Album of the Year #22: Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By [Both Sides] - HipHop | HipHop Channel

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Album of the Year #22: Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By [Both Sides] - HipHop

Album of the Year #22: Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By [Both Sides] - HipHop

Album of the Year #22: Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By [Both Sides]

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 06:44 AM PST

Artist: Eminem

Album: Music To Be Murdered By & B Side

Listen:

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Spotify

Apple Music

Background

Eminem is a household name in hip hop; with the highest sales of all time and worldwide appeal he stands commercially as biggest rapper of all time. Following Dr. Dre's discovery of Marshall Bruce Mathers III's Slim Shady EP, music was dominated on a level comparable only to that of Elvis, The Beatles, or Michael Jackson by classic after classic from Eminem, paving the way for future rappers in previously inaccessible avenues. The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, and The Eminem Showremain cemented as classics even in the eyes of Em's harshest critics. Unfortunately the run of success came to an end; in the mid-2000s, Eminem fell deep into opiate and benzodiazepine addiction, going on a hiatus from music during which he was devastated by the death of his best friend, fellow Detroit rapper and member of D12, Deshaun Holton AKA Proof. This culminated in a 2007 overdose that nearly killed Em as he recounts in the song "Deja Vu", a few following which he eventually reached sobriety (a streak which turned 12 in April) and return to music with Relapse. With his daughters aging, a sober Eminem found himself separated from the partying of his earlier days and took on a position much more isolated from his old lifestyle and the rest of the hip hop world. Relapse's current status as a cult classic and its inspiration of prolific artists Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt didn't save it from disappointing lukewarm critical reception, which Em responded to by appealing to the critics and the billboard with the simpler pop approach of Recovery, once again topping the charts and sweeping awards and making him the best selling male artist of the 2010s. However, the formulaic commercial approach of Recovery was largely ditched for an ambitious retro-sounding, life and career reflecting 2013 project, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. With each project in his post-hiatus trilogy, Em had reached boldly in new creative directions and found partial success in the eyes of critics and fans, but his struggles frustration persisted as he aged and could never quite retain the universal captivation or level of artistry from his peak, even in his own eyes.

Em's career took a turn for the worse in 2017 with the release of Revival, an album where he attempted some of his most vulnerable cuts yet, including "Walk on Water", "In Your Head", "Castle", and "Arose." However this album was bashed almost universally by critics and fans; its tracklist was plagued with disappointing pop features, some of Em's worst-ever punchlines, and an overall failure to deliver to listeners sonically and stylistically even on tracks with poignant messages like "Untouchable." Eminem took Revival's criticism personally, but he had no interest in another Recovery-esque "comeback" in the eyes of commercial audiences; in 2018, less than a year after Revival's release, he responded to criticism and took shots at a slew of his detractors and peer rappers from MGK to Joe Budden to Tyler, the Creator. With that uncharacteristically short recording period, the album was Em's shortest and structured loosely with less aggressive or thematic tracks like "Stepping Stone," "Venom," and "Normal" sharing space with the album's more thematic tracks from "The Ringer" to "Fall," giving Kamikaze a strange place in Em's discography. The project stands more as both a response to Revivaland a collection of Em's songs at the time than a cohesive and full Eminem album.

Following Kamikaze's debacle surrounding Revival, 2019's Mathers found himself, for the most part, back at square one artistically. During the recording process, Em found himself exploring in old and new directions; he collaborated with long-time close partners like Royce Da 5'9, Dr. Dre, Denaun Porter, and Skylar Grey, but he also chased a long-awaited modern sound update after largely ignoring contemporary sounds for years prior to Kamikaze. To help achieve this he collaborated with a number of new generation artists for features including Anderson .Paak, Young M.A, Don Toliver and perhaps most notably the now-late JUICE WRLD, whom the new album is dedicated to (as well as Em's bodyguard CeeAaqil Allah Barnes, who also passed in 2019). Following Em's new release strategy of choice, Music To Be Murdered By and its "Darkness" music video released without any prior promotion or announcement on January 17th, 2020.

Over the course of 2020, Eminem was almost uncharacteristically quiet in terms of promotion of MTBMB (aside from his video for "Godzilla"), at least in part due to the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, and it seemed that any plans for post-release MTBMB content had been scrapped with rumors of an entirely new Eminem album circulating by October; that all changed days before December 18th, 2020, when the cover and title of Eminem's coming release leaked. On that date he mirrored the album's original release with a "Gnat" video and sudden release of its supplemental piece, Side B.

Review:

I'll start by taking a look at Eminem's original release and Side B as projects in and of their own track by track, and then, in Part 3 of this review, take a look at the grander scheme of Music To Be Murdered By.

Part 1: Side A Track By Track

Music To Be Murdered By opens on "Premonition" with a skit that begins the loose horror core association with Alfred Hitchcock's album of the same title; Em sleekly rides the beat and gives his last full address to the buzz surrounding Kamikaze before diving into the new experience and new point of view that this project takes.

Following it, "Unaccommodating" has a verse from Young M.A., one of many surprising features from the album, and an impressive Eminem performance that has one of the smoothest flows on the album, showcasing a newly slickly performative, intense as ever but once again relaxed and calculated Eminem and the sort of unpredictable collaboration that hints at what is to come.

