The beats on “Stepdad” and “Lock It Up” are second to none, while “Little Engine” and “Farewell” wouldn’t feel out of place on albums released two decades ago.īut the world has changed in two decades. Longtime stans will rejoice to find three (!) collaborations with Royce da 5’9”, particularly the frenetic “Yah Yah,” also featuring Q-Tip and Denaun. For better or worse, most of Music to Be Murdered By is simply Eminem doing what he does best: gratuitously savage, antagonistic rhymes for the pure, juvenile sake of it. Unlike his last two releases, this album is neither pop-leaning (with exception of one Ed Sheeran feature) nor a straight-up diss record. “They say these bars are like COVID,” he raps on “Gnat.” “You get ’em right off the bat.” But they’re timestamped with references to the pandemic lexicon: social distancing, hand sanitizer, quarantine, etc. The extra tracks, released just before Christmas, carry all the aggressive, sinister, occasionally unacceptable themes we’ve come to expect from the legendary rapper. And while some of us spent the year baking bread, watching TV, and chatting with friends online, Eminem pulled out his notepad.
In January, before the world entered lockdown, we were reacquainted with Eminem’s chainsaw-wielding alter ego Slim Shady in an album as cold and uncompromising as the title suggests. And the same can be said of this deluxe edition, released almost a year later, featuring 16 new tracks. If you were hoping that an Eminem album released in 2020 would be less offensive, violent, or controversial, this album isn’t for you.
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