The End of Eminem (Village Voice)

[hiphopnation]

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0448/essay.php

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It's a transformation he's been attempting ever since the image cleanse that was 8 Mile, his first public attempt to shirk his celebrity and return to the pre-fame womb. Granted, it's difficult to hide inside of a Hollywood blockbuster, but Marshall Mathers certainly tried. 8 Mile was all about valorizing the type of MC Eminem once was—a scrappy, outcast one—back when his whiteness was a hindrance, not a privilege.

<snip>

On "Rain Man," a particularly dolorous track that features lengthy disquisitions on Christopher Reeve and on what constitutes "gay," he still manages to play with flow in remarkable fashion. "I don't gotta make no goddamn sense," he raps at the end. "I just did a whole song/and I didn't say shit." It's only because he says nothing so artfully and so unpredictably (has he been listening to those old Anticon tapes?) that songs like this and "Big Weenie," both of which are bewilderingly bad, aren't fast-forwardable. No other rapper would merit such indulgence.

<snip>

These are the signs of a man given to abnegation. He doesn't want to conquer rap again. Rather, he wants to become part of its fabric, to become unremarkable. And to do that, he has to lay waste to the legacy that he's made. So is Encore his retirement album, then? Not exactly. "I got unfinished business with rap music right now," he said on TRL two weeks ago. But despite the megalomania displayed on tracks like the anti-Bush "Mosh," it may be some time before the old Slim Shady comes out for a spin. On Encore's closing skit, and in the accompanying album artwork, he opens fire on his audience before turning the gun on himself. Biggie ended Ready to Die with his own death, but it was crucial to the album's narrative. Jay-Z had himself killed in the video for "99 Problems"—a metaphor for the death of Jay-Z and the rebirth of Shawn Carter—and that's a better analogue for Eminem's strategy. After 77 minutes of Encore's dizzy befuddling, the gunshots serve as notice not to get too close. For Em, the opportunity to ebb into relative quiet is too good to pass up. Parse all you want, he's saying. There's nothing to see, or hear, here.

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Anyone heard the new record yet? I just orderded it. I've only heard a few tracks but am dying to hear the rest of it. This is an interesting take on what Em is doing with "Encore" i.e. killing off the Eminem persona.

[hiphopnation]

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