Do I even have to intro Eminem? Y’all know him. He wasn’t always stressed, psycho, immature or even angry at the world tho…back in the day of Infinite he was a pretty mellow guy on the mic. This was Em as a real MC, not the tired, hounded, overrated, distracted etc. etc. rapper he is right now.
1) Infinite
It’s really, really ironic, but this song has to be the song of Eminem’s career. Before this I’d never heard Em rhyme laid-back before, and the shit was crazy; especially the insane shit he spits on the mic here. (Excellent)
2) WEGO
Just an intro to his next song, It’s OK.
3) It’s OK ft. Eye-Kyu
Eminem rhymes on his current situation and his dreams for the future, with a crazy continuous multi-like style. Former rhyme partner Eye-Kyu does the optimistic chorus, and the beat is mellow with a fading chord in the background. (Excellent)
4) 313 ft. Eye-Kyu
Over a slow-drum, deep-bass beat (with a sax that comes in later) Eye-Kyu starts off with a pretty damn good verse, with really the same style Em uses, but Em ultimately comes tighter. (Great)
5) Tonite
This beat has a lounge-feel to it, kinda jazzy. Em uses the same rambling, multi-ish style he had before, still ill. (Excellent)
6) Maxine ft. Denaun, 3
A song about a ho with AIDS, who claims she’s clean so guys will hit and pay her for it. Eminem spits some sick lyrics, but his flow’s a little off on the spacey beat. Denaun spits a pretty good second verse, but it’s not as good as Em’s, and neither is the third guy’s (3, who I’ve never heard of before). (Good)
7) Open Mic ft. Thyme
The beat here is different; kinda jerky, with a dyslexic string and a warped bass. Em spits some real shit, but again his flow is off-and-on. Thyme does the hook; his voice is pretty annoying, kinda high-pitched. (Good)
8) Never 2 Far
Em’s flow is a bit better. He spits about his plans to get money by any means necessary, and he has’nt stopped spittin sick yet. The beat is kinda simple, jus a bass loop over a drum track that’s a little faster and more consistent than the others (prolly why he flows over it easier). (Great)
9) Searchin ft. Denaun
The hook here is kinda gay; a woman singing about love, and the sample sounds a bit annoying and repetetive. The beat is, again, pretty simple, just soft tones over a drum track with a rambling string thrown in sometimes. Eminem and Denaun both spit about the loves of their lives; Em’s verse is sick, and Denaun sings his verse so that it doesn’t even sound like Denaun, nice effect though. (Good)
10) Backstabber
This beat kinda sucks, it’s pretty amatuer and repetitive. Em raps some abstract shit about being a cop chasing a criminal, I think it’s a diss. (Poor)
11) Jealousy Woes II
Em raps about a jealous chick, over a funky beat with overblown bass and drums. He spits pretty sick, though. (Decent)
My Rating: 3/5
Em’s first outing is unprofessional, amatuer, with lazy beats and only a couple of used-and-reused guest appearances. That said, it must be one of his best albums to date, simply for the fact that some of his tracks rival Nas’ Illmatic in hunger, siccness and creativity. This album was basically meant to put him out there, and a first step to really see how shit works in the music business. Subtract some of the wacker or more boring shit like Jealousy Woes II, Open Mic and Backstabber and you have a great album at your disposal.
My Recommendation: It’s really hard to find to buy, so download it and keep what you like.