he’s just a piece in a much bigger cultural picture. By the time *The Marshall Mathers LP 2* arrived, the tabloids and headlines that once followed Eminem were mostly gone. It was just him, his notebook, his memories, and a love for the music that made him. “They said I rap like a robot, so call me Rap-bot,” he proclaims at the top of “Rap God,” before offering five and a half of the most technically demanding minutes of his career. That’s the feat, but that’s also the joke—watch him go. Same, in a way, for something like “Legacy,” which listeners might realize squeezes five minutes of rhymes out of the same few syllables. In an interview with Eminem, conducted a few years after *The Marshall Mathers LP 2*‘s release, a *New York* magazine writer asked the rapper what he liked to do for fun. “Aside from writing? Mostly I love writing,” he said. “Yeah, writing is something I really enjoy.” It’s hard to tell whether or not he’s kidding, but on *LP 2*, the picture still comes through clear: Here’s a guy so consumed by rap that the rest of the world basically doesn’t exist.
The Marshall Mathers LP 2, featuring Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, and executive producers Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin, offers 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. It also revels in its predecessor’s worst behaviors.
Since crawling out of addiction and back into the spotlight in the late ’00s, Eminem has found a slam-dunk formula for radio play. He snarls a few verses out of his clenched larynx, pairs them with a brooding hook from a pop singer and swollen power-ballad production, then retreats back into his hoodie and calls it a…
Even if you get 70+ minutes of Eminem rapping, MMLP2 is a frustrating listen start to finish.
Check out our album review of Artist's The Marshall Mathers LP 2 on Rolling Stone.com.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about MMLP2 is the (admittedly scant) evidence that as an emcee, Eminem can still spit it hard with the best of them. Opener Bad Guy sees him revisiting Stan, one of the biggest commercial hits of his career. It's a case-in-point for the album's flawed premise
Album review: Clash covers 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2', the new album from rapper Eminem
Eminem’s shock value has softened by dint of familiarity, but The Marshall Mathers LP 2 still features tantalizing moments of vintage performance.
Eminem's belated 'sequel' to his breakthrough album is a confident yet introspective marvel, writes <strong>Paul MacInnes</strong>