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Originally Posted by Witty
Which brings me to another conversation....and I hesitate to do this because I hate to come across as a 'stan'...I am a fan of Eminem, he's probably my 2nd favourite rapper of all time, and imo he's the best rapper of all time....but he's made some bad bad albums along with the great ones...I digress....my thought process is...if you listen to infinite, and to some degree the slim shady LP...early Em had the same propensity to just rhyme and keep rhyming....his rhyming then was nearly as good as it is now...and it's always been great....but there was a switch from MMLP - Relapse (but not including) where he cut back with the constant stream of rhyming....some might say dumbed it down (though it was still dope)...and he went back there with Recovery (which by no coincidence is his biggest selling album since the first three)....are we now seeing Eminem as he has always wanted to be?
I think he just wants to rhyme.
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WHAT A DICK RIDING DEVON SAWA ASS MOTHER FUCKER YOU ARE
I spend more time thinking about the psychology of the human being Marshall Mathers than I should probably admit. He’s admitted he views writing rhymes as crossword puzzles. Anyone who’s written rhymes at a decent skill level for long enough knows what he means. I’m sure it’s a combination of escapism turned habitual and formed into a sense of self. He’s obsessive. A perfectionist. Something else that’s easy for a lot of writers to relate to. Writing is an isolating, self reflective task.
I was watching that Comedians in Cars getting Coffee with Seinfeld and he was shooting the shit with John Oliver at a little cafe. They were talking about how their significant others took some time to understand that nothing they say is what they actually mean. Their brains have been wired to formulate thoughts that end in a laugh and whatever comes before the laugh has no concrete significance to them.
I think rhyming is the same way. I’ve lamented in plenty of verses I’ve posted here about the process of writing. How it’s lost it’s magic because it almost comes down to a paint by numbers sort of deal once you’ve reached a certain point.
I think Em had a major personality split when Proof died. Coinciding with his sobering up. I’ve read him say he had to relearn how to write. In the disenchantment of writing you lose some of the fluidity, I think. You become a sort of rhyming or writing machine, as opposed to a reactionary human laying out his thoughts.
I think Recovery was indeed his post rehab album. Humbled. MMLP2 was littered with more traditional verses. I love that album, but I’m mostly a fan of dope rhymes so it makes sense. On Revival I really think he tried. It’s so dense with wordplay, references and top notch lyricism, but that kind of work has been passed over thousands of times. My Name Is was a gimmick. Marshall was genuine, but playing a role. I think you’re right to a degree. At this point he’s making the music he wants, but I also think he has a sharp focus on providing his fans and Hip Hop as a culture with good songs.
I find guy endlessly fascinating, honestly. Would love to sit and just talk writing and shit with him.
- Truly yours.