Eminem – Relapse
Rating: 
Review Date: August 10, 2009
Website: Eminem Website
Label: Shady Records
Eminem “Relapse” Album Review
Okay – so this album did drop a long time ago. And I am months behind on reviewing it. But being that Eminem doesn’t really fit HHL’s underground niche, I had no plans to talk about “Relapse” on the site. That was until a couple weeks ago when I posted Déjà Vu as quotable of the week and started reading all the negative responses toward it. And it immediately became clear that underground hip-hop fans are hating on Eminem right now – so I had to put in my two cents.
Now I can’t really blame a lot of the people hating on Em right now. After all, the content on “Relapse” is not much different from Eminem’s past albums. He’s basically still talking about his mom, drugs, and celebrities he doesn’t like – including Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Mariah Carey, and even the late Christopher Reeve. And while as an underground hip-hop fan, content is a major factor for me, I still can’t deny the fact that Eminem’s “Relapse” is a dope album. In fact, the beats and rhymes more than make up for the lack of lyrical content – and make “Relapse” a great listen.
Why I Like This Album?
1. Em spits fire – Eminem’s past couple of albums seem to have been more chorus driven and radio-friendly – no doubt in an attempt to get radio airplay and sell albums to the masses. However, “Relapse” is not like that. With the exception of a handful of skits and maybe a track or two, every song on this album revolves around three verses of straight hardcore rhyming in a way only Eminem can do. Some of the rhyme schemes Em throws together are truly amazing on this album – and that is the major reason I like “Relapse.”
One great example is from the track Stay Wide Awake. Now while this song is mad disturbing in that Eminem is talking about raping women in a horrifyingly descriptive manner, the skill with which he puts his rhymes together in various places throughout a single line or statement is simply amazing. It’s that seeming combination of talent and madness we so often see coupled. The first verse from that song pretty much says it all:
Fee-fi-fo-fum I think I smell the center of placenta/
I’ve entered Central Park it’s dark, it’s winter in December/
I see my target put my car in park and approach a tender/
Young girl by the name of Brenda and I pretend to befriend her/
Sit down beside her like a spider, hi there girl you mighta/
Heard of me before see whore you’re the kinda girl that I’da/
Soap and rape and figure why not try to make your pussy wider/
Fuck you with an umbrella then open it up while the shit’s inside ya/
I’m the kinda guy that’s mild but I might flip and get a little bit wilder/
Impregnate a lesbian girl, now let’s see you have triplets and now the/
Disintegrate them babies as soon as they’re out here with Formalde-/
Hyde and Cyanide girl you can try and hide, you can try to scream louder/
No need for no gun powder, that only takes all the fun outta/
Murdering I’d rather go bin-bin and now you see just how the/
Fuck I do just what I do when I cut right through your scalpa/
Wait a minute I mean skull my knife seems dull, pull another one out uh/
2. Em is a funny dude yo – Eminem is one of those entertainers that always makes me realize how sensitive people are. I mean, hasn’t dude been around long enough for you to realize that most of what he’s saying are just off-the-wall jokes and attempts to get under your skin? To me, the majority of what he says is just funny, and I continuously find myself cracking up at various verses in “Relapse.” One great example is in the track Hello, as the second verse about hooking up with a girl at a party could be the funniest shit on the album:
My equilibrium’s off must be the lithium/
I don’t need to buy any drugs man people give me ‘em/
It just becomes every day extra curriculum/
No reason in particular it was strictly fun/
A fifth of run and two bottles of one fifty one/
Fifty-one people are sleep in my damn living room/
Excuse me hun but what is your name, Vivian?/
I woke up next to you naked and uh did we um?/
Of course we did, but didn’t I strap jimmy hun?/
I’m looking for the torn wrapper but there don’t seem any one/
No offense baby girl I don’t mean any harm/
But disease is something I’m trying to keep my penis free from/
I find the package and I’m cool, I immediately run/
Like Speedy Gonzales to see if I see anyone/
Who might have a couple of threes, I’m feening for some/
My head is pounding to the beat of the drum/
3. There are some great lyrics in “Relapse” – Despite what I referred to earlier as a lack of intellectual or conscious lyrical content, Eminem does drops some great verses and conscious songs on this album. Tracks like My Mom and Insane, in which Em talks about his mother-influenced drug addiction and being sexually molested by his stepfather, are no less brilliant just because he’s talked about those topics before in different ways. Beautiful is perhaps the most heartfelt track on the album, as Em talks about his trials and tribulations in a more straightforward and less sarcastic tone. And former HHL quotable of the week Déjà Vu shows the inner dialogue of a drug addict and how one can rationalize drug use. The following verse from that song is about this rationalization:
So I take a Vicodin splash it hits my stomach and ahhh/
A couple weeks go by it aint even like I’m getting high/
Now I need it just not to feel sick, yeah I’m getting by/
Wouldn’t even be taking this shit if DeShaun didn’t die/
Oh yeah there’s an excuse you lose Proof so you use/
There’s new rules it’s cool if it’s helping you to get through.
