If your opinion on Eminem isn’t:

Eminem is the greatest rapper ever

Eminem is far removed from making any good music and is complete trash

You might as well throw yourself into a burning hot pit of fire. Now please keep your eyes on ears on me, stay glued to your seats, because I am going to throw myself into said burning pit of fiery death.

Eminem has a fanbase that is so rabid, it makes me feel for Nas.

Nas is a legend. One of the great lyricists in rap history. Nas has made some forgettable songs, but he’s also made one of the greatest albums in hip-hop history. After Illmatic, the opinion sways for Nas based upon context. Nas made plenty of great music after Illmatic, but it’s always up for debate which records are dope and what’s wack.

So why can’t Em’s music be received in the same way? It’s not anything to do with race. There hasn’t been talk of Eminem being the white rapper in a black dominant industry since the early 2000’s. The lack of nuance is rooted in perception. A perception that Eminem is held to a specific set of expectations. The same expectations Em was toiling and obsessing over in the Revival album.

I’ll let my review of Revival speak for itself, and I’ve listened to the album since without any changed opinions. Revival is Eminem’s worst record. I didn’t take any joy in having to write that, and I hate to say it as a longtime fan. Em took it personally and out comes Kamikaze as a result. Here we are today having come full circle.

Eminem comes out the gate with a verbal assault on all the recent criticism pointed at Revival. Angry Eminem responding to his critics is nothing new. The difference is today’s critics of Eminem are directing their comments on the quality of the music and not the grotesque nature of the content. Eminem was easily able to pan his early critics because they were being uptight and holier than thou. Eminem was making music for the kids of his generation.

Kamikaze has the ire of a man frustrated by his critics rather than the kid who used to mock them. Important to note, since I’ve uttered the word critics 50 times already, critics doesn’t refer to just music journalists. Maybe music journalists are still relevant today? I wouldn’t know. The Eminem critics are the voices on social media, the voices on podcasts and radio shows, and in conversation circles at the lunch or dinner table.

Music criticism is layered and complicated because of how music is consumed. Music journalists bang on about nonsense with all their fancy words, sonically this, sonically that, hence why I rarely read their work. For the regular people, we have our different tastes. I listen to music a lot differently than my friends do, and we end up with drastically different opinions. We all listen for production quality and lyricism. But we all have different expectations of the sounds and words we want to hear.

You could say, well Mr. King, that makes your opinion mute and void, why should I value your opinion if I thought Kamikaze was a great album? Luckily for you and me, the world is yours and you can support, refute, or debate my opinion however you please. I’m not here to tell anyone they can’t or shouldn’t enjoy Kamikaze. I’m here to pump the brakes and provide my perspective on the recent mess that has been the dialogue on Eminem’s career in relation to his surprise album drop.

Forewarning: I’ve become obsessed with wacky analogies and comparisons. Brace for impact.

Eminem is the Mike Tyson of rap. Revival was Buster Douglas and knocked Eminem out. Now hold on, hold on, hold on… Relapse wasn’t a knockout. Encore wasn’t either. But let’s be civil here and say he won by unanimous decision. Those weren’t losses for Eminem, not in my scorecard at least. The point is, Eminem has had a wealth of great music over his expansive career. He’s been a fixture of the industry and one of the top names that comes to mind in any hip-hop discussion. I think even Eminem’s sharpest critics can be harsh when it comes to what Eminem means for the business of rap. Em’s career will be worth several in-depth documentaries. In my convoluted world, Em is the Tyson of rap. For further boxing comparison, let’s say Tupac was Ali and Biggie was Frazier. Alright. Alright! I’ll stop.

The point of my ludicrous analogy is to make the point that Revival cleaned Eminem’s clock and now the mojo, the aura, the mystique, is wafting in a dense fog of uncertainty. Kamikaze was an attempt to get back on the horse, but Em isn’t riding off into the sunset just yet.

Eminem is like a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery who has use of his fastball but hasn’t fully regained control of his curveball or slider. The knuckleball might be back though after listening to the title track Kamikaze. Kamikaze is a throwback to the Encore days with a wacky weird beat and Em at full control of his flow moving through pockets. The beat transitions a little too far over the cliff at the end, but a majority of the song shows Em hasn’t lost touch with the music that made him so unique in the mid-2000’s.

