I'm Back Baby!

So after a long hiatus, I've decided to revive Skullcast for the five people actually reading it.

So let's get right to it shall we?

Today I want to talk about Eminem.
I recently read this interview he did for Spin.
In the interview Em discusses his long struggle with a prescription pill addiction, his recent (and hopefully lasting)sobriety and the pressures of growing old gracefully in the rap game.>>>

I first encountered Eminem as an angry, mal-adjusted middle schooler. Eminem appealed to me because he was angry and outrageous. Also he was kind of associated with the nu-metal scene(which I was deep into at this stage) as well as gangsta rap. The shocking lyrics now seem a bit transparent, but the cleverness of Em's wordplay is still enticing.
Eminem's music came under fire in the post-columbine era, earning him a place alongside provocateurs like Marylin Manson as a contributing cause of the increase in youth violence. He was hated by fundamentalist Christian groups and the gay rights movement alike. Saying you were a fan of his music was risky, yet he continued to sell millions of units week after week month after month.
Of course, with that kind of meteoric rise to success comes a lot of pitfalls. Eminem faced criticism for being a shallow shock artist, as well as accusations of ripping off fellow white "horrorcore" rapper Cage. At this time Em was raging on booze, pills, club drugs, weed and pretty much anything he could get his hands on. But very few people saw the cracks developing in his "Slim Shady" persona.
The first cracks apparent to the public appeared on his third album, "The Eminem Show" in which he revealed his desire to escape his persona and just be himself. It was the first time he showed emotional honesty and vulnerability in songs like "Cleaning out my Closet" and "Sing for the Moment". It was a decided step towards maturity and artistic credibility.
Unfortunately, Eminem's previous selling strength was waning, and the ever-fickle rap scene was threatening to leave him behind. At this point in time, Em was moving into producing, in the footsteps of his mentor Dr. Dre. This gave birth to D12, a sort of rap legion of doom fronted by the man himself. D12 didn't stray too far from the Slim Shady formula, but the addition of other voices gave their first album a bit of a different flavor.
It was also around this time that Eminem introduced the world to 50 Cent, who would go on to multi-platinum status himself. Things still seemed bright for Eminem, but his private life was in shambles. He'd been in and out of a volatile relationship with his ex-wife and mother of his daughter. He had a nasty legal fight against his mother, and was on a downward spiral of drug and alcohol abuse.
By the release of "Encore", his fourth full-length, Eminem was losing it. While his more emotional songs still had the grit and vulnerability he'd been flirting with on his previous albums, the more "fun" songs were silly and embarrassing. Many began to think that Em lost his edge.
After Encore's less than stellar (though passable) sales, he retreated from the limelight, with many people speculating that he would retire from rapping and focus on producing and mentoring younger acts. Instead, Eminem spiraled further into his addiction. He became reclusive and wouldn't leave his home for days at a time, gorging on fast food and sliding into paranoia and depression.
But eventually, Em decided it was time to get clean. Not only to resuscitate his quickly languishing career, but also for the sake of his children. He resurfaced in 2009 with "Relapse" which wasn't quite the return to form people were expecting. The album sold well, but still had hints of the goofy hijinks of "Encore". Em seemed like a man rehashing his old tricks, but uncomfortable with doing so. Perhaps rehab had changed him, or perhaps he was just realizing that he was nearing 40 and that psycho murder anthems weren't really dignified anymore.
Either way, Em scrapped a planned "sequel" to relapse and came out swinging with "Recovery", which may actually be his strongest and most emotional album yet. Listening to these new songs makes me realize how much I missed the guy and what I liked about him in the first place. His talent for clever wordplay has remained intact, as have his pop sensibilities. I recommend you pick it up if you are now or ever have been a fan, and if you aren't there are worse places you could start.