Eminem’s We Made You Is Way Behind the Times
Here are some things that have happened in the world since the last time Eminem released an original album:
- America elected its first black president.
- Saddam Hussein was captured and executed.
- Martha Stewart and Paris Hilton went to jail.
- James Brown, Steve Irwin, Robert Altman, Richard Pryor, Rosa Parks and Anne Bancroft passed away.
- Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath devastated the states of Louisiana and Mississippi.
- YouTube was launched.
But the most popular white rapper since Vanilla Ice has had a Relapse — at least, that’s the title of his forthcoming album, his first original work since the 2004 Encore. While the album drops May 17, the first single and video, We Made You, was released today. And boy oh boy, has Marshall Mathers got some catching up to do.
We Made You is extremely 2007 in its references — with the exception of an extended Star Trek homage, the celebrity-bashing pop tune focuses its energies not on recent scandals like Christian Bale flipping out or Joaquin Phoenix, but tired old punching bags like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. Does anyone really care about the Kardashians anymore? C’mon.
The most up-to-date Eminem gets in this video is when he takes on Sarah Palin, made slightly niftier by casting porn star Lisa Ann, who portrayed the former vice-presidential candidate in the adult-rated Who’s Nailin’ Palin. But many would still argue that she’s been all but irrelevent since Nov. 4, 2008.
Is We Made You catchy? I suppose, in a one-note, repetitive way. And the brightly colored, fast-paced, pop culture-heavy style of his videos translates surprisingly well to the YouTube screen. But while part of me wants to applaud Eminem for remaining true to his core sensibility, the sad fact is that we’re way beyond this now. Dude, welcome to 2009 — the 21-and-under set are watching The Hills, and referencing things like Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman’s matching suits from Rain Man goes right over their heads — because that movie came out in 1990. The adolescents who make up the MTV audience now? They weren’t BORN yet.
It’s not that I think Eminem is untalented; he definitely deserved the Best Song Oscar for writing and performing Lose Yourself, and tunes like Stan and Cleaning Out My Closet only confirm his abilities as a songwriter and performer. But the kids who used to worship him have all grown up. Maybe he should follow suit.
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“But the kids who used to worship him have all grown up. Maybe he should follow suit.”
I think this final line contradicts the rest of the piece. If Eminem’s fans are now older, why does he need to reference things that younger audiences understand? Since when does growing up mean selling out to the lowest common denominator?
Same old weak Eminem.
Attacks Women and faded pop stars and clings to wack gimmicks to hide his average flow.
You will never see him go after a dude like that. Too old for the same old script.
He’s weak. He has only survived this long BECAUSE he’s white. A black rapper would be laughed off the stage for his type of kiddie rhymes.
Ha ha eminem is way behind the times…. one thing from the past that has remained timeless are vintage Hawaiian shirts- summer and father’s day are coming up.. hint : http://www.thehanashirtco.com/
He sells thats what keeps him relevant. hes a jagguarnaut in the rap industry. Hes sold more albums than any other rapper period. But his last two albums are WACK. He’ll still sell now though. U kno how many people are going to buy this album just to say they bought the album. Alot.
Eminem is by far the best at what he does, I don’t know why people are so shocked that this song sounds pop and is his rhymes are very simple. Every album he puts out, the 1st single is always the pop one, the catchy, funny, simple rhymes one but the rest of the album are by far more interesting. Especially the songs that don’t get air play, their really in depth just hope the the rest of the album is good.
I don’t get what you’re trying to do here? You’re saying that Eminem’s insults are all outdated except for Star Trek, but at the same time you encourage him to poke fun at Steve Irwin’s death, or worse, Hurrican Katrina? That shit would be extremely outdated.
You claim that he’s extremely 2007 in his references, but Lindsay Lohan came clean about dating a woman in October 2008. Jessica Simpson’s weight gain wasn’t documented until January, 2009. As well as this, Bret Michaels’ Rock of Love Bus just two weeks ago. I guess it’s a shame that Eminem can’t crank out music videos and songs as quickly as South Park satirizes current events.
Look if you don’t like the song because of the quality of the rhymes or the production, fine. Don’t come at the fact that it’s not recent enough when in fact half of the shit going on in this video occurred within the last 6 months.
Oh yeah, one other thing, the Rain Man reference wasn’t just a pop culture reference that Em chose to poke fun at, it was a metaphor. The style in which he’s rapping is clearly different, and could possibly be another persona for Em to rap under.
look at how all of you judge em he is by far the best rapper in the industry not because he is white. because he can relate to the things in todays society you want him to talk about dumb shit or things like Steve Irwin’s death, or worse, Hurrican Katrina? That shit would be wrong on so many levels! you want him to grow up but thats the way eminem is. he’s the man that kids listen to that have trouble in there life. he raps about shit that they can relate to.they look at how he over came that problem and went on thats the way it is. he is this way because all of you judge him and everyone that keeps judging him will be very pissed off because he will come out with something that will make you happy or mad you give him the fuel he needs for his fire. eminem dont care what people think about him. he is going to do what he wants how he wants and thats the end of it!
you can praise him, love him, hate him, but no one will ever change him… i hope he makes albums and songs that offend all you haters of his music! his music is like the news nobody watches the news but they do listen to music! he tells the news in a song that covers the last six months of that song thats how us teens get our news by listening to rappers who tell the news like it should be told not boring ass old people news!
“Rain Man” came out in 1988. Shows how much this guy knows.