Fall is the song that is going to drive a lot of discussion. The second verse is laced with disses at Joe Budden and DJ Akademics for their Everyday Struggle segment pining the Revival rollout (Budden and Ak are still on the right side of history in this debate). Em also has some choice words for Tyler, The Creator and Charlamagne The God. Fall is one of the best contemporary beats Eminem has rapped on in recent memory. The beat for Fall is the sort of production we’ve been hearing on Drake’s last couple records. The focus of the beat is on a crisp snare drum, a lowly melodic synth pattern, and the choppy hi-hats. It’s a beat I’ve been waiting to hear Em on for quite a while.

from XXLMag

The most glaring weakness of Kamikaze is how incessant Eminem is about criticizing the criticizers. Which is really rich of me to say, right? Eminem could’ve addressed the criticism in one song, two if he’s really feeling chippy. Fall had most of the hate addressed. Only a couple tracks on the record don’t consist of Eminem blasting back at the negativity that’s been sent his way over the last year or decade depending on how anti-Eminem you are post-2007.

The more frustrating issues with Kamikaze are some of the inconsistencies in the production and mixing. Stepping Stone is a good song but the sampled bridge doesn’t transition well and Eminem’s hook is all well and good but transitions out with a messy snare and bass drum fill. The last minute of Kamikaze is difficult to listen to when the beat changes to some very odd distorted church bell sound.

Venom has the most hilarious flaw. I couldn’t help but laugh when Eminem spits the beginning of the hook like he has a turrets stutter.

There are also several times when Eminem goes into his Twista flow which has become a dry form of hip-hop showmanship. Salute to Busta Rhymes, Twista, and Eminem for being that ridiculously talented, but the gimmick gets stale when overused.

Kamikaze is in good standing with me as an album. It does feel more like a mixtape though. The fact that it’s only been eight months since Revival and now we already have a whole new collection of Eminem music is unprecedented. This is the shortest amount of time between album drops in Eminem’s career. Every other studio album had at least a year in between release.

Kamikaze deserves a couple more listens before I can give a definitive stance on where the album ranks in his discography. For starters, this is much better than Revival.

The Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill cover tribute is gold. Licensed to Ill was one of the first hip hop albums I listened to when I was young. I was hoping there would be some form of tribute to the Beastie Boys within the album whether it be a sample or an ad-lib.

from Variety

As I, among the millions who are writing their Eminem thoughts into cyberspace, give our instant reactions, I would like to take a generous step back. I think we’ll have a better idea of how this Eminem album is received in the next week or two. The more potent question is, will these tracks stand the test of time? There’s no better gauge for whether a record is good than flipping it on 5–10 years in the future and bumpin to it in the car.

Eminem’s message when he dropped the album, “Tried not 2 overthink this 1… enjoy.” Criticism can promote awareness. Justifiable criticism promotes progress and growth. Opinions have been manifested since human life began in the book of Genesis, criticism is unavoidable. In the digital age, where everyone is trying to be on the right side of the opinion spectrum lest they be shamed, context is important. Nuance is important. Am I ever going to listen to Normal or Lucky You again? Probably not. Will I listen to Not Alike and Fall on repeat on the way to work tomorrow morning? Definite yes.

Would I chastise you if you like Normal and Lucky You? No. My friend really enjoyed the Lucky You joint and did not like Royce’s verse on Not Alike which I thought was one of the best verses on the album. He’s my friend so I reserve the right to call him a crazy person for not liking a Royce verse but our opinions on music are vastly different.

Acknowledging your biases in music is important. Even more important is being able to listen to contrasting points of view and accept them for what they are. You can show me all the numbers and Drake hits you want, and I’m still not going to enjoy his music. That does not mean I have to stop listening to the Budden’s Podcast because Joe and his friends have a lot of love for his music and career.

My call to you, the reader, is to take some time with Kamikaze if you happen to be on the fence like myself. What do you like, what do you dislike? And then once you’ve determined all your opinions and reasoning, avoid social media for you’ll be at risk of having your head chewed off.