The final day of August came with a big surprise in the musical world: Eminem was back. After his album “Revival” last year, Eminem wouldn’t be producing anymore new sounds for a while, as he was between albums. However, his surprise album “Kamikaze” came out of nowhere to stun the world. Eminem’s 2017 album “Revival” had poor sales and reception from fans and peers alike. The album received a vast amount of hate for the new style Eminem was implementing on it, his usual angry, darkly-funny, mocking tone being replaced by just angry. Along with tone, “Revival” had a lyrical bluntness uncharacteristic of Eminem’s clever, biting style of rapping. With last year’s album being received terribly, Eminem has seemingly reevaluated himself and came back swinging with “Kamikaze,” his surprise end of summer album.
Eminem means business with “Kamikaze,” the title alone lets everyone know he is thundering back into the public spotlight. The opening song “The Ringer,” establishes a very different tone to last year, Eminem is pissed, and not like the cold, dejected anger of “Revival,” this will be a white hot diss track album. “The Ringer” begins with Eminem angrily talking into the mic, before unleashing a fast-paced verse calling out many of the rappers who criticized him for “Revival.” Eminem mocks the choppy style of Migos and many other modern “trap” artists as he makes fun of them for all copying each other.
Next is “Greatest,” which is another fast-paced track, but this time it’s not as much of an attack on other rappers as it is Eminem rapping about his accomplishments and how he might just be the greatest rapper. Followed by “Lucky You” featuring Joyner Lucas, a rising star in rap. Returning to his initial song’s attacking tone, Eminem launches a second assault on his naysayers, this time with Joyner Lucas beside him. Both Rappers give brutal verses criticizing their critics at a violently fast pace.
This is followed up later with “Fall,” “Not Alike” and the title track “Kamikaze,” which all have basically the same point to make. The middle of “Kamikaze” finally slows down with two of Eminem’s infamous skits, which are supposed phone calls of his, where he threatens people and goes unhinged in a darkly funny way. After the skit section we get to another Eminem staple: his relationship songs. These are “Normal,” “Nice Guy,” and “Good Guy,” and they cover more of Eminem’s relationship struggles, with the second two made to flow together seamlessly with a tone overhaul to set them apart. Rounding out “Kamikaze” are “Venom” and “Stepping Stone” which are quite different from the rest of the album in their separate ways. “Venom” being an edgy soundtrack for the upcoming movie and “Stepping Stone” an apology to his former rap group D12, for using them to boost his career.
All around I highly recommend “Kamikaze,” the album is essentially a massive response from Eminem to his haters and it is a joy to hear him go off on them.