Music To Be Murdered By

Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By
Critic Score
Based on 18 reviews
2020 Ratings: #834 / 871
User Score
2020 Rank: #1006
Liked by 145 people
Sign In to rate and review

CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Telegraph

Allied to crisp beats and catchy hooks, with guest appearances from a galaxy of stars including Ed Sheeran, Q Tip, Anderson.Paak and the late rapper Juice WRLD, Eminen’s 11th album offers over an hour of the world’s greatest rapper blasting away on all cylinders. It is the first great album of 2020, so lethally brilliant it should be a crime.

76
HipHopDX

Music To Be Murdered By is far from the star-studded, commercially sustainable album Recovery was, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. On this album, despite its handful of flaws, Em shows strong signs of adapting to the times through modern musical choices and smarter songwriting.

75
Entertainment Weekly

As a whole, Music to Be Murdered By is as hit-and-miss as anything Eminem has released this side of the millennium. But remove the skits, the relationship songs, the family songs, the morose gun control song, and the quirky Ed Sheeran club goof and you still have 36 solid minutes of the daffy, one-of-a-kind rap genius that keeps captivating true-school heads and longtime fans.

70
Clash

It could be argued that ‘Music To Be Murdered By’ is the album Eminem fans have been waiting for since ‘The Marshall Mathers LP2’ in 2013, one in which he truly shows how gifted he is lyrically.

67
Consequence of Sound
If he’s figuring out from scratch how to be a compelling artist again, Eminem’s improved the caliber of his beats and guests, taking stands against the right day-to-day injustices, toning down the tasteless (with the exception of the already-infamous Ariana line, of course), and rapping with the manic precision of someone who just snorted a whole sandcastle of cocaine and Vyvanse.
60
XS Noize

Despite Eminem’s ability to hire an impressive and acclaimed diverse army of collaborators; for the most part on Music To Be Murdered By Eminem struggled. No number of Alfred Hitchcock samples could masquerade this.

60
The Arts Desk

There’s so much here that no one else can do, from an artist whose wellspring lies in his ever more distant 20th century past, but hasn’t yet run dry.

60
The Young Folks

I’m not saying he’s turned a new leaf, but at least he’s trying to make something cool and entertaining. If anything, Music to Be Murdered By proves that there’s still life for Marshall Mathers.

60
The Guardian

If Music to Be Murdered By covers a lot of old ground, it does so in considerable style.

60
Rolling Stone
He does seem to have thrown a little more intellectual, thematic, and emotional elbow grease into this record.
60
Exclaim!

For what it's worth, we know Eminem is an incredible lyricist. We know he has punch lines that can pierce your mind and make you laugh. But what we don't know is whether or not he has anything real to say, and to his detriment, Music to Be Murdered By puts that in the spotlight.

60
NME
Eminem’s discography once looked lopsided, youthful iconoclasm dissipating into creative exhaustion. But now it comes across as a little more interesting. These curious newer records may age well, offering up the sound of a rapper working out his place in middle-age.
60
AllMusic

It presents an accurate depiction of where Eminem is at in this weird stage of his career, one where his best work comes when he's able to step out of his own towering shadow.

60
musicOMH

Music To Be Murdered By succumbs to temptation a few times, with a pop concession here and a lacklustre verse there, but it’s the clearest sign yet that there’s a future for Eminem as well as a legacy.

55
Pitchfork

It is not, strictly speaking, a good record—Eminem hasn’t made one of those in a decade—but his latest boasts enough technical command and generates just enough arresting ideas to hold your attention.

50
The Needle Drop

Thanks to some creative production decisions and Eminem sounding ever so slightly less stuck in his ways, Music to Be Murdered By is a step in the right direction following Revival and Kamikaze.

46
Sputnikmusic

A semi-focused surprise album that emits indifference, if nothing else.

40
The Independent
Eminem doesn’t care what the critics think. He cares so little, in fact, that he spends the first track on his surprise album telling us how little he cares. He really doesn’t care. Honest.
BradTasteMusic
72

Fuck it,

Man I’m speechless, I’ve never just truly despised a project, to just realizing it’s everything I could have ever wanted from an artist. This album shows pretty much improvement on every single angle from Eminem, but without sacrificing who he is. That personality is what I was mad with at first but I swear this is probably one of his best projects in a while, and I couldn’t be happier that Eminem broke his mental slump he was in.

Production is incredible, I ... read more

Case
45

I, I, HATEEEEEEEE MY STEPDAD LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO

"Call us Long John Silver's, cause we selfish."

"I'm talking euthanasia, like kids in Taiwan."

“I’m contemplating yelling bombs away on the game like I’m outside an Ariana Grande concert”

“Only way that you're ahead of me is alphabetically
'Cause if you diss me I'm coming after U like the letter V”

Feel free to comment more shitty lyrics/moments lmao

Actual Review:

Wow. His lyrical ... read more

zachthesnack
35

This is a devastatingly pitiful excuse for a concept album. Everything about this just breathes self entitlement and arms since of immortality in that he can do no wrong. Sure the fucker can rap but that doesn’t make the songs good. This has absolutely no substance to it. Ems fan base has been reduced to essentially a bunch of entitled white pricks who are borderline racist and homophobic and just all around obnoxious. I would not be surprised if many of his hardcore fans ... read more

TheZetaCoreYT
53

Definitely worse than Recovery but a bit better than Kamikaze. It lacks a binding force overall and feels a bit confusing and underwhelming. At the same time it has some good songs on it as well.

Average Score: 58/100
Overall Score: 53/100

Favorites: Godzilla, Darkness
Least Favorites: The Stepdad Duo, Marsh

98

dressed as a jedi at a bestbuy on the west side, best guy to the molest tide (haha i add part)

Purchasing Music To Be Murdered By from Amazon helps support Album of the Year. Or consider a donation?


Added on: January 17, 2020