Eminem: In Context

No doubt you'll have been aware of Eminem's recent quasi-comeback. It began last year with the appalling Relapse album, and has been continued this year with Recovery. It's been intriguing to say the least. Last night I was reading an artical by legendary music journalist Nick Kent called Eminem's Rage in a Cage, written back in (I think) 2001. I'm basing several parts of this post on it. In the article, he quotes something that Courtney Love said about Marshall Mathers back then: "Without context Eminem is nothing".

Now, that's a statement that's true for a heck of a lot of stuff in music. However, it's especially relevant for Slim Shady. Eminem has always been about context. And that explains why he was such a sensation the first time around, why he was such a flop and joke this time last year and why his new stuff hints at (though doesn't reach) a return to form.

Eminem released his second album, The Slim Shady LP, in 1999. He was a reincarnation of one of America's favourite archetypes: the angry young man. The musical world had offered Axl Rose in the late 80s, who was succeeded by Kurt Cobain in the 1990s (note: I'm fully aware Cobain and Rose despised each other. I know they were nothing alike but, despite what you may think about Cobain, he was an angry guy). Cinema had just given America Fight Club and American History X. It was clear that America was angry. And violently so. That's what probably led to the Republican Bush Administration being elected in 2000 and, at the totally opposite end of the spectrum, what made Eminem such a sensation. He was angry. He was violent. He swore a lot. He was loud. It's all over The Slim Shady LP- "My Name Is", "Guilty Conscience", "Brain Damage", "As the World Turns". I don't think it was a case of Eminem seeing the state of America and deciding to use it. He was as much a disaffected, angry and violent young man as any other young American. He expressed that in his music and just wanted a way out of his crappy life. And it came at just the right time. He was what America wanted. Well, half of America at least.

Also, you've got to look at the wider context of hip-hop back in 1999. Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G, hip-hop's biggest names and brightest stars, had both been gunned down only a couple of years previously, leaving a huge gap. Also, Dr Dre, another huge hip-hop name, was looking to distance himself from the gangsta rap scene. He found a way to do that in collaborating with Eminem.

Marshall Mathers' contextual relevance certainly allowed him to make a name for himself. Every Conservative group in America was laying into him in a way scarcely seen since The Sex Pistols' brief appearance in America in the 70s. Congresswoman Lynne Cheney described his outpot as "viloporn". Slim had made a huge impact. The release of his third album, The Marshall Mathers EP, and all that came with it, worked so well because he had in fact created his OWN context. He was working within the context of himself. Performing against the backdrop that he created with The Slim Shady LP. Nowhere is that more evident than in the lyrics of "The Real Slim Shady", one of the greatest self-referencing hip-hop songs of all time:

"'Slim Shady, I'm sick of him
Look at him, walkin around grabbin his you-know-what
Flippin the you-know-who,' 'Yeah, but he's so cute though!'
Yeah, I probably got a couple of screws up in my head loose
But no worse, than what's goin on in your parents' bedrooms"

That song is just brilliant and distils prime Eminem into four and a half minutes. As well as focussing in his own personality, he turned and spewed his judgement upon the hypocritical conservatives who criticised him and the wave of imitators who sprung up after him.

One enduring facet of the whole Eminem mythology has been his personal life- the turbulent relationship with on-off girlfriend/ex-wife Kim and their child, Hailey. Including this in such visible, controversial and visceral ways on early songs like "Bonnie & Clyde" and "Kim" created a personal context in which people would view Eminem's subsequent material. Songs about his personal life in which he expressed his undying love for his daughter and his constantly changing feelings towards Kim became more fascinating than songs other artists wrote about their personal lives because, consciously or not, Eminem made the context of his personal life huge. It was an integral part of the character of Slim Shady. It made everything more compelling and produced some of his most impressive work.

So. That was then. The Eminem Show and Encore came out in 2002 and 2004 respectively and were both classics, all enhanced by the contexts I've been talking about. But Slim Shady vanished from the public sphere. One of the world's biggest superstars just dropped off the face of the earth. What happened?

Five years of sleeping pill addiction and writers block that's what. Despite commerically successful singles, the critical reception was mixed. Fans, observers and critics were less impressed. The state of his personal life was tragic, but I don't think that was the main factor. He was out of touch. It was 2009 and he was rapping about Ashlee Simpson. Huh?

It had been five years since we'd last seen Eminem. Back in 2004, he was still fully able to revel in the context of himself. In 2009 however, we'd all moved on. He'd faded out of our collective consciousness. Upon his return, with singles "We Made You", "3 AM" and "Beautiful", it felt as if Eminem was trying to pick up where he left off. But that just wasn't possible. Things were very different on the grand scale as well. Obama was in the White House. MTV was defnitely dead. We were entrenched in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hip-hop itself was in a bad way. That's why Eminem flopped with Relapse.

His new album, Recovery, is a slightly different story. Once again, we're able to view it in context of Eminem himself i.e. the deplorable Relapse. Shady himself says in the lyrics of cracking single "Not Afraid":

"And to the fans, I'll never let you down again, I'm back
I promise to never go back on that promise, in fact
Let's be honest, that last "Relapse" CD was ehhh
Perhaps I ran them accents into the ground"

Rarely will a musician apologise and admit his own faults in such a fashion. Especially in a genre as self aggrandising as hip-hop. But Shady manned up, in more ways than one. Recovery is by no means a return to form for Eminem. But it's aptly named. A step in the right direction. He's reasserting himself, and I for one am desperately hoping that he'll be able to find his place in the context of the world and hip-hop in the next couple of years. Jay-Z (who, contrary to popular believe, is actually rubbish) is the only big rapper around nowadays. Lil Wayne is in prison. 50 Cent is nowhere to be found. Canadian "sensation" Drake is a pretender to the throne, neither hip-hop enough for the hardcores, nor big enough for the mainstream. Hip-hop has died a death, usurped by thoughtful indie music as the most compelling genre around. There are some incredibly promising rumbles in the underground however: Jay Electronica and Gucci Mane to name the most prominent. Maybe Slim will utilise that. Who knows. Contextualising himself has always been Eminem's gift, as well as the ability to pen some insanely genius rhymes. Here's to the future folks.