Comments on: Make It Stop: Eminem’s “We Made You”

By: adam

adam — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:23:19 +0000

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Eminem but there’s plenty to admire, musically and lyrically, about all of his albums so far. He does seem out of touch and misaligned with pretty much everything that is happening now: his “I’m so crazy” routine seems frivolous and unserious rather than edgy, his pop culture bashing perfectly in line with (or, as you point out, wayyyy behind) the mainstream, and his self-pity can no longer be taken for introspection. The whininess of his persona felt more like protest and self-assertion five years ago, and I don’t know if the obvious self-serving whine (complete with increasingly nasal voice) now comes from the fact that after several years as one of the biggest pop stars on the planet he seems to be searching for trivial shit to complain about, or if it’s just more visible now that his schtick is no longer new or exciting. Maybe the problem is rather that this song is lazy - a rehash of old tropes, but one that doesn’t even showcase the considerable verbal or intellectual dexterity of his best stuff. His critics have lobbed plenty of charges at him, some of which are more justified than others, but laziness was never one of them.

Also, the sheer expense of this video is jaw-dropping. Without a real guiding theme besides ‘pop culture is dumb’, the thing is just utterly profligate in its production values - dozens of mini-scenes with all sorts of actors, dancers, models, cg treatments. This video just oozes money, all of which is on full display… and for what? Not only does it seem like a production that belongs in another era - the era when $15 million or so for a four-minute video could seem justified - but it’s the sort of video that only the Backstreet Boys or Britneys of the world would have commanded.

In other words, for Eminem, this was, truly, the best week ever. Next week, or whenever it is that his album actually drops, might be another story.

By: KeyserMFSoze

KeyserMFSoze — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:18:54 +0000

Typically when an MC matures, his content changes a little, presumably to match his audience. Yet, Eminem is still putting out singles for the 18-22 year old crowd, while those of us who started listening to the “Marshall Mathers LP,” have moved on. Eminem has dropped the machine gun, nasally, self-deprecating flow, and has tried to become 50. Is 50 really the best lyrical model to try to emulate? Eminem has become Asher Roth…..

By: guodisdoug

guodisdoug — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:07:37 +0000

Between this and Crack a Bottle, I’m claiming Relapse “Album of the Year.”*

*when I take my desk at RS

By: Scott T. Sterling

Scott T. Sterling — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:02:15 +0000

There’s also the very sad but salient idea that Em is no longer playing to any of *us*, but to his true fan base, a majority of whom exist in the vast American expanse between NYC and LA (or for that matter, NYC and the Rocky Mountains).

This vid is probably getting huge guffaws at bars all over suburbia, with backwards-baseball-cap-wearing ex-jocks hi-fiving the “return” of Eminem.

I much prefer the “why I love Detroit” video he made for the NCAA finals.

By: Passion of the Weiss

Passion of the Weiss — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:31:49 +0000

@ Marty–That’s what I’m saying, that was all pre-Internet. It’s a different paradigm.

@ Jere–yeah, but at what point, does the schtick feel sedentary. Interesting point about Rolling Stone. I can’t see them giving it less than 4 stars.

By: Jere

Jere — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:25:54 +0000

I’m ok with this so far because he always does the stupid pop star-mocking song before the album comes out. The thing that scares me, though, is that he thinks this business model is still feasible, in an age where it’s legal to download the only song you like from an album. Back in ‘00 when you had to buy the Marshall Mathers LP to get your “Real Slim Shady” fix and realized he had way better music around, it was a nice bait-and-switch.

Possibly newsworthy thing to come out of this mess: Rolling Stone seems to be the only news outlet that likes the song/video. This may be the first step in Eminem being first rapper to enter their Sacred Cow club (like U2, Dylan, The Stones and Springsteen), where everything they touch is a masterpiece.

By: Marty

Marty — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:19:11 +0000

Wait a second. Eminem has *never* been current. He was dogging Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape in summer 2000, and creating beef with Moby in 2002. Obviously, time operates differently for this guy.

By: sack

sack — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:22:06 +0000

oh, and, his voice sounds terrible here…

By: sack

sack — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:20:45 +0000

Yes, this is really disappointing. I was hoping that the “come back” album might offer a more mature reflective Slim Shady. But this is just a lot of shameless and pointless pop culture references… sigh…