Rapper’s surprise album release features unnecessary diss tracks
About two weeks ago on Aug. 31, the album Kamikaze was released out of nowhere by Marshall Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem. The sudden release of the album came as a surprise to many, but what’s more is that lots of people were confused by the amount of effort that Eminem had put into dissing fellow industry people throughout the album.
Diss tracks are nothing new in the world of hip-hop. They have been popular since the ’90s as a method for artists to resolve their differences by musically confronting each other. But things are not always as peaceful as they seem with diss tracks, as some have actually instigated real life beef and led to irreversible consequences.
There have also been cases of where diss tracks actually accomplished their ultimate purpose of resolving issues and reconciling artists. Recently, the longtime beef between Drake and Meek Mill, which originally started with a comment regarding Drake’s ghostwriting, was squashed and the two now seem to be open to working with each other.
What makes Eminem’s actions on Kamikaze questionable, however, is that he is not using diss tracks for their main purpose. Instead, he is constantly sneak dissing a whole range of people, including his ex-wife, Kim Scott, and some of the new school rappers. One of the most controversial disses is against Tyler the Creator, a fellow rapper who had minor criticism about Eminem’s previous album. In the song “Fall,” Eminem raps, “Tyler create nothing, I see why you called yourself a f**got, b*tch / […] If you’re gonna critique me, you better at least be as good or better.”
The inconsistency observed with the random disses makes us wonder whether Eminem merely wrote those disses to bring attention to his new album. His previous album, Revival, was released in 2017 and did not receive as much publicity in comparison to his other projects. Moreover, the disses are erratic because the issues they address are not even recent and some of the shots thrown are at those with whom Eminem has no business.
Eminem addresses rappers of the new generation, the most notable one being Machine Gun Kelly (MGK). The two do have a bit of history over a minor altercation on Twitter in 2012, but it is unclear why Eminem has decided to catch up with MGK just now, after six years of doing nothing about it.
The way Eminem comes after MGK in the title track, “Kamikaze,” is as if he is the one who’s new to the industry while MGK is the well-established hip-hop veteran. In “Kamikaze,” Eminem raps, “Why don’t every other white rapper sell what I sold?” To me, this comes across as a bit amateur, since a mogul would already know about the greatness of his own contributions in the industry and would never even bother to brag about it in a song.
Diss tracks can get very hot especially if the parties involved go back and forth. But in this case, Eminem needs to re-evaluate his ways because he is a much bigger artist than he thinks he is. At the age of 45, he would do better to show some maturity and actually give a helping hand to younger artists like MGK.
Eminem has phenomenal potential for becoming a mentor to many talented prospects. He can potentially build a musical empire of his own at this stage of his career, support his protegés, and come up with something legendary that can be left behind for generations after he decides to say farewell to the industry.
Many underestimate the power of hip-hop and how it can change lives. In the cases of dissing, when words turn into actions, it’s no joke. But when we turn that upside down and bring positivity out of it, we can see tangible changes in the lives of many, including the fans. So will the real Slim Shady please stand up for himself and move on from all of this drama?
Article by Janan Shoja Doost.