Eminem’s Revival (not an album review)

At Midnight on August 31st Eminem decided to drop an album called “Kamikaze”. Although there were some rumors that an album was coming, it was still relatively a surprise to the masses. Even though the rapper wrote on his twitter “Tried not 2 overthink this 1 … enjoy. 🖕” it is clear that he thought of many during the making of this album, mainly those who doubted him after his last project “Revival.”

After the last effort, there was a lot of scrutiny that came with it with many disliking the album or being vocal about it in some way. On this recent album Em took shots at many rappers both young and old and made it known that he was not pleased with either their lyrical ability, or their boisterous opinion of his earlier project that came out last year. The list of rappers covers many of the newer acts such as Lil Yachty who is often critiqued on his ability to rap, along with new school rappers like Lil Xan, and Lil Pump. It does not end there as Drake is also a victim of Eminem’s pen as he briefly mentions the allegations of Drake using a ghost writer to write his own raps. Rap is not the only focus as Charlamagne who has been getting a lot of shout outs and disses in recent years, the most notable by Drake on Scorpion when he says “Like Charlamagne, I see the light and the darkest patches.” But even in on Kamikaze the legend seems disgruntled at Charlamagne’s previous opinions on his albums, and his critique on Em’s diss towards Donald Trump which is mentioned on the album as well.

Perhaps the most looked at diss however is the Rap God’s diss towards Slaughterhouse member Joe Budden. Budden who has been the most vocal received possibly the harshest and the most personal bar on Kamikaze. “Somebody tell Budden before I snap, he better fasten it, or have his body baggage zipped, the closest thing he’s had to hits is smacking bitches” At the end Eminem references allegations towards Joe Budden about domestic abuse which could touch a nerve. The Jersey rapper has been on multiple platforms namely his brief stint with complex along with DJ Akademiks who received shots as well, and on his own podcast “The Joe Budden Podcast” saying that the Revival album is “trash.” This obviously sit well with the boss and even label mates as disputes arose over the manner in which Joe critiqued Eminem’s album.

This may come to a surprise for some but as Joe said about his song Slaughtermouse on his “All Love Lost” album he is a huge fan of Eminem and takes influence from him. Joe states that Eminem’s music had helped him through dark times especially dealing with the mother of his child. Even though Slaughterhouse is under Eminem, him and Joe did not have the best relationship as that position falls to Royce Da 5'9", who is a Detroit native and has been rapping with Eminem since the 90’s and also appears on “Kamikaze”. As for Joe Budden replying to Em’s diss, well we’ll just have to wait to see if the retired rapper will come out to trade jabs with one of the greatest of all time.
This album is what we need from Eminem, as many doubted his ability to make good albums and even songs but this new album should put a rest to the doubters for a little bit. Even myself and Rob weren’t fans of Revival album as we speak on it on “The Blackprint Podcast.” (29:15) https://soundcloud.com/cozyvargas-7/the-blackprint-episode-1-the-book-of-america
Is this a Revival for Eminem?…. Only time will tell.

