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.  



  

 

 

     

   

Royce Da 5'9 & DJ Premier's "PRhyme": Why You Should Be Excited

It seems Royce Da 5'9 is taking it to the next level with this one. Earlier this week a short video surfaced of DJ Premier joining alongside Royce rapping in a video over what you could only assume was some choice Premo production. People of the internet were rather excited about what this could possibly mean, but since then no further details were released...until now.

PRhyme is going to be a full length Royce Da 5'9 LP with DJ Premier taking the reigns handling production. It's hard to tell where Premo is going to take the production with on this one, whether or not he chooses to sample certain artists or keep the sampling to a minimum. He did have this to say about the album recently; "I've never sampled just one artist, I'm known for my reputation and my creativity. I wanted it to be my traditional thing where I sample everything I find, but I am really proud of how the project came out and Royce is one hell of a pusher."  From the sounds of this it seems there is a minimum of sampling from Premo, but time will tell what we see in terms of production on the album.

PRhyme will boast some MONSTER features, however. It is confirmed that the project will feature Dwele, Killer Mike, Common, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Mac Miller, of course his fellow group mates Slaughterhouse, and Royce and Premo even managed to grab Jay Electronica for a feature. Are you excited yet?!  PRhyme has not been given a release date yet, but is rumored to be put out before the end of the year.

The route the Slaughterhouse members have been taking for their music releases has been an interesting one to say the least. Crooked I's last release Apex Predator was put out about halfway through last year, Joell Ortiz's House Slippers saw a release a bit more than a week ago, while Joe Budden has plans for his EP Some Love Lost in November and the release date for the album All Love Lost has yet to be determined.

Being that it is almost October already, so far it seems like these releases from Joe and Royce will spill into next year, while Slaughterhouse as a whole will supposedly be featured on the anniversary project Shady XV and also have their album Glass House coming (no release date given) as well. So far it seems next year will be a very exciting year for Slaughterhouse and Shady fans alike, but all you can do now is wait. Check out the teaser video for Royce and Premo's PRhyme below.

              (*I do not own this video, or the rights to it, Royce Da 5'9, DJ Premier, or PRhyme*)











                  

Shady XV: An Exciting Year For Shady Fans

Normally I'm more of a Twitter addict than I'd like to admit, but last night I was glued to it for one reason and one reason only. You'd probably think because of the VMAs right?  Wrong. Well, half right. But it wasn't because of Beyoncé's acceptance of the Video Vanguard Award, it wasn't because of Nicki Minaj or Iggy Azalea (at least not last night), and it wasn't even because of Usher's performance (shocker). I was glued to Twitter of course because of Eminem's Shady XV!  What is Shady XV you ask?  Well now I can tell you (since last night Mr. ILikeToRelease20SecondPromoVideosButGiveNoRealDetails didn't feel like... you know, giving any details).

At first I was excited about seeing an Eminem tweet that read "Blink and you'll miss it... #VMAs #SHADYXV." But of course we should know by now that when it comes to Mr. ILikeToRelease20SecondPromoVideosButGiveNoRealDetails, that was all people were going to get. Oddly enough the real promo didn't come during the Video Music Awards, but on Twitter. Shortly after this tweet, Eminem then continued to tweet a 20 second promo video that ended with the words "SHADYXV" on the screen. Check out the promo video below.

Pretty sweet right?  Now if you think too much about these sorts of things (like me) and start to make your own theories about what this could mean, your first assumption would be that it's another sequel to a classic album. Slim Shady LP 2 possibly?  Man would that be insane!  It only makes sense right?  Following up the successful 2013 effort Marshall Mathers LP 2 with a sequel to a record that started it all?  While all of this sounds cool, to me Shady fans got something equally as cool, released in a statement exclusively from shadyrecords.com. Shady XV is a compilation album release of Shady Record's 15th anniversary of its original start in 1999. It will include the greatest hits of all Shady Records members, including the newly released "Guts Over Fear" record from Eminem and Sia that will be used as the lead single for "The Equalizer," the new movie featuring Denzel Washington.

But there is more than just a compilation album coming folks. Yes that is correct, not only will we be getting a new album of the greatest hits from these fellow Shady Records members that will include new material, we will also be getting new albums from Eminem, Slaughterhouse, Yelawolf, Bad Meets Evil, and even a new D12 record is on the way. Are you excited yet? 

So admittedly I'm pretty damn excited about what is going to be happening in the rap world in what I can only assume to be the next year. I mean it wouldn't be proper to release this 15 year anniversary album the year after the anniversary, obviously, the compilation album is set for a November 24th release date. But in the year to come?!  A HUGE year for Shady Records alone, let alone all of hip hop. I've personally been waiting for a new Slaughterhouse album since after the last one came out (knowing they can do better production-wise, and they will, with Just Blaze at the helm obviously). Only time will tell what happens up until that point. It's funny, it's almost like the calm before the storm all over again. Enjoy Eminem's new single "Guts Over Fear" below.