"You Gon' Learn" is an undeniable standout of the project. With Bad Meets Evil over Royce Da 5'9's production, we receive a standout powerful verse from Royce describing his personal struggles that builds into a more conscious verse leaving us with the line, "Segregation is bein' told where I'm gonna go / Separation is bein' woke and goin' wherever I wanna go." Em follows with, in my opinion, the best verse on the album, where Eminem takes us from another retelling of his own young struggles to an aggressive and epic layered verse declaring and, in a way, reclaiming his own greatness with shots at Tee Grizzley and competition in general along the way.

On "Those Kinda Nights" Em playfully reminisces on simpler times on another Ed Sheeran collaboration, showing his more personal fun side as he does often throughout these projects and developing a new type of playful edge in his modern middle-aged music.

The following "In Too Deep" brings Eminem's most developed relationship track since Recovery, deeply detailing Eminem's melancholy and desperate entanglement with a married woman in the midst of his own entanglement. The most striking feature of this track is that Eminem grows very specific and almost realer in the track, while many of his post-hiatus relationship-focused tracks have been fairly generic and generally regarded as misses, Em here drops the shyness in his writing and presents a complete story with renewed emotional pull.

"Godzilla" with JUICE WRLD absolutely slaps with Eminem delivering energetic verses over an incredibly infectious bass line, complemented wonderfully JUICE WRLD's hook, among the most memorable moments on the album, meshing perfectly and proving that an unlikely intergeneration collaboration with Eminem can succeed, which we see become a pattern throughout the album. This track easily ranks among Em's most iconic post-hiatus bangers, is one of the most repayable tracks on the album, and, in my opinion, showcases how effective Eminem's modern reinvention of himself can be.

"Darkness" is a chilling note on the album and a feat of a double entendre. Eminem's always-strong storytelling shines at its best on this song as he unravels a tale of a breakdown of his own and gives us a very sobering look at the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, the largest mass shooting in American history and one that remains largely shrouded in mystery. Eminem does not directly call for gun control in the song (though he does in the previously linked music video), but certainly makes for an effective commentator on the state of American society and succeeds in a classic political stands of his prime like those of "Mosh," "Square Dance," or "We As Americans." The latter of which is notably a track he has clearly changed since the making of as the modern equivalent of the line "They took away my right to bear arms / What I'm 'posed to fight with, bare palms?" is now flipped on its head with lines like "Finger on the trigger, but I'm a licensed owner / With no prior convictions, so law says sky's the limit / So my supply's infinite, strapped like I'm a soldier," so he's clearly pulled from a variety of viewpoints over the course of time.

Eminem continues with another dark note on "Leaving Heaven," where he addresses his father Marshall Mathers II's 2019 death in a bow-out track where he lashes out with a final release of anger towards his father. Its verses flash back to Em's youth and struggles that ultimately all tie into his father's abandonment. Its last verse is extremely potent and finds Em in a final climax of rage, after which he mutters "so I'ma let it go now" in the outro. There's a palpable potency and rawness in this song, and it feels like Eminem is finally, but painfully, closing a chapter of his life.

"Yah Yah" bursts into one's ears with an obnoxious, loud, and fun instrumental. We get a lineup of standout verses here Royce Da 5'9", Q-Tip, and Black Thought here, along with Denaun's assistance on the hook. Black Thought's verse is particularly impressive here and one of the album's standouts. Eminem himself finishes the track off with a skilled verse that pays tribute number of past icons. This track featured one of the album's most memorable and energetic instrumentals and an all-star lineup from a rapping standpoint.

On "Stepdad" Eminem does oddly playful and exaggerated storytelling of a conflict with his stepfather over a nice instrumental from Alchemist. The hook is a bit bizarre here. This was an interesting and even divisive song for Em to put out. It also brings us solidly into the out-of-the-box segment of the album.

"Marsh" delivers some of the album's most bizarre verses and content. Wordplay and off-the-wall deliveries are at the center here, and the second verse is definitely the standout. He's aggressive but "alien" on this track in a way that remains fresh, compelling, and surprising after a number of listens. Em's direction here seems to further develop on "Little Engine" with the strange, playful, and sometimes a bit nonsensically "alien" energy he brings.

"Never Love Again" is another track-wide double entendre but in a vein very different from "Darkness." Em delivers verses comparing a relationship to his drug addiction and uses said relationship as a vehicle for a passionate expression of his lingering yearning to break his sobriety. In the final verse the song grows more intense and Em grows more emotional in his voice with allusions to a downward spiral and relapse that he seems to feel all too close to actually resorting to. The instrumental here is also a standout that smoothy matches him before and after the transition to that final verse, and I'd say this was all-around one of the best executed tracks.

"Little Engine" comes in with an eerie beat from Dre and one of the album's zaniest and smoothest deliveries as Em delivers where he's both playful and seems to fully let himself loose with fun and entertaining verses. It's one of the best sounding songs with perhaps the most Hitchcock-y horror touched synth line and overall lands very successfully sonically. Em's delivery here is also at its best with his rapping sounding at its smoothest and most relaxed while still backflipping with his rhymes.

The Anderson .Paak collaboration, "Lock It Up," is another great unlikely collaboration from this project. The beat manages to fit both parties, and Paak leads us into the song with an excellent verse that keeps one engrossed in the song with the smoothness of his voice; he excels on the hook too. Em's verses here are well-done and fairly standard for this project, but perhaps the most impressive part of them Em managed to combine his verses here with a very modern and currently hot sound in territory that seems very far from his own and still deliver a banger without compromising his own style or artistry.

"Farewell" is a more lighthearted heartbreak song with an upbeat sound that approaches a dysfunctional concept again, similarly to "In Too Deep," but with the more frequent wordplay and tone Em takes here with the hook, this track definitely doesn't run as deep and resembles a fairly typical modern Eminem frustrated relationship song.

