Eminem’s long-awaited Revival dropped on Friday to mixed emotions by listeners worldwide. A 19 song album with un-Shady-like features like Kehlani and Ed Sheeran had fans questioning the rapper. It was a hit-or-miss album for Eminem who wanted to respond to the critics and re-establish himself as what he is: one of the greatest to ever do it. After the Marshall Mathers LP2 wasn’t exactly what we hoped it would be, Revival would be a great way to respond.
Singles
Following his singles “Walk On Water” and “Untouchable”, we weren’t exactly sure what to expect from Em for this album. An uncharacteristic “Walk On Water” was a reality check for Em who admitted that contrary to popular belief, criticism does eventually get to him. A tough song to listen to as an Eminem fan myself. A rapper you had admired through most of his career was suddenly second guessing himself? One of the most talented rappers of all time suddenly didn’t believe he was capable of writing anymore because the younger generation called him “trash” or “irrelevant” on social media while they listen to Lil Pump and Lil Uzi say the say the same words and sounds and call it a song. “Walk On Water” is definitely not the type of song you’ll want to have on replay or play when you’re with your friends but it’s still an amazing song.
Trap Eminem?
What I personally like about the album is the different types of songs, beats, flows and concepts that are present. Songs like “Believe” and “Chloraseptic” were very Migos-like in an attempt to appeal to the younger generation. Although it’s not Eminem’s style, he’s able to adapt and spit out some great lines. I personally like “Believe” more despite not being the biggest fan of the chorus. I think his flow was much better in “Believe” and “Chloraseptic” had some questionable lyrics at times. Even then, I hope we don’t see this trap Eminem anymore…
“Man, in my younger days that dream was so much fun to chase. It’s like I run in place while this shit dangled in front of my face. But how do you keep up the pace and then hunger pains once you’ve won the race?”- “Believe”
Woke and Political
We saw a much more “woke” Eminem that we hadn’t seen since Encore. Songs like “Untouchable” and “Like Home” are battle cries to the problems this country is facing. Em takes on an interesting point of view as a white man who lived in poverty surrounded by African Americans. He got the chance to see firsthand how the African American community has been mistreated and segregated historically. Em even admits that life as a white male is vastly easier with all the privileges that are available to him. “Like Home” has the potential to be a radio hit especially with Alicia Keys on the chorus. However, controversial anti-Trump lyrics will certainly have radio stations thinking it twice. We had seen Eminem attack Trump before and after the election so we knew there was a big possibility that political lyrics would be present in this album. Personally, I loved “Like Home” from start to finish but “Untouchable” has certain parts where Em’s flow is a bit off and lyrics are reaching a bit. It is however, a song that grows on you the more you listen to it. I think the idea for the song was great but the execution could’ve been better.
“Someone get this Aryan a sheet/Time to bury him, so tell him to prepare to get impeached/Everybody on your feet/This is where terrorism and heroism meets, square off in the streets/This chump barely even sleeps/All he does is watch Fox News like a parrot and repeats/While he looks like a canary with a beak/Why you think he banned transgenders from the military with a tweet?” —”Like Home”
Marshall Gets Emotional
My favorite songs on the album were his most personal ones. “Bad Husband” and “Castle” both touch on different parts of Eminem’s troubled live and gives us even more perspective of his life and just what it feels like to walk in his shoes. After decades of fighting and feuding, Em finally apologizes to Kim in “Bad Husband”. You can hear the regret and disappointment in his voice as he tries to make amends with his ex-wife. It’s the type of relatable song which can hit close to home to many people who have been a part of a complicated relationship in the past. He had already forgiven his mom on “Headlights” in his last album so it was only fair he apologize to Kim as well. A much more mature Eminem who is now in his mid-40s and is starting to realize his mistakes and wants to make amends.
“We brought out the worst in each other/Someone had to make the sparring end/’Cause I loved you but I hated that me/And I don’t wanna see that side again/But I’m sorry, Kim, more than you could ever comprehend/Leaving you was fucking harder than sawing off a fucking body limb” — “Bad Husband”
“Castle” is written from Em’s point of view as he awaits Hailie’s birth and he begins to wonder how he’ll be able to take care of her with a limited salary and a music career that has yet to take off. An interesting take that he hadn’t touched on very much in the past. We often see Em has a violent and controversial rapper when in reality, he loves his daughters more than anything. Each verse takes place in a different time of Hailie’s life. Verse one is before Hailie is even born while the second one takes place when Hailie is already born and Em is stressed out trying to support his family while still pursuing his musical career. The last verse is Hailie’s troubled infancy surrounded by controversy and media attention. I’ve always loved the personal songs by Eminem because not only does it give us a different view of his life, but it’s something so unique that no one else can talk about thus making him different. I’m sure other artists have had traumatic life events but not all of them talk about it. Em on the other hand goes into specific detail so we can truly picture what his life was like at that point in the song.
“Now if you found these letters, I guess I better try to explain/A lot’s happened in between them since I rised to this fame/I’ve said your name but always tried to hide your face/This game is crazy, I wanted to claim my love for you, but dang/I never knew it’d be like this, if I did I wouldn’t have done it/You ain’t asked for none of this shit, now you’re being punished?!/Things that should’ve been private with me and your mother is public/I can’t stomach, they can take this fame back, I don’t want it”- “Castle”
I must admit, I was not very excited for Eminem’s new album. I had heard his singles and some songs that were leaked before the album dropped. For the first time in awhile, I was not excited for Em’s album. Thankfully, he proved me wrong. Though it’s not the best album he’s ever done, Revival is still a tremendous album that has various types of “Eminems”. It is however an album that requires more than one run through to really let it sink in. If this is Em’s last album, I’m glad he’ll be going out on a right note.
Overall grade: B
Favorite tracks: Framed, Bad Husband, Castle and Believe
Least Favorite tracks: Need Me, Tragic Endings
Agree or disagree with me? Let me know! Twitter: @MP_persources IG: @mp_persources