Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (Polydor) ⋆⋆
Remaining relevant in the rap game has always been difficult. Where rock fans tend to venerate their veterans, ageing MCs often slide into insignificance.
Take the very first hip-hop hitmakers, The Sugarhill Gang. Two decades after their 1979 breakthrough they were performing trashy nightclub sets and sounding awfully bitter during interviews. The edgier next wave – Ice T, Ice Cube, LL Cool J – wisely turned to acting. All now have recurring roles as cops, ironically.
Having amassed a healthy fortune – albeit more from TV ads than recent albums – Eminem has no need to hawk his old hits around dreary nightspots. And yet the emergence of this belated sequel smacks of a similar dearth of new ideas, a cynical yearning for the glory years.
The Detroit rapper was at his headline-grabbing peak in 2000, when the Marshall Mathers LP became America’s fastest-selling solo album. Nakedly autobiographical – Mathers is his real name – it bored deeply into the roots and rage of this significant new voice.
That voice is slightly gruffer, 13 years on. “Wasn’t ready to be no millionaire,” he admits on the rock-powered anthem, Survival, before lamenting that his earlier work was about “standing for something”.
And now? “Here’s the sequel to my Mathers LP,” announces the deranged protagonist of Bad Guy, a patchy follow-up to the epic single, Stan. “How’s this for a publicity stunt?” A joke, perhaps, but it soon becomes horribly apparent that this once transcendent talent is now treading water, rather than walking on it.
Eminem’s back catalogue boasts some wonderfully rich wordplay, but clichés abound here, lazy choruses suggesting a lack of care or commitment. Worse are the woefully uninspired samples, rudely wrenched from classic singles (notably The Zombies’ already much-abused Time of the Season), over which he performs a sort of hip-hop karaoke. And the now 41-year-old rapper really should retire the juvenile lewdness: his duet with Kendrick Lamar, Love Game, is execrable.
Rihanna offers respite on Monster – which immediately follows one of Eminem’s own misguided attempts at crooning – although that perennial lady-sings-the-chorus formula also becomes tiresome. More interesting is the penultimate track, Headlights, featuring Nate Ruess from the band fun. and some revealing lyrics about familial strife. These fresh insights are welcome, but only on Rap God does the star deign to fully demonstrate the rapid-fire skills that got him signed in the first place.
Does Mathers still matter? The TV cop shows are calling.
artslife@thenational.ae
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Bournemouth 0
Manchester United 2
Smalling (28'), Lukaku (70')
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RESULTS
6.30pm UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) US$100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Final Song, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m
Winner Almanaara, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Grand Argentier, Brett Doyle, Doug Watson.
8.15pm Meydan Challenge Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Major Partnership, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.50pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m
Winner Universal Order, Richard Mullen, David Simcock.
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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Brief scores:
Arsenal 4
Xhaka 25', Lacazette 55', Ramsey 79', Aubameyang 83'
Fulham 1
Kamara 69'
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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