"No Regrets" with Don Toliver again infuses a modern hook with Eminem with a surprisingly strong mesh. Eminem takes to reflecting here and finally directly returns to the Kamikaze beef and others since; he ironically expresses regret (semi-backhandedly at that) for his comments on "Fall" towards Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt and expresses his feeling that they didn't really deserve his attacks. His verses here are again pretty strong and settle Em again into a Mathers LP 2 form of hindsight.

The project closes with "I Will," featuring Slaughterhouse minus Joe Budden. Royce and Crook deliver excellent aggressive verses here and Crook's John Wilkes Booth scheme features some of the album's standout lines. Eminem takes us out in the latter portion of the track befittingly with one of the most dense, memorable, and epic verses of the album featuring his reply to Lord Jamar. Em's long verse here is more than enough to end this album on a high-note. "I Will" also has one of the more intense and certainly most memorable hooks on the project.

Part 2: Side B Track By Track

Eminem bring us into this album with "Black Magic," a relationship track that touches on the more personal themes of this project, detailing a faithless and failing relationship of his and imagines himself murdering his partner, transitioning into the skit that opens Side A on "Premonition." This is a track to watch as it is one of the threads we can see woven throughout the collection of songs, one in a similar vein to "In Too Deep," and one with a theme that will be pay off in one of my favorite tracks from Em here.

"Alfred's Theme," with its clowwnlike beat, finds Eminem hitting his stride and making a very effective statement about his place in music-making. He's playful with every line on this track, but he absolutely murders the beat with some hypnotizing cadences, slick alternating flows, and classic lyrical backflipping; he's said in interviews that he feels many of the lines and songs he's made are taken too seriously. It becomes evident here that Eminem is embracing the fun element of his music-making, and with this standout track it becomes easy to have fun with him.

"Tone Deaf" is "Alfred's Theme"'s obnoxious twin and (ironically) solidifies the tone of Side B. With another lighthearted beat Eminem continues some of his lyrical gymnastics mixed with trolling and a hook and some points of the song that reference Eminem's long discussed "tone deafness," and stating that it's "okay not to like [his] shit." The track in conjunction with its predecessor establish pretty clearly that Em has nothing to do but continue making music for himself and does so often with playful intent. Some people might not listen, but Eminem could not explain his current direction more clearly than he has here.

On "Book of Rhymes," Side B heats up with assistance from DJ Premier. Eminem transitions from the early album sarcasm to more aggressive rapping and flows and standout verses towards the end of the song. It also marks the beginning of a lineup of collaborations that complement Side A's.

The Ty Dolla $ign collaboration "Favorite Bitch" presents a familiar concept for Eminem, the feeling that music has passed him by. The memorable hook from Ty, the intro, and the beginning all seem critical of contemporaries or even bitter. As the song progresses, though, Em builds the concept to a more serious and personal point of expressing his own frustration with having left his childhood and "golden age" hip hop behind, recounting memories not from his prime but from days before he really even rapped. He finishes the track by sort of reversing the concept Ty presented in the intro and breaks the relationship symbolism, saying "truthfully it was never you and me exclusively" and expressing both his current ambition and an optimistic take on the future of hip hop. He grapples with and seemingly moves forward from the dismay of leaving his simplest, happiest times behind along with his generation-divide-driven frustrations in recent years.

"Guns Blazing" is a long-awaited Dr. Dre Eminem collaboration that we haven't seen on an Eminem album since 2009. Dre's rare appearance is warranted; on the track he expresses his post-breakup disillusionment and takes shots at his ex-wife, Nicole Young, whom he split with in 2020. Dre had perfect timing as Eminem's verse becomes the culmination of not only the strong hook and post-breakup anthemic nature of this track but of the many, sometimes-vague relationship tracks he's done for years, more specifically the ones where he explored his relationship troubles in greater detail like "In Too Deep" and "Black Magic" from this 2020. He almost suddenly reveals way more details than he has about any relationship of his post-Kim (or Mariah Carey?) despite the volume of 2010s relationship tracks he made, and his strained relationship of the two tracks mentioned has now apparently gone sour entirely. With his verse matches Dre's fierce shots at his mysterious now-ex Michelle. This track paid off majorly with Dre's appearance and Em's intense and captivating verse on his mysterious "In Too Deep"-type relationship. It's the necessary serious note of Side B.

"Gnat" is Eminem finding his modern element once again with verses and a hook largely focused on current events over more d.a. got that dope beats. It's another track where Eminem is very playful lyrically and makes a variety of plays and references on the situation surrounding Coronavirus. The highlights in his rapping here are certainly in the post-beat switch portion with a bizarre and surprising flow.

The anthemic "Higher" with its staticky production line is familiar territory for Eminem and a pretty familiar concept for Eminem. He feels more optimistic than ever and delivers verses both content with his success and ambitious streak; similarly on Favorite Bitch, he describes an itching ambition to exceed his own peak and boldly claims that career highlights remain.

"These Demons" may be the most unexpected 2020 Eminem collaboration. The MAJ hook connects sonically surprisingly well with Eminem's verses, and Em jumps across a variety of topics and flows gymnastically again, touching on public frustration with him, his frustration with policing, and a myriad of comic moments.

"Key" is the only skit on either side of this album and is extremely entertaining in a way reminiscent of the funnier moments of Encore. It's more apparent than ever here how playful and comical Em was in the creation of Side B.