It’s twelve noon aint no harm in self inducing a snooze/
What else is new? Fuck it what would Elvis do in your shoes?/
Now here I am three months later, full blown relapse/
‘Just get high until the kids get home from school holmes, relax’/
And since im convinced that I’m insomniac/
I need these pills to be able to sleep, so I take three naps/
Just to be able to function throughout the day let’s see/
That’s an Ambien each nap, how many Valium? Three/
And that will average out to about one good hours sleep/
Okay so now you see/
The reason how come he/
Has taken four years just to put out an album B/
See me and you we almost had the same outcome Heath/
Cuz that Christmas you know the Pneumonia thing?/
It was bologna, was it the Methadone ya think?/
Or the Hydrocodone, you hide inside your pornos?/
Your VCR tape cases with your Ambien CR/
Great places to hide ‘em ain’t it?/
So you can lie to Haley/
‘I’m going beddy bye Whitney baby good night Elaina’/
Go in the room and shut the bedroom door and wake up in an ambulance/
They said they found me on the bathroom floor, damn/
4. Eminem is experimenting with his flow – One of the major complaints I heard from this album was that Eminem’s voice was annoying and that his flow sounded Caribbean. But personally, I like what Eminem did with his flow on “Relapse.” I thought the whole accent thing wasn’t forced, but more a product of the way he was trying to flow differently over the beats – and it worked out pretty well for me. While we might be able to complain about Eminem’s inability to evolve into more serious or advanced subject matter, we definitely can’t accuse him of not evolving his flow and rhyme style on this album. And one evolution is better than none, right?
Overall: I think a lot of people hated on Eminem’s “Relapse” simply because that’s what we do – we hate on shit. But if you’re one of those underground hip-hop cats who is talking all that shit, take a minute to listen, or listen again. When you really take a minute to hear this album, and perhaps try to pretend that it’s not Eminem so that you can dispel some of your preconceived notions, I think you’ll find that it is definitely a quality hip-hop record. Peace.
Album Track Listing:
- Dr. West (Skit)
- 3am
- My Mom
- Insane
- Bagpipes From Baghdad
- Hello
- Tonya (Skit)
- Same Song & Dance
- We Made You
- Medicine Ball
- Paul (Skit)
- Stay Wide Awake
- Old Time’s Sake f. Dr. Dre
- Must Be The Ganja
- Mr. Mathers
- Deja Vu
- Beautiful
- Crack A Bottle f. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent
- Steve Berman (Skit)
- Underground/Ken Kaniff
Kats wrote:
Monster album! The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Eminem is a beast…and getting back to Dre production is always a good move, the beats on this album are great!
Posted on 10-Aug-09 at 12:05 am | Permalink
Keebz wrote:
I don’t understand how any fan of hiphop can dislike Em. His content might not be suitable (albeit hilarious) but his lyrical talent and ability to create incredible rhyme schemes more than makes up for it. Plus, Em started in the underground and is a shining example of a battle emcee who can actually make dope music as well.
Posted on 10-Aug-09 at 12:56 am | Permalink
BeatRoot wrote:
Em hating might be a underground past time these days, but that’s not why I hate on the album. Hell I’ve not chance chance to listen to the whole album to hate on it.
Truth is I still just really can’t stand his flow, so much so I can’t actually listen to the whole album as it just annoys the shit out of me. It’s just a personal thing, but I can’t change my ears just to placate a bunch of cats who think it’s dope.
Posted on 10-Aug-09 at 6:15 am | Permalink
K wrote:
BeatRoot, that isn’t a personal thing, it is also my feeling too.
I think his flow has gone awful since the eminem show, the pills did him no good at all.
I can think of albums that gripped me way more than Relapse that were released this year, hell I’ve been back to Relapse and still wondered what the rage is about.
I’m going to do it again now but I just don’t seem to be able to like it. He annoys my ears.
Posted on 10-Aug-09 at 7:04 am | Permalink
Jay-Izzle wrote:
I like the album but there are a couple annoying spots, so I feel both of y’all.
Posted on 10-Aug-09 at 9:22 am | Permalink
Jacob Broesder wrote:
At first I thought the “accent” was annoying but get passed it and listen to how it flows and it’s all good, atleast for me…Still didn’t think the album was too great I listen to it every now and then nothing special….It’s wierd how before I found underground music Eminem was all I ever listened to, I could listen to every eminem song and recite every word and tell you what track number it was and on what album and everything because it seemed to be the only good rap out there. I didn’t know that i liked conscious rap but I unconciously liked it and didn’t like anything else until I was introduced to underground emcees Atmosphere was first of course
.
