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Squeaky clean, cookie-cutter pop acts personified the homogenization of the American teenager, the logic went.
If you were a smart-ass, Em was your man on the inside.
He made the machinery of celebrity look slipshod and silly.
The records took like wildfires, an ecosystems natural act of destructive course correction.
The ascendant rap god, born Marshall Mathers, was destroying and rebuilding pop as we knew it.
You cant unring a bell; Eminem wont un-mumble rap.
It is the first Eminem studio album since his 1996 independent debut albumInfiniteto fail to reach platinum sales certification.
Kamikazereckons all of this is our fault.
ItsMacbeth, pursuit of power through a hail of bloodshed utterly lacking in considerations for the consequences.
The rhymes are never less than dizzyingly dense.
An anomaly, Im Muhammad Ali.
But virtuosity can be soulless.
Theres no glory in copping to hating everything on the radio.
Realizing you could have worked a little harder on the job last year isnt an epiphany.
People everywhere do both every day.
Its telling that most ofKamikazes biggest drama dates back years and decades.
(She was 17 at the time.)
Shit or get off the pot.
WhenKamikazeinvites the Massachusetts rapper Joyner Lucas to guest on Lucky You, it scores its first earworm.
Its 30 minutes shorter, for starters, and its collaborations dont feel like cash grabs.
There is 100 percent less Ed Sheeran.
or quipping Lets sleep on it like they didRevival in Normal.
First week sales arent progress reports.
you could be great without being ubiquitous.
But does Eminem really hate playing ball in the modern rap mainstream?
He has relationships with wizened beatmakers like Alchemist and Scram Jones.
Great rappers still love sparring with him.
Imagine Eminem doing intricate buddy caper raps with Roc Marciano or geeking out about exotic snacks with Action Bronson.
What happens ifKamikazedoesnt outsellRevival?
Wholl be to blame then?
