He represents Detroit. He’s Dr. Dre’s prodigy. He insults everyone from pop stars to his own flesh and blood. Yeah, I’m talking about the one and only rap-superstar Eminem. His new album Encore was pushed up from its original Nov. 16 release date to Nov. 12. According to their Web site, www.interscope. com, Interscope Records said that “they had anticipated there being a very high demand for this CD, as there always is with Mr. Mathers’ CDs,” and they are known for pushing up release dates on many of their artists.The CD contains 20 songs that range from offending Mary- Kate and Ashley Olsen to looking down upon President Bush. This CD is very different from his last album, The Eminem Show, but thatʼs one of the things that makes Eminem such a diverse artist. He doesn’t have the same exact style every time he spits out a rhyme.
As one can expect from Eminem, he makes fun of a lot of people on this album. Some of the lucky contestants in the insult category are: R & B singer R. Kelly, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Michael Jackson, Christopher Reeve, Jessica Simpson, popsinger Jojo, Pee-wee Herman, Britney Spears and Hilary Duff. Track No. 4, “Like Toy Soldiers,” is one of my favorite tracks on the CD. This song goes into Eminem’s well-known drama with rapper Ja Rule. The lyrics show that Eminem is trying to be the bigger man, saying that he tried to forget about the incident and is just trying to move on. “We actually tried to stop the 50 and Ja beef from happenin’ but I ain’t tryin’ to have any of my people hurt or murdered. I’ll walk away from it all ‘fore I let it go any further.”
No. 5, “Mosh” which has been played on the radio recently goes into Eminem’s obvious disregard for the policies of our government and President Bush.
“Puke” which opens with sounds of the rapper vomiting, is obviously not a sweet song about the rapper’s exwife, Kim.
With Dr. Dre as his mentor, Eminem could get away with nearly anything in his harsh lyrics. In “My 1 Single” the rapper pokes fun at stars including O.J. Simpson, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.
“Just Lose it,” his second radio hit from the album, has gotten singer Michael Jackson very upset, due to the actual song lyrics and the impersonation in the video.
“Mockingbird,” an incredibly sweet song to his daughter Hailie, shows how Eminem has matured as a person, a father and a singer. In this song he also talks about his niece, Lainey, who he adopted and is raising as his own. He sang some of his songs on other albums, but in this one you can really hear how his voice has improved.
All in all, I really enjoyed the album, and I would give it four out of five stars. I would say if you’re an Eminem fan, you will definitely appreciate Encore.