Revival Eminem

The rap game has passed Eminem by. The Detroit rapper who took the world by storm in the late ’90s and early 2000s with his shock lyrics and ridiculous technical skill has now become the old man in the nightclub. Ninth studio album Revival is a painful slog, with Eminem attempting to present himself as a more mature version of his once-controversial self, but he merely comes off outdated and out of touch. Revival is filled with cringe-worthy punch lines (“Your booty is heavy duty like diarrhea”), out-of-place pop-star guests (Ed Sheeran, Pink) and uninspired production from a variety of big and smaller names. A decade ago, the old Eminem would have playfully trashed some of the folks with whom he’s currently working. Now, even his attempts to offer thought-provoking subject matter are derailed by underwhelming execution. Songs like the socially conscious “Untouchable”—about racial injustice—often suffer from witless lyricism, atrocious beat selection or both, spread over a bloated 19-track sequence. It’s evident that Eminem’s sober Revival came at a cost—the quality of his music.