"She Loves Me" is a bright-sounding song with poppy catchy brass elements and effective execution on the hook where Em revisits some flirtatious tropes and lightheartedly tells the story of a woman infatuated with him only because of his image and status as a superstar. "You only love me 'cause I'm superman" gives us an idea of how Em's level of fame can trap him, but Em isn't bogged down at this moment.

"Killer" is an effort at a club banger but with 48-year-old Eminem. I feel that with this track Em finally attained his ideal fun track. The song may dad-joke lines, Em's middle aged style style, and no chance at actual club play, but the beat sure slaps. Em's slick, calm gymnastic flow is also at its very best on this track, and he blends perfectly with a Tyga-type beat with his own unique brand of middle aged but bouncy energy that fully realizes a concept Em has attempted in recent years. It's a new, not equivalent, modern realization of Eminem's direction on a song like "Shake That."

"Zeus" with White Gold sees Em reflecting on his own position and how trends, fans, and peers, will often flip on artists and music for the sake of narrative or even just having something to rag on; it's also got the most widely discussed content on Side B. White Gold's chorus is another standout feature and a surprising collaboration that was pulled off surprisingly well. Em names Drake and other peers and addresses them with a warning as they age, audiences will ultimately disregard them one way or another. Most notably Eminem mentions Snoop Dogg in the context of the fellow Dr. Dre protege and once-collaborator of his' comments downplaying or disregarding Em's music quality, recently stating that he "can live without" Em's music, though he's made similar comments on multiple occasion. Em doesn't seriously attack anyone in this track Kamikaze-style, but he does reciprocate shade in many directions.

"Discombobulated" is the fan favorite of this album for obvious reasons; Eminem comes together with Dr. Dre in the studio for a track that resembles Relapse, sort of. He uses an accent similar to those of Relapse towards the beginning and on the hook in a way that certainly adds to the feel of the song, but this song is no Relapse 2 leftover. The verses, even , but what invokes the energetic feel similar to that of say..."Old Time's Sake," is Eminem's zany off-the-wall deliveries where he finally seems to let himself get carried away with his energy and rapping in a way that brings the listener in with him along with an instrumental and hook to match. He's doesn't try to replicate the old sound he revisits, but he brings the same out-of-the-box and zany energy to make an infectious closer that lives up to Relapse in Eminem's latest direction.

Part 3: Overview

Interludes and references to Alfred Hitchcock's largely instrumental album of the same title are scattered throughout both albums as a motif, but Music To Be Murdered By definitely isn't defined by this motif on either side. This definitely doesn't really stray from Hitchcock's album seeing as it literally directly includes most of the "lyrics" from it on interludes. Em alludes to himself "murdering" things and compares himself to Hitchcock, but when looking at his releases here as a whole we find Eminem exploring a number of concepts and delivering a fairly loose collection of songs.

There's a lot to love in Music To Be Murdered By. He delivers a good amount of everything; there are tracks with a surprisingly modern appeal and successful collaborations all over both sides from "Godzilla" to "Zeus" to "Lock It Up," or really close to every other track you look at, that wouldn't have seemed feasible in 2019. On Side A, Em focuses on some of his gravest themes with tracks like "Leaving Heaven" and "Darkness" and pulls that off, and he still traditionally approached tracks like "You Gon' Learn," "Yah Yah," or "I Will" where he collaborates with rappers in his own wheelhouse. He builds upon concepts and carries them from song to song and side to side that make the project more refreshing overall with both the zanier tracks and the relationship threads. All four relationship songs on both sides of the album seem to touch on a similar topic; the compelling storytelling of the mystery girl in "In Too Deep" pays off majorly in "Guns Blazing." The icing on the cake to a "Marsh" or a "Little Engine" is the direct Relapse throwback elements of the fan favorite "Discombobulated."

Side B here is shorter and is definitely a bonus round; most of the tracks on it feature a consistently much less serious Eminem, but as a supplement it works fairly well and complements many of the threads in Side A. It absolutely matches the energy of Side A outside of the heaviest moments of its predecessor, which make sense considering the most important pieces shouldn't be in the deluxe. Beyond some of the goofy lyricism though, Em really seems to be relatively relaxed and in his zone and improves his flows and comes back with production that at points exceeds Side A's.

Em's project here isn't overtly conceptual or a united statement; he has artistic moments where he reaches in a variety of directions and succeeds in many of them, and from the standpoint of 2020 Eminem and his 2020 fanbase, he absolutely got it right. Eminem gets a real stylistic update with Music To Be Murdered By, and he explores a variety of directions that have a variety of appeals. That's not to say the transitions are jarring or that the album isn't worth listening to, of course. Eminem takes a very necessary step back following Kamikaze and a period where his primary focus in music was embroiling himself in feuds over criticism of his music, which only could've grown more stale and meta as time went on. Instead the project feels like a fruitful and refreshing reinvention where Em returns with new sounds and explores a number of types of songs and directions across it. For a fan or a fanbase, an album like this almost guarantees some highlight moments because it has a touch of everything.

With all that said, all I can say that the quality of this album is definitely impressive and has many many tracks that I enjoyed, and as I said, as its not united in the directions it takes, meaning what may be a dud for me will be many another fan's favorite track. Eminem's collaborations with younger artists on a song level have definitely been surprisingly great across both sides as has his direction with the relationship tracks that seem specific to "Michelle" or whoever the person from "In Too Deep" and "Guns Blazing" really is; the more personal content seems to help him craft "Eminem relationship songs" that finally don't feel as tired or generic as many he's put out. I've focused on singing the praises of most of these songs for obvious reasons; though I'm not crazy about some, I do genuinely appreciate and really enjoy the quality here in my own listenings. Eminem's removal from the post-2017 fiasco yielded a lot of great songs that amount to a strong and interesting project that really returns him to form and some promising artistic directions.

