Eminem – Relapse

Reviewer: Analiese Jackson

Rating: 3/5

When Eminem’s debut single, My Name Is, first hit the airwaves in New Zealand, I was in intermediate school. My friend had dubbed the song onto a mix tape for me (yeah, cassettes!) and had passed it onto me to see what I thought of it. After enjoying the track and doing a bit of research, I was shocked to discover that here was a scrawny, peroxide blonde, American guy who was running his mouth off about the amount of drugs both he and his mum did and making fun of prominent American figures with blatant disregard for standards of public decency. His irreverent rapping saw him take on celebs like The Spice Girls, then President Bill Clinton and Marilyn Manson, somewhat unheard of in the mainstream music scene.

I don’t really need to tell you what happened next: Eminem became a rapping sensation, releasing numerous hits such as Stan (which propelled Dido into international stardom, The Real Slim Shady, Just Lose It and, my personal favourite, Lose Yourself. By 2004, Eminem had truly secured his title as one of the worlds most notable and notoriously crude celebs and the world was hooked.

Just over four years later and after a widely publicised break involving the death of his D12 band mate, Proof and his subsequent battle with prescription drugs, Eminem has finally released his sixth studio album, Relapse.