December 6, 2009

100 Calorie Gut Reaction: Eminem - "Drop The Bomb On 'Em"


When Marshall Mathers announced that he was scrapping his original version of Relapse 2 in favor of all new material, I was hopeful, because, as has been documented in the past, I wasn't all that impressed with his Relapse. There were a handful of good songs, but the majority of it sounded more like a regression than an actual relapse, and I still don't like "Beautiful", regardless of how well-written it may actually be.

When Shady/Aftermath/Interscope announced that they would use Eminem's original Relapse 2 tracks on a re-release of the original album entitled Relapse: Refill, due out just in time to annoy your family during the holidays, I wasn't surprised in the least, as record labels tend to do this kind of shit all the time. Then I found out that the re-release features Drake's "Forever", a semi-popular track featuring cameos from Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, and...Eminem. Pretty sure that song wasn't recorded for Relapse 2, folks.

Anyway, when Shady Records forwarded this song to me, I figured I should do it one better, since a lot of the comments on the original post were about how my opinion was way off base and how Relapse is the album of the year. Some of you may have mysteriously located this new project online already, but for those of you who haven't, there will be a gift waiting at the finish line. It's the spirit of Christmas in me.

The single Shady/Aftermath is pushing. "Drop The Bomb On 'Em", is produced by Dr. Dre, whose instrumental sounds at once generic and pulsating: it kind of reminded me of his work on Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair" in its blandness. It will certainly fit in onto radio playlists, if deejays care that much about Marshall now ("Crack A Bottle", "We Made You", and "Beautiful" all failed to win regular rotation on the stations around my way). For his part, Eminem raps circles around the beat, as if Andre told him that he wouldn't provide any more musical backing for him if he continued to throw them in the garbage disposal (*cough* most of Encore *cough*).

While the clearing of Marshall's head has definitely worked wonders for his lyrical skill (he does, admittedly, sound talented again, and can twist words as well as he used to in the early days), a lot of this song rings hollow: "Drop The Bomb On 'Em" is Slim Shady talking random shit with no sense of cohesion or excitement, albeit in a semi-interesting fashion. It wouldn't have fit on the actual album; hell, it isn't clear that it would have fit on any Eminem album. It's obvious that this is a throwaway track for a reason. Oh, and the hook is also pretty terrible.

But that's just what I think. Thanks to the good folks at Shady, here is your opportunity to leave me your opinion on the song itself. If you're an Eminem stan, you're welcome, and if you haven't followed the man's career, I'll post something else in a couple of hours, I promise.

Enjoy!

-Max

DOWNLOAD: Eminem - Drop The Bomb On 'Em (Produced by Dr. Dre) (CDQ/Dirty)

(Link removed because, let's be honest, you can buy this album now.)

7 comments:

  1. thx max and merry christmas

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  2. Dude, this sucks. That chorus is so damn weak. It sounds like it belongs in a terrible 80s movie that is a rip off of a much better 80s teen flick and the producers could only afford some lame ass cheese song and decided they could get this because it was written by a friend of the key grip's cousin's brother.
    I appreciate the liberal Wire references, but otherwise, this is shit. I never want my ears to be subjected to this again.

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  3. Yeah "Drop The Bomb On 'Em" was garbage. And what's up with his new Arabic persona when he raps now? I'm all for change but it isn't creative and it's annoying.

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  4. "Anyways, when Shady Records forwarded this song for me..."

    the fuck are you talking about?? this shit leaked like 3 weeks before it's release!

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  5. I'm aware of the leak, but, in case you haven't noticed, I don't post links to leaked albums and singles. This one apparently came directly from Shady. As such, I had the go-ahead to post it. But thanks for paying attention, and thanks for reading!

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  6. Have you heard 'Music Box' which is off 'Relapse:Refill'. Best track on the album imo. Peace.

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  7. This song combines old school with new, that is the creativity of it. Max, you also say "I still don't 'Beautiful', no matter how well it is written", what the hell makes a song good then? Here, you want to dis him for his lyrics and the hook, when his lyrics are what you call "well written", you still dis him! You are contradicting yourself, are you a hater?????

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