Standout Songs

"You Gon' Learn," "Godzilla," "Darkness," "Leaving Heaven," "Yah Yah," "Never Love Again," "Little Engine," "Lock It Up," "I Will," "Alfred's Theme," "Guns Blazing," "Killer," "Zeus," "Discombobulated"

Favorite Lyrics (with some assistance from u/Botiz's Eminem server)

"Why do I feel responsible for these kids? / All of whom I'm a father to / I'm a God to you, y'all better worship the water I walk on / Or y'all gonna meet your Waterloo" - You Gon' Learn

"I'm asking for a pass to go to Hell / So I can whip your fucking ass" - Leaving Heaven

(specifically memorable in the context of his dad dying)

"Now this will probably be the most illest shit that I've ever said / God bless the dead and let Biggie possess the pencil lead" & "My image, I have zero time or regard for A never-was, been claiming rap when it's not yours If it was anyone's house, G Rap and Rakim would be havin' you mop floors Run-DMC would be havin' you cleanin' sinks Yeah, your group was off the chain, but you were the weakest link" - I Will

"I can rhyme orange with banana, oranana" - Tone Deaf

Discussion Questions

How'd you feel about these albums? Do you prefer Side B or Side A? Both? Neither? What were your favorite songs off each?

Are you happy with the current direction, or would you like to see Em do a more streamlined or concept-driven release? Would you prefer a project with a different arrangement of some of these songs?

Since Eminem seems to be collaborating with so many younger artists that you'd think clash with his style, who would you like to see him collaborate with in the future? Which feature was your favorite?

What's your favorite (or least favorite) of the many, many laughable or tongue-in-cheek Side B lyrics? Side A moments in the same vein welcome too.

What are your expectations for Eminem music in the future as he enters his 50s?

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Ice-T has spoken with Dr Dre, says he is doing well and hopes to be home soon (in ICU from brain aneurysm last week)

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 12:53 PM PST

https://twitter.com/FINALLEVEL/status/1348727243489636354
"I just talked to the homie @drdre He's doing good and hopefully he'll be home soon.. But let's keep him in our prayers. šŸ™ For a full recovery."

https://i.imgur.com/e7kgWIL.png

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Nicki Minaj Pays Tracy Chapman $450,000 in Copyright Dispute

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 05:16 AM PST

Fauci: Concerts can return after 70% of population vaccinated "some time in the fall"

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 05:39 PM PST

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach REDUX REVIEW

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 08:14 PM PST

Mick Jenkins - Carefree

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 06:40 AM PST

MF DOOM - 47 Wave Caps (feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Capital Steez) [R.I.P TWO GOATS]

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 03:33 PM PST

[FRESH VIDEO] King Von - Armed & Dangerous

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 11:13 AM PST

[DISCUSSION] Mick Jenkins - The Circus (One Year Later)

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 11:08 AM PST

The Circus is an extended play by American rapper Mick Jenkins. It was released on January 10, 2020 via Free Nation/Cinematic Music Group. Composed of seven tracks, production was handled by eleven record producers, including Black Milk and Hit-Boy. It features a guest appearance from Atlanta-based hip hop duo EarthGang.[1]

On January 3, 2020, "Carefree" produced by Black Milk was released, supported by a music video, as he announced the EP.[2]

The Circus received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 5 reviews.[3]

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[DISCUSSION] Schoolboy Q - Setbacks (10 Years Later)

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 11:09 AM PST

Setbacks is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist ScHoolboy Q, released for digital download on January 11, 2011 under Top Dawg Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from his fellow Black Hippy members Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul, as well as vocals from singer-songwriters Alori Joh, JhenƩ Aiko and BJ the Chicago Kid. The album's production was handled by Lord Quest, Willie B, Focus..., Rahki, Phonix Beats, Tae Beast, DJ Wes, King Blue, Sounwave and more.

Schoolboy Q titled the album Setbacks, due to the limitations he experienced and endured before releasing the album. After the release of Setbacks, the album reached number 100 on the US Billboard 200, number 12 on the Top Rap Albums, number 25 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 13 on the Top Independent Albums chart. Only a few weeks after Setbacks was released, it already had 4,395 units and was praised by fans and critics alike.

Background

In 2012, in an interview with Complex, Schoolboy Q spoke on the concept behind Setbacks: "The concept behind Setbacks was [to talk about] all the shit that's the reason why I can't rap. The reason I can't accomplish what I want to accomplish is because I'm doing all this dumb shit. I put it all together on the album. Like, 'Druggys Wit Hoes,' I'm out here drugging and I'm not even trying to fuck with hoes. 'Kamikaze,' I'm not even trying to rap—keep going broke. Different shit like that, I sum it up all in one album. My life did a whole 180 after that dropped. A lot of people still didn't know the name though, but a lot of people did. It was weird. It just took me to the right spot. I made some fucking money off the project, it helped me see that I needed to do more positive shit in life, and it made me into the person I am now. All I do now is just chill. I'd rather just chill, work on my music, be with my two-year-old daughter, and smoke weed and shit."[1] Two weeks after the album's release ScHoolboy Q released it for free via his Twitter feed. The free version doesn't include "LigHt Years AHead" and is replaced with "Live Again" which also features Kendrick Lamar. The free version also features a new bonus track titled "Fuck Ya Hip Hop" featuring Big Pooh and Murs[2]

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[Discussion] First Week Album Sales Since 1991 & The Top 100 Hip-Hop First Weeks of All Time (2021 Edition)

Posted: 11 Jan 2021 07:04 AM PST

1991 was the first year that Nielsen started tracking music sales data.

