If you have ever doubted the existence of original sin, Eminem’s latest album, Relapse, will restore your belief. It’s not just the torrent of profanity, though that is enough to leave you reeling. But more than that, the content is terribly dark and ugly, covering things like drugs, rape, pedophilia, assault and more. I don’t think Eminem is a particularly bad bloke - but he is giving voice to the nasty side of human nature.
If you know anything at all about music, you have pay due credit to Eminem’s talents. His previous albums have been marked by sharp raps, compelling rhythms, and some highly original production. There are glimpses of all of that here, but the album generally feels tired. The production lacks the freshness of an album like The Eminem Show, and you wonder if his producer, Dr Dre, has run out of ideas. Most of the songs lack the biting satire of his best work, and he regresses to track after track of vile misogyny, scraping the very bottom of the modern rap barrel. He sounds like an artist with nothing left to say.
There are a few highlights though. The best track is Deja Vu, about his struggle with alcohol and prescription medication. The song begins dramatically with an ambulance report about his own overdose - “DMC, we have a mid-30’s male found down, unresponsive. Possible overdose, substance unknown. Pulse is 60 and thready…” The song then moves into a rap about his battle to remain clean, as he wavers between the desire for sobriety and the desire for alcohol -
Maybe just a nice cold brew “What’s a beer?”
That’s the devil in my ear I been sober a ... year
And that ... still talks to me he’s all I can ... hear
“Marshall come on we’ll watch the game, it’s the Cowboys and Buccaneers”
The devil is a real character on this album, and some of the darker lyrics are overdubbed with a demonic, growling voice. Eminem knows he is fighting the devil in the bottle, but there are some other battlefronts too. Women, his parents, fame, authority - he is wrestling the devil in all of these areas. And if this album is anything to go by, the devil is winning.