Posted on 10-Aug-09 at 9:38 am | Permalink
Z wrote:
I feel you Jacob, Atmosphere was my first introduction to “underground” Hip Hop. But i cant get past the “accent”, I find it to be wack an unlisinable. There are some dope songs though.
Posted on 10-Aug-09 at 11:36 am | Permalink
Jordan wrote:
I have to say I’m a little shocked this album got reviewed and Mod Def’s new one did not. I thought maybe this site was going true underground only, but if now I have to wonder why no love for Mos Def? That album was sick.
Posted on 10-Aug-09 at 9:25 pm | Permalink
K wrote:
Jordan, I wasn’t a fan of Mos Def’s either, not because I am difficult to please but because he seems to have run out of subject matter.
Though I hear he has an album coming with Jay Electronica? Which I’ll definitely look forward to.
As for the review, how come it has gone from 5* to 4*?
Posted on 11-Aug-09 at 7:40 am | Permalink
Nathaniel wrote:
K – my bad on the rating problem. I published this review late Sunday night and was blazed, so I accidientally labeled it as a 5 instead of a 4. I didn’t realize this until around noon yesterday – so I changed to the correct rating.
This is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t do drugs. PEACE.
Posted on 11-Aug-09 at 9:30 am | Permalink
K wrote:
hahaha, funny, that’s cool. Thanks for the confirmation.
Stay away from drugs.
Posted on 11-Aug-09 at 11:04 am | Permalink
Kats wrote:
A 4 huh? I don’t know Nat…that’s a perfect example of comparing Eminem to himself at his best, or to how good you believe him to be / wish him to be…think about it in comparison with the other albums you reviewed this past year…imagine you never heard Em before and just stumbled upon this album…no one kills it harder, has more clever and original point of view, flows tighter, has better beats, etc. I agree that this isn’t Eminem’s best work, but I think he’s still far better than most emcees will ever be. And it’s obviously not an underground record, and doesn’t have that sort of sound…so think about it in comparison with “mainstream” releases…what was the last one everyone was excited about…Wayne? Drake? Whoever the fuck…Eminem is a fucking beast, we just take that for granted now.
Posted on 11-Aug-09 at 2:13 pm | Permalink
K wrote:
I hear you Kats, I just disagree that this is anywhere close to A Piece Of Strange or Joyful Rebellion. Two examples of albums that will absolutely shatter Relapse for its subject matter, beats and all round delivery. Of course, in my opinion.
People forget that when Em dropped the Marshall Mathers LP it wasn’t recognised as the masterpiece that it was, I belive the Source give it 3 1/2 to 4 mics.
In my opinion 4 stars is generous, yet Nathaniel is generous with his ratings and fair play to him. I would be too if I was running my own blog and wanted to talk about the albums I loved.
In my opinion it’s a 3 1/2 star album, no doubt, Eminem is a fucking beast and some tracks here… very few albeit… show that off perfectly, but the songs where he shines lyrically are still disliked by quite a few people because of his annoyingly forced flow. I don’t think he’s blowing over barriers, I believe he’s taking backsteps.
Go back and listen to a SoundBombing tape, tell me Eminem is anywhere near that place anymore.
I know we give him a tough time, but his albums were always safe, he was outstanding and yet they all followed the same formula and his subject matter got boring. Hayley, Kim, his mom, zzzzzzz
Dude is a genius and will go down as the best rapper of the 00’s in my opinion for all round talent. But the last two albums didn’t cut it for me.
Posted on 11-Aug-09 at 8:03 pm | Permalink
BeatRoot wrote:
Interesting to hear views on this. How do you judge an album when you don’t know where it should sit.
I had a similar problem with the new illogic joint, I spent weeks trying to articulate a valid and honest review. I felt it was crazy tight and off the hook,
but it wasn’t what I was expecting as unforeseen shadows and celestial clockworks are hip-hope classics in my eyes, yet this this wasn’t the same. I
But after a while and much drug use later I was left with the question of how can you judge an album based on previous works? Surely no two works will be the same as any self respecting artist will grow and be at a different point in their life with every album. Sure some of the things might be the similar, but there will always be differences. So as a critic you have to judge an album against only that piece of work, it’s a subjective process where the critic must put the album against their own set criteria.
I guess that’s it except to say the new Illogic is the dopest release of the year, nothing I’ve heard this year comes close (review of it over)….
Posted on 12-Aug-09 at 5:47 am | Permalink
Jacob Broesder wrote:
I’d have to agree with kats, but I still think if an artist shuts down your hopes for an amazing record that means he lost his touch or he has changed. I’d rather listen to The Marshal Mathers LP than this so that must be better shouldn’t it? So this would deserve a lesser rating.
