Are Eminem and Lil Wayne Nearing Their Downfall?

This saddens me. There aren't many things musically that can really make me sit back and think "damn", but if there was one thing, this would be it. You could ask anybody and they'd probably have the same answer, seeing your favorite artists crumble and fade into obscurity is one of the most heart breaking things you could see (and seeing one attempt a comeback and fail miserably is even worse). I grew up when Eminem was ruling the charts and the news headlines, and all throughout my high school years all you heard anyone play on their phones or iPod's was Lil Wayne (dude practically made a remix to every rap song made from 2008-2012). But reign's come to an end for everyone unfortunately, as hard as it is to admit, even for the biggest Stan. Times are a changing as much as old heads don't want to admit it, and though some good music is still coming out today, seeing the ones you grew up with fall is never easy. This discussion is not for just 1 specific artist however, because this argument even hurts me to be a part of, let alone begin the conversation; and that's because Eminem and Lil Wayne are nearing a close on both of their careers. I'm as big a Stan as it gets, but the similarities between the current state in both Eminem's and Wayne's career are eerie.

Now when I say there are similarities between Eminem and Lil Wayne your first reaction is probably a big fat Chris Griffin "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT", but once I explain these similarities things should make more sense. The similarities between Eminem and Lil Wayne's music are few and far between, but in terms of the state of both of their careers now, it's almost uncanny (though a fan of neither rapper would admit it), and the comparisons lie mostly in both rappers' latest projects, Shady XV and Sorry For The Wait 2.

The first question I asked myself in this comparison is simply "does either rapper have the ability to come up with great concepts for songs anymore?"  Now the comparison between mix tape and album is definitely a completely different concept when it comes to the types of songs and actual concepts, but I'm only using each rappers' latest body of work seeing as they'd be the most relevant. Anyways, when it comes to Wayne's Sorry For The Wait 2, it's not hard to tell that he doesn't have anything to talk about. The concepts behind the songs are the same Wayne rhymes that we've been hearing since about 2009; lots of lean, bitches, robberies, money and choppers. You'd appreciate hearing Wayne grow a little bit in his time as a rapper (or more importantly his time in the industry), even though a lot of fans like when their favorites don't change. The biggest issue with Wayne seems to be his concepts and content have not changed a bit.

Eminem's case, though not far off from Wayne's, is different, however. In his latest release Shady XV, though a compilation album, contained 3 brand new Eminem records that showed a different side to Em that no one had ever seen before. In the song "Fine Line", Eminem discussed how he came up and the difference between that time period and what it's like for him now, and it's almost shocking to hear from the Detroit emcee. Rap listeners (even his most die hard fans) got so used to hearing Eminem being a controversial rapper that talked about "Britney Spears needing to get her clit re-pierced and I can see her tits from here" types of stuff that this new subject matter is almost scary. A threat from Eminem to retire?  Many people would celebrate the day that it finally came, but as many as there are that say they would love it, there are probably three times as many people who would wipe their eyes with their Eminem shirts while listening to "Stan" and staring at pictures of him online. Like it or not, there are still Eminem fans out there, but like Wayne, sometimes Em has a problem coming up with concepts for songs. Are they bored with what they're doing?

(Eminem at times seems to rap just to rap, which you can't hate, but at the same time you want something more. Is he really running out of things to talk about?  His song "Fine Line" is a good point that he can be conscious at times, though.)  (*I do not own these videos, songs, or the rights to any of them*)

Wayne is in the same boat when it comes to bars and being able to rap; he certainly can still rap well, but what does it mean if he's not saying anything in these raps?  Another big thing that isn't hard to point out on Wayne's Sorry For The Wait 2 is that he has seemingly auto-tuned out the fact that he can still use his actual voice to rap (see what I did there? Oh, puns). Wayne has a very distinct voice that almost anyone can recognize, yet he chooses to chop it up and robot himself into some (at times) very unclear raps (at least it seems like it's auto tune, that can't be Wayne's regular rapping voice). This can get annoying for any regular rap music listener that isn't on lean on a daily basis.

Voice is certainly something Eminem's fans have worried about for quite awhile now as well. If you listened to Eminem from 95 and on you got used to it, and when Recovery came out you probably didn't like what you heard. Slim Shady came up on the high pitched parody-type of rapping voice that everyone loved, and when he changed this around 2002 for his album The Eminem Show it was a nice change of pace, but after Recovery people got fed up with all of the yelling. Eminem toned down the yelling again with Marshall Mathers LP 2, however, and many fans were very happy with this change (though some hardcore fans always find something to hate about the music, typical). Eminem doesn't seem crazy into auto tune like Wayne seems to be lately (or ever), but like Wayne, voice isn't exactly something that Eminem had perfected on his first try.

So hopefully this post points out some similarities in Wayne and Eminem and how their careers aren't so different (we're not so different, you and I, *cue Dr. Evil voice*). You certainly hope that Eminem and Wayne's careers both aren't on the downward spiral that they seem to be, but if they are you know they'll both go out with a bang, and seeing as Eminem has mentored Slaughterhouse and Wayne has mentored Nicki and Drake into the game, you certainly wouldn't expect either of them to leave the game completely (possibly executive producing albums, Eminem's history of producing, both could be great studio presences, etc.) Nothing is for certain as of right now though, so keeping your eyes and ears open is the name of the game it seems for both, arguably 2 of the greatest to ever do it.