I find it super interesting to look at this and see how current artists stack up against artists of the past so I broke it down into a few charts.

This is a continuation of a post I made last year. I've updated for 2017 and added the top 100 list. Is this something you'd be interested in me posting annually?

Year Artist Album Sales
1991 ??? ??? ???
1992 ??? ??? ???
1993 Snoop Dogg Doggystyle 803K
1994 Snoop Doggy Dogg Murder Was the Case 329K
1995 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony E.1999 Eternal 307K
1996 2Pac The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory 664K
1997 The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death 690K
1998 Beastie Boys Hello Nasty 681K
1999 DMX …And Then There Was X 698K
2000 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 1.76M
2001 DMX The Great Depression 439K
2002 Eminem The Eminem Show 1.322M
2003 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin' 872K
2004 Eminem Encore 710K
2005 50 Cent The Massacre 1.14M
2006 Jay-Z Kingdom Come 680K
2007 Kanye West Graduation 957K
2008 Lil Wayne Tha Carter III 1.006M
2009 Eminem Relapse 608K
2010 Eminem Recovery 741K
2011 Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV 964K
2012 Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded 253K
2013 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 792K
2014 J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive 375K
2015 Drake If You're Reading This It's Too Late 535K
2016 Drake Views 1.075M
2017 Kendrick Lamar DAMN. 610K
2018 Drake Scorpion 749K
2019 Kanye West JESUS IS KING 276K
2020 Juice WRLD Legends Never Die 497K

Charts By Year

1991 - Nielsen begins to track music sales data.

Artist Album Sales
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???

A lot of data was impossible for me to find here. If I had to guess, N.W.A.'s "Niggaz4Life", Ice Cube's "Death Certificate", MC Hammer's "Too Legit to Quit", Public Enemy's "Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black", DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "Homebase", and Various Artist's "Boyz n the Hood (soundtrack)" probably round out the top 5.

1992 - N.W.A succeeds as solo acts

Artist Album Sales
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???

Couldn't find much data for 92. I'm going to guess that Dr. Dre's "The Chronic", Beastie Boys' "Check Your Head", Too $hort's "Shorty the Pimp", MC Ren's "Kizz My Black Azz", and Ice Cube's "The Predator" (193K) round out the top 5.

1993 - The Rise of Snoop Dogg

Artist Album Sales
Snoop Dogg Doggystyle 803K
Cypress Hill Black Sunday 261K
Ice Cube Lethal Injection 215K
Eazy-E It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa 111K
??? ??? ???

Snoop set the record for best first week for a debut album. No data for number 5 but I'm going to assume it was LL Cool J's "14 Shots to the Dome".

1994 - Bone Thugs on ah Come Up

Artist Album Sales
Snoop Doggy Dogg Murder Was the Case 329K
Dr. Dre Concrete Roots 250K
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Creepin on ah Come Up 220K
Warren G Regulate... G Funk Era 176K
Scarface The Diary 155K

1995 - The rise of 2Pac

Artist Album Sales
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony E.1999 Eternal 307K
Tha Dogg Pound Dogg Food 278K
2Pac Me Against The World 240K
Cypress Hill Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom 142K
Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... 130K

1996 - The death of 2Pac

Artist Album Sales
2Pac The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory 664K
2Pac All Eyez On Me 566K
Snoop Dogg Tha Doggfather 479K
Nas It Was Written 268K
The Fugees The Score 206K

1997 - The death of Biggie

Artist Album Sales
The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death 690K
Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever 612K
P. Diddy No Way Out 561K
2Pac R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 549K
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony The Art Of War 394K

1998 - X is coming...

Artist Album Sales
Beastie Boys Hello Nasty 681K
DMX Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood 670K
Snoop Dogg Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told 520K
Master P MP Da Last Don 495K
Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 423K

DMX's "It's Dark and Hell Is Hot" also sold 251K making 1998 a dominant year for X.

1999 - The rise of Nas and Jay-Z

Artist Album Sales
DMX …And Then There Was X 698K
Dr. Dre 2001 516K
The Notorious B.I.G. Born Again 485K
Nas I Am 470K
Jay-Z Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter 462K

Eminem debuted with 283K first week for his "The Slim Shady LP".

2000 - A new millennium and the rise of Eminem

Artist Album Sales
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 1.76M
Jay-Z The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 558K
Outkast Stankonia 530K
Snoop Dogg Tha Last Meal 397K
Mystikal Let's Get Ready 330K

Eminem smashed N.W.A.'s record and had the most successful first week in hip hop by far. Outkast has their best commercial week thus far. Nelly debuted with 235K sales for "Country Grammar".

2001 - The beginning of the end for DMX

Artist Album Sales
DMX The Great Depression 439K
2Pac Until The End of Time 427K
Jay-Z The Blueprint 420K
D12 Devil's Night 372K
Ja Rule Pain Is Love 361K

2002 - Eminem continues to dominate, the rise of Nelly

Artist Album Sales
Eminem The Eminem Show 1.322M
Nelly Nellyville 714K
Eminem 8 Mile OST 702K
Jay-Z The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse 545K
2Pac Better Dayz 366K

Somehow Pac was still having huuge debuts even 6 years after his death.