Posted on 12-Aug-09 at 9:32 am | Permalink
Nathaniel wrote:
I wouldn’t presume that I gave Em a 4 because I was comparing him to his past works. I gave him a 4 because I’m a lyrics guy and dude wasn’t really talking about anything significant for the majority of the album. Plain and simple.
Dope flow and rhymes can get you up to a 4 in my book, but unless you’ve got something new or innovative to say, I can’t go much above a 4. But 4 is a good album rating …
As far as comparing it to albums this year, k-os and K’naan easily made better albums – hands down.
Posted on 12-Aug-09 at 10:00 am | Permalink
K wrote:
Definitely, we have similar likenesses Nathaniel.
By the way Nathaniel have you checked out:
Cradle Orchestra – Velvet Ballads
That album is very well done. I’d say to check it.
Posted on 12-Aug-09 at 11:43 am | Permalink
ad wrote:
This album is a 2 at best
Posted on 15-Aug-09 at 10:15 pm | Permalink
e wrote:
I’m sorry, but I think this album is terrible. This album is not really comparable to Marshall Mathers or Slim Shady LP. Even though he talks about the same offensive stuff on all of them, on his previous albums, he was portraying himself as a psychopath and using his offensiveness to force American society to reflect on its own misplaced moral priorities. “Relapse,” on the other hand, is offensive with no real value. He has a whole verse about felching, for God’s sakes, in a terrible, unnecessary Jamaican accent. It doesn’t take a particularly squeamish person to find this simply tasteless and, on the whole, neither funny nor insightful. I think one would be hard-pressed to call “My Mom” conscious rap. Its just him recycling “Cleaning Out My Closet” with less intimate lyrics, more needless jabs, and a ridiculous caricature of a voice. This isn’t me “hating” on Eminem; as Common said “If I don’t like it, I don’t like it. That don’t mean I’m hating.”
Posted on 16-Aug-09 at 2:09 pm | Permalink
Kats wrote:
I thought that about “My Mom” at first too…but after listening to it a bunch, I think it’s pretty great…I do understand how you may not like this album, I have to admit I had to work on liking it…still though “Alright mom you win / I don’t feel like arguing”… dude has crazy ill flows!
Posted on 19-Aug-09 at 8:09 pm | Permalink
kiranraj wrote:
u mothafukas em is the besttttttttttttt
Posted on 30-Aug-09 at 1:27 am | Permalink
RRich1016 wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCr3v-xL6YY
The accent was definitely annoying, but I think that its played a part in Eminem refining his style and finding new ways to rhyme. Looking forward to Relapse 2
Posted on 26-Sep-09 at 1:10 am | Permalink
VS wrote:
THIS IS THE BEST, MOST HONEST, REALEST, USING-A-BRAIN REVIEW I’VE EVER SEEN – no joke
WAY too many ppl hated on Relapse and NONE of those who hated it made any mention of the lyrical dexterity, storytelling, etc. of Eminem – they’re the same ppl who think that all of Eminem’s stuff should be like MMLP because that was a “classic”
and i completely agree about his accent – it worked very well with (and was probably just a byproduct of) his flow
…………….in fact, if a new artist came out with this album (with the same accent, lyrics, flow, etc.) he would be praised beyond belief – just cuz something is different doesn’t mean it’s bad
stop COMPARING songs/albums, and start EVALUATING them
good rap is good rap
Posted on 17-Nov-09 at 7:36 pm | Permalink
Rhetoric wrote:
Relapse is a dope album. period.
Posted on 14-Dec-09 at 1:24 am | Permalink
Dave wrote:
In my opinion, this record is AMAZING – sick beats, dope flows, unique styles, incredible lyrics. Even the accents have grown on me. With the exception of a couple of joints, this does not qualify as a “mainstream” release, despite its massive sales. To me this is an underground album in many ways. A true comeback for Eminem, and I feel like its second only to “The Eminem Show” as far as an Eminem record goes. Can’t wait till Relapse Refill drops on Dec. 21.
Posted on 17-Dec-09 at 6:40 pm | Permalink
billa wrote:
keebz said it best!
Posted on 17-Dec-09 at 11:18 pm | Permalink
The.Watcher wrote:
I’m an underground nut, but even I have to say that this album is very good, if not quite brilliant.
There was def some annoying songs – I can’t stand Bagpipes, Same Song, We Made You & Ganja.
But tracks such as 3AM, Mom, Wide Awake, Beautiful and especially my fav song from the album; My Darling (Bonus) -more than make up for it.
Overall, not Em’s best by far, but compared to Eminem Show, Encore, Re-Up this is a damn step better. So I give it a **** as a welcome return to form.
Posted on 05-Mar-10 at 3:26 am | Permalink