Eminem has breathed new life into what has become a clunky stunt, with a record that punches hard and doesn’t care who it offends.
On Kamikaze, Em trades predictable song structure—pop star-crooned hooks sandwiched between wordy verses—for bars that B. Rabbit might spit in an 8 Mile battle.
Eminem has returned with a very solid body of work after being longed counted out as a venerable threat.
Love him or hate him, this is the most energetically engaged - and simply enjoyable - Eminem has been in more than a decade.
Kamikaze is the sound of Eminem with his back against the wall, and this has led to some of his most invigorated writing in years - albeit with some troubling lyrical results.
Kamikaze is the result of Eminem's anguish; a scorched earth assailing of anyone who dared to doubt or diss him, that sees the Detroit rapper return to resentment for his muse.
As a whole, the album may not be impeccable, but it’s the best he’s released since 2010.
Eminem’s always been at his best when he’s pissed off, and for all its ‘poor me’ posturing, ‘Kamikaze’ at least feels honest.
The hooks are middling and the moans at his critics get tedious – but a flurry of brutal potshots at witless SoundCloud rappers prove Eminem can still hit exhilarating heights.
How riveting all this finger-wagging is probably depends upon your birth date. Hip-hop has moved on from Mathers’s high-speed, foul-mouthed wit.
His second album in less than a year, Kamikaze is the latest and most disappointing entry to Eminem’s never-ending encore, a boot camp of knotty, joyless, lumbering ragers aimed largely at a rap game that’s passing him by.
For all its merits, Kamikaze is not a world to get lost in. It is a single, angry diatribe from a man unable to reckon with the fact that his art no longer appeases the culture at large. In future, Eminem would do well to wield his astronomical talents to a message worthy of them.
While Eminem’s verbal dexterity has remained intact, his shortcomings have grown more glaring with the passage of time.
Eminem falls just short of ending his career on his latest album, Kamikaze.
Kamikaze isn’t even entertainingly bad like Revival.
It's listenable. Props Marshall!
Update: Its progressively gotten worse, congrats Mr. Mathers
I fuckin' hate Eminem. With a burning passion. What does his existence provide in the 2010's . Is T.I still around? Is 50 Cent still around? No. So why the hell is Eminem still around? It's not like he's the same person as he was in the 2010's. This isn't the man who made Stan or Lose Yourself or anything. This is a man who is nostalgic for the man who made Stan and Lose Yourself. He's nothing more than an imitation of his own self in his work. Why is he still paranoid about the perception of ... read more
Eminem released Revival last year. That album was an absolute flop and a horrendous effort from the once beloved Eminem. An artist who used to have a drive and a passion for causing controversy and being in the spotlight. He managed to completely lose all of that on such an album.
I think what is so funny about this surprise release is how this flame is regained in the same way he got it on his Chloroseptic remix. He made an entire album about his last album being total shit. The only reason ... read more
It's not that bad, guys...
Eminem's "Kamikaze" falls short of the high expectations set by the rap legend himself. While there are moments of brilliance scattered throughout the album, it ultimately struggles to maintain a consistent level of quality. Clocking in at a 55/100, "Kamikaze" is a mixed bag that showcases Eminem's undeniable skill but lacks the cohesion and innovation that fans have come to expect.
Instrumentally, the album leans heavily on trap-inspired beats ... read more
1 | The Ringer 5:37 | 61 |
2 | Greatest 3:46 | 58 |
3 | Lucky You 4:04 feat. Joyner Lucas | 76 |
4 | Paul (Skit) 0:35 | 47 |
5 | Normal 3:42 | 40 |
6 | Em Calls Paul (Skit) 0:49 | 43 |
7 | Stepping Stone 5:09 | 52 |
8 | Not Alike 4:48 feat. Royce da 5'9'' | 65 |
9 | Kamikaze 3:36 | 52 |
10 | Fall 4:22 | 57 |
11 | Nice Guy 2:30 feat. Jessie Reyez | 18 |
12 | Good Guy 2:22 feat. Jessie Reyez | 41 |
13 | Venom 4:29 | 41 |
#86 | / | NME |
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