2003 - The rise of 50 Cent

Artist Album Sales
50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin' 872K
Outkast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below 510K
Jay-Z The Black Album 463K
2Pac Tupac: Resurrection 430K
Ludacris Chicken-n-Beer 429K

G-Unit's "Beg for Mercy" debuted with 377K. Somehow 2Pac continued to stay on top.

2004 - The rise of Kanye West. Eminem, G-Unit & Nelly continue to dominate

Artist Album Sales
Eminem Encore 710K
D12 D12 World 544K
Kanye West The College Dropout 441K
Lloyd Banks The Hunger for More 433K
Nelly Suit 396K

Young Buck's "Straight Outta Cashville" debuted with 361K. Nelly's "Sweat" debuted with 342K. 2Pac continued to post great first weeks with "Loyal to the Game" debuting with 330K.

2005 - 50 Cent "massacres" the competition, the rise of Lil Wayne

Artist Album Sales
50 Cent The Massacre 1.14M
Kanye West Late Registration 860K
The Game The Documentary 586K
50 Cent Get Rich Or Die Tryin' OST 317K
Lil Wayne Tha Carter II 254K

2006 - Kingdom Come

Artist Album Sales
Jay-Z Kingdom Come 680K
T.I. King 522K
The Game Doctors Advocate 358K
Nas Hip Hop Is Dead 356K
Young Jeezy The Inspiration 352K

Rick Ross' "Port of Miami" debuted with 187K.

2007 - Kanye kills gangster rap

Artist Album Sales
Kanye West Graduation 957K
50 Cent Curtis 697K
T.I. T.I. vs. T.I.P. 468K
Jay-Z American Gangster 426K
Fabolous From Nothin' to Somethin' 159K

2008 - Weezy F Baby and the F is for "first week king"

Artist Album Sales
Lil Wayne Tha Carter III 1.006M
T.I. Paper Trail 568K
Kanye West 808s & Heartbreak 450K
Young Jeezy The Recession 260K
The Game LAX 240K

2009 - Eminem's return to the top and a new empire

Artist Album Sales
Eminem Relapse 608K
Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 476K
50 Cent Before I Self Destruct 160K
Rick Ross Deeper Than Rap 158K
Young Money We Are Young Money 142K

2010 - The rise of Drake and Nicki

Artist Album Sales
Eminem Recovery 741K
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 496K
Drake Thank Me Later 447K
Nicki Minaj Pink Friday 395K
Lil Wayne Rebirth 176K
Rick Ross Teflon Don 176K

2011 - Weezy back on top and the rise of J. Cole

Artist Album Sales
Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV 964K
Drake Take Care 631K
Jay-Z & Kanye West Watch the Throne 436K
Young Jeezy Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition 233K
J. Cole Cole World: The Sideline Story 217K

2012 - The rise of King Kendrick

Artist Album Sales
Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded 253K
Kendrick Lamar Good Kid, M.A.A.D City 242K
Rick Ross God Forgives, I Don't 218K
GOOD Music Cruel Summer 205K
T.I. Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head 179K

Meek Mill's "Dreams & Nightmares" debuts with 165K.

2013 - Eminem is still sales king

Artist Album Sales
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 792K
Drake Nothing Was the Same 658K
Jay-Z Magna Carta Holy Grail 527K
Kanye West Yeezus 328K
J. Cole Born Sinner 298K

Drake's "Nothing Was The Same" became the most pirated album of all time. A$AP Rocky's "Long. Live. ASAP" debuts with 139K.

2014 - The rise of streaming

Artist Album Sales
J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive 375K
Nicki Minaj The Pinkprint 244K
Rick Ross Mastermind 179K
ScHoolboy Q Oxymoron 139K
Shady Records Shady XV 138K

In 2014 Billboard began to take streaming into account for first week sales and total album sales.

2015 - Back to Back

Artist Album Sales
Drake If You're Reading This It's Too Late 535K
Drake & Future What a Time to Be Alive 375K
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly 363K
Dr. Dre Compton 295K
Meek Mill Dreams Worth More Than Money 245K

2016 - Views from the top

Artist Album Sales
Drake Views 1.075M
J. Cole 4 Your Eyez Only 511K
Kendrick Lamar untitled unmastered 182K
Future Evol 139K
A Tribe Called Quest We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service 136K

Drake becomes the first artist to do a million in a week since Lil Wayne in 2008. "The Life Of Pablo" marks the first time in his career that a Kanye album does not have a top five debut week.

2017 - Kendrick is king

Artist Album Sales
Kendrick Lamar DAMN. 610K
Drake More Life 505K
Eminem Revival 265K
Logic Everybody 251K
Big Sean I Decided 156K

Eminem's "Revival" had his worst first week since "The Slim Shady LP" in 1999. Due to Tidal not reporting streaming numbers, Jay-Z's "4:44" is his first album since "In My Lifetime, Vol. 1" from 1997 not to have a top five debut week.

