Eminem

Music To Be Murdered By

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.