When I heard that Eminem was coming back with an album this year, I was thinking of the days of yore…the times where Eminem would say something drastically outrageous about some group or person and was then hated by America for saying outlandish things in one or more of his songs. Or the days of Slim Shady LP, the Marshall Mathers LP or The Eminem Show with songs like Forgot About Dre, The Real Slim Shady, The Way I Am or Without Me, and even songs he made with D12 – the list goes on, still all classic Eminem hits. With that, I would have to say I got excited. I was figuring Eminem was going to come back, crashing back into the rap game and commence a takeover with Relapse.

But, there is something about this album that scares me. Not in a terrifying, “man he’s nuts…” kinda of way, well yea…but more of a “wow, he’s boardline everything – suicidal, mentally ill, traumatized, etc.” This albums goes well above and beyond the Eminem we knew over the past 10 years. This album is troubled, a bottled up piece of work that spans 5 years of hiatus that saw Eminem go through drug addiction and the lost of his good friend and member of D12, Proof.

With frequent reference to his drug problems over the past 5 years, his troubling childhood and relationship with his mother, Eminem gives us a higher standard of shock value with Relpase. Throughout this album you hear the voice of maniac being continuing to being chased by his demons of drugs, the limelight as a star, death, and wanting to commit murder. However, there is no slip in lyrical talent, Eminem still twists, turns words, and tells vivid stories like no other rapper in the game. Crack a Bottle and We Made You are the current singles out right now but songs like his first single, 3 A.M., Hello, Same Song & Dance, and Deja Vu are stories that come to life in your ears and our definite listens. Eminem definitely gets into his personal problems with My Mom and Insane take you down a road of the abuse, trauma, and drugs that is apart of who he is. This album may get many mixed reviews and I am still unsure about it as a whole myself, but I think he meant for that to happen with his listeners. One thing is evidvent though, Eminem has not lost a step in his 5 year hiatus. Check out the Relapse on iTunes here:

Eminem also plans to release the Relapse 2, a second album, sometime next year, so be on the lookout for more. Here’s Eminem back to his old video antics in We Made You…

This is WHAT’S IN MY HEADPHONES…