Music to Be Murdered By - Side B

I don't know if Music to Be Murdered By: Side B sounds like a real sequel, if it's a catalogue of songs not chosen for the first side or if it's a mixture of both, but in any case this new volume is not equipped to catch up with the initial one. On the contrary Side B supports the fact that despite an interesting theme that suits him well, Eminem is not suited to release this kind of album. In my opinion, this is not only one more disillusionment, it's worse.

You can say what you want about Kamikaze which shows more coherence, but for me Eminem is not cut out to be a rapper who shines on a modernised rap, especially when he tackles today's Trap. Yes, it's hard to be a rapper from another era and to adapt to the new form that Hip Hop has taken in recent years. Only really those who stay in their field, in something more underground and boom bap that manage to get the best out of themselves. And this year shows many examples. It's no secret that Eminem doesn't care about the critics and he will continue to do what he wants no matter what the critics say, there will always be an audience to support him commercially. When he arrives at the beginning of the year with a concept album, the Detroit native just shows that he is artistically free, which is the most important thing after all. Whether it is subjectively or objectively, the Side B releases the same problems as the first volume, doing even worse at times. If the production and engineering of the album are as usual excellent, yet Side B sounds like an old rusty retro video that got stuck in its time. The paradox is to make old with new.

The originality of Eminem's album, even if it's a sequel, is to be appreciated and congratulated, but I will never understand how to appreciate the instrumentals that he has been using for more than a decade now. Imagine that he has the originality, a production at the top but that the result always sounds like a hollow that is impossible to fill. There's a real problem on this point, as DJ Premier's intervention on a Trap instrument shows. But what wasp stung him? Let's remember that Eminem is first of all an excellent producer and that he has the means to get the best beatmakers by his side, which shows in fact that he does well the way he wants. Globally Side B doesn't teach us anything else about Eminem and doesn't show the slightest lightning. His flows are very familiar, sometimes calculable and his writing fails to make the concept what it is supposed to be. Unfortunately he can't rely on the guests either, even Dre, with all due respect. It's my opinion only, but besides being very long which forces us to resist to listen to him until the end, Side B is a failure on almost every level, except commercial of course. I hope at least that the fans will be satisfied with a project that looks more like something that completes the first side, more than an album that will manage to live alone