A guide to Eminem's new album
On Friday, Eminem released his 2020 second album, "Music to Be Murdered By – Side B," The collection of 16 songs is an accompaniment to "Music to Be Murdered By," which was similarly published in January without notice.
From COVID-19 to his seasoned hip-hop status, the album sees Eminem rapping on a variety of subjects, while rattling off references to Colin Kaepernick, Harvey Weinstein and more.
Here's a short guide to what to expect with the new Eminem.
Pandemic rhymes: In the song, there are a host of references to COVID-19, quarantine and the pandemic, making 'Side B' a true 2020 product. For starters, from "These Demons," in which he discusses both the marches of Black Lives Matter and, uh, other types of demonstrations in 2020: "This pandemic brought us into a recession, we need to reopen America/dying black people, they want equal rights, white people want haircuts."
Sorry, Rihanna: Em gives a special apology in "Zeus," and it's targeted at Rihanna, his regular partner and one-time tour-mate. Last year after his 2009 assault on the singer, a previously unreleased Em verse was leaked to the internet which found Em siding with Chris Brown. Em raps, "Long as I re-promise to be honest, and wholeheartedly, apologies, Rihanna/ for that song that leaked, I'm sorry, Ri, It wasn't meant to cause you grief, regardless, it was wrong of me,"
Uncle Alfred: Like its precursor, "Music to Be Murdered By" takes influence from Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 spoken word album (and shares a title with it). The sampled voice of Hitchcock features on the record in several interludes, and "Alfred's Theme" is assembled around a sample of "Funeral March of a Marionette," the 1870s piece by French composer Charles Gounod that would later become the deceptively playful "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." theme song.
Dr. Dre raps: Eminem's mentor Dr. Dre drops a verse on "Guns Blazing," one of his few vocal performances since his "Compton." 2015 album. On it, Dre appears to address his ex-wife Nicole Young, who after 24 years of marriage applied for divorce from Dre earlier this year. "Here, my dear," Dre raps, a nod to Marvin Gaye's 1978 song, royalties from which after their divorce were funneled to his ex-wife, and he compares her to Ginger, the character of Sharon Stone from "Casino."
"Hip-hop love song: "Favorite B—-" is a love song where the focus is hip-hop itself like Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R." and Em's own "25 to Life," from his "Recovery" album. In it, Em has soured on his one-time sweetheart, and with the love of his life, longs for happier days.
Secret Service Taunting: In "Gnat," Em throws together some rhymes that might win him another Secret Service visit. "Kamikaze."Kamikaze"Mic, pencil get killed,"Mic, pencil get killed,"Gnat,"Gnat,"Mike Pence will get killed."Mike Pence will get killed."If you're hypersensitive, I wasn't referencing the vice president, chill/ I mean my penmanship at times tends to get ill, violence but with skill/ that's why I hints what I write ends up with the mic and pencil gettin' killed."If you're hypersensitive, I didn't refer to the vice president, chill/ I mean my penmanship sometimes tends to get sick, violence, but with skill/ that's why I suggest what I write e...
One more Mariah reference? Almost: Em almost alludes to one of his favorite subjects, Mariah Carey, on These Demons," but falls short of naming the chart-topper. He says, "I got a question, what rhymes with Pariah?" but then changes directions. Um uh, Lego?"Um, uh, Lego?"
Aging: Eminem refers to becoming older in the record, and the ways in which internet critics and young fans turned their backs on him, trashing his latest work while celebrating his old material. He warns younger stars like Drake, Future and Migos in "Zeus," that it will finally happen to them too. Nevertheless, Em's best aged lines feature on the album "Tone Deaf": "I'm 48 now," he says, "that 5-0's startin' to creep up on me like a patrol car."
Higher"Higher"Higher"Higher"The Eminem Show"The Eminem Show"Til 'I Fall,"Til' I Collapse," Rollcall for pop culture: In addition to references to (obvious) ambitions like Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and R.
"Kelly, Eminem gets serious by mentioning on the album a host of victims of police violence, including Laquan McDonald, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor and more, who he lists in "Zeus." And he refers to Colin Kaepernick in "Black Magic": "I'm not gon 'stand for that (expletive), like Kaep for the National Anthem," Em raps. "I'm not gon' stand for that.
