Eminem - Encore Patched

No. was a necessary exhale. You cannot scream into the microphone about killing your mother and slicing open ex-girlfriends for a decade without eventually burning out. Encore is the sound of that burnout.

And then… there’s the rest. Leaked tracks forced Eminem back into the studio, and the resulting replacement songs feel like a man trolling his own legacy. "Just Lose It" (mocking Michael Jackson’s legal troubles), "Big Weenie" , "Rain Man" , and "Ass Like That" are purposefully stupid. But here’s the thing—they’re weaponized stupidity. This isn’t the clever wit of "The Real Slim Shady" ; this is a rockstar too tired to write another serious verse, so he opts for cartoon chaos instead. eminem - encore

Then there was "Ass Like That." Over a Dr. Dre beat that sounded like a nursery rhyme, Eminem adopted a bizarre accent (the "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" voice) to ogle female celebrities. While technically impressive in terms of rhyme schemes, the song represented the worst aspects of the album: a talented lyricist wasting bars on juvenile fetishes, sounding bored and detached. Encore is the sound of that burnout

In the pantheon of hip-hop, few discographies are as scrutinized as Marshall Mathers’. From the gritty, horrorcore origins of Infinite to the supernova explosion of The Slim Shady LP and the mathematical precision of The Marshall Mathers LP , Eminem established a standard of excellence that seemed impenetrable. Then came 2004. "Just Lose It" (mocking Michael Jackson’s legal troubles),