2018 - Drake cements himself as number one, Weezy is free, and the rise of Travis Scott

Artist Album Sales
Drake Scorpion 749K
Travis Scott Astroworld 553K
Lil Wayne Tha Carter V 480K
Eminem Kamikaze 434K
J. Cole KOD 395K

2019 - Jesus Is King is king

Artist Album Sales
Kanye West JESUS IS KING 276K
Juice WRLD Death Race For Love 164K
JACKBOYS JACKBOYS 154K
DaBaby KIRK 146K
DJ Khaled Father Of Asahd 132K

2020 - Legends Never Die

Artist Album Sales
Juice WRLD Legends Never Die 497K
Lil Uzi Vert Eternal Atake 288K
Eminem Music To Be Murdered By 279K
Pop Smoke Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon 251K
Drake Dark Lane Demo Tapes 223K

Top 100 First Weeks of All Time

# Artist Title Year First Week Sales
1 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2000 1.76M
2 Eminem The Eminem Show 2002 1.322M
3 50 Cent The Massacre 2005 1.14M
4 Drake Views 2016 1.075M
5 Lil Wayne Tha Carter III 2008 1.006M
6 Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV 2011 964K
7 Kanye West Graduation 2007 957K
8 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin' 2003 872K
9 Kanye West Late Registration 2005 860K
10 Snoop Dogg Doggystyle 1993 803K
11 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 2013 792K
12 Drake Scorpion 2018 749K
13 Eminem Recovery 2010 741K
14 Nelly Nellyville 2002 714K
15 Eminem Encore 2004 710K
16 Eminem 8 Mile OST 2002 702K
17 DMX ...And Then There Was X 1999 698K
18 50 Cent Curtis 2007 697K
19 The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death 1997 690K
20 Beastie Boys Hello Nasty 1998 681K
21 Jay-Z Kingdom Come 2006 680K
22 DMX Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood 1998 670K
23 2Pac The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory 1996 664K
24 Drake Nothing Was the Same 2013 658K
25 Drake Take Care 2011 631K
26 Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever 1997 612K
27 Kendrick Lamar DAMN. 2017 610K
28 Eminem Relapse 2009 608K
29 The Game The Documentary 2005 586K
30 T.I. Paper Trail 2008 568K
31 2Pac All Eyez On Me 1996 566K
32 P. Diddy No Way Out 1997 561K
33 Jay-Z The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 2000 558K
34 Travis Scott Astroworld 2018 553K
35 2Pac R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 1997 549K
36 Jay-Z The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse 2002 545K
37 D12 D12 World 2004 544K
38 Drake If You're Reading This It's Too Late 2015 535K
39 Outkast Stankonia 2000 530K
40 Jay-Z Magna Carta Holy Grail 2013 527K
41 T.I. King 2006 522K
42 Snoop Dogg Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told 1998 520K
43 Dr. Dre 2001 1999 516K
44 J. Cole 4 Your Eyez Only 2016 511K
45 Outkast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below 2003 510K
46 Drake More Life 2017 505K
47 Juice WRLD Legends Never Die 2020 497K
48 Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 2010 496K
49 Master P MP Da Last Don 1998 495K
50 The Notorious B.I.G. Born Again 1999 485K
51 Lil Wayne Tha Carter V 2018 480K
52 Snoop Dogg Tha Doggfather 1996 479K
53 Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 2009 476K
54 Nas I Am 1999 470K
55 T.I. T.I. vs. T.I.P. 2007 468K
56 Jay-Z The Black Album 2003 463K
57 Jay-Z Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter 1999 462K
58 Kanye West 808's & Heartbreak 2008 450K
59 Drake Thank Me Later 2010 447K
60 Kanye West The College Dropout 2004 441K
61 DMX The Great Depression 2001 439K
62 Jay-Z & Kanye West Watch The Throne 2011 436K
63 Eminem Kamikaze 2018 434K
64 Lloyd Banks The Hunger for More 2004 433K
65 2Pac Tupac: Resurrection 2003 430K
66 Ludacris Chicken-n-Beer 2003 429K
67 2Pac Until The End of Time 2001 427K
68 Jay-Z American Gangster 2007 426K
69 Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 1998 423K
70 Jay-Z The Blueprint 2001 420K
71 Method Man Tical 2000: Judgement Day 1998 411K
72 2Pac & Outlawz Still I Rise 1999 408K
73 J. Cole KOD 2018 398K
74 Snoop Dogg Tha Last Meal 2000 397K
75 Nelly Suit 2004 396K
76 Nicki Minaj Pink Friday 2010 395K
77 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony The Art Of War 1997 394K
78 Mystikal Ghetto Fabulous 1998 385K
78 The Game Doctor's Advocate 2006 385K
80 G-Unit Beg for Mercy 2003 377K
81 J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive 2014 375K
81 Drake & Future What A Time to Be Alive 2015 375K
83 D12 Devil's Night 2001 372K
84 2Pac Better Dayz 2002 366K
85 Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly 2015 363K
86 Ja Rule Pain Is Love 2001 361K
86 Young Buck Straight Outta Cashville 2004 361K
88 Beastie Boys To the 5 Boroughs 2004 360K
89 Nas Hip Hop Is Dead 2006 356K
90 Young Jeezy The Inspiration 2006 352K
91 Jay-Z Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life 1998 350K
92 Nelly Sweat 2004 342K
92 Nas Stillmatic 2001 342K
94 Mystikal Let's Get Ready 2000 330K
94 2Pac Loyal to the Game 2004 330K
96 Snoop Doggy Dogg Murder Was the Case 1994 329K
97 Kanye West Yeezus 2013 328K
98 Various Artists Bad Boys II 2003 324K
99 Ludacris The Red Light District 2004 322K
100 Lil' Bow Wow Doggy Bag 2001 320K

Here is a graph showing the amount of albums in the top 100 per year

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Mac Miller - All That [feat. Bun B]

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You Tube budies let me hear you

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I welcome youall to get connect with me for your music indeed

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