In contrast to the eponymously cacophonic single, ‘Loud Noises‘ which is crammed with verses from Royce‘s Slaughterhouse co-rappers Crooked I, Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz, the other super-collaboration on ‘Hell: The Sequel’ is emotive and laidback.
That line is pretty accurate, if you ask me. Mathers shows an ominous flash of his decadent Slim Shady alter ego as he reverts to that all too familiar habit of crude misogyny and celebrity bashing: “…tell Lady Gaga she can quit her job at the post office, she’s still a male lady”. The album’s standout tracks include its lead single ‘Fastlane’, ‘Living Proof’, ‘Above The Law’ and rap arena showpiece ‘Take Me’. In the half-hour it takes to cycle through its playlist, ‘Hell: The Sequel’ manages to make a good impression.
But the thick patches of rawness can almost be overlooked as the sheer brilliance of the duo’s near-perfect rapid-fire exchanges offers more than just a mere consolation. From the cinematic intro track ‘Welcome To Hell’ on which Em trades staccato verses with the lesser-known but infinitely-gifted Royce for three intense minutes, it is perfectly clear that both rappers are well-balanced at the acme of their lyrical game.Ĭonsidering the volume of explicit material on this album, Eminem was dead-on when he rhymed on the opener, “Better beware, (there’s too much at stake)/And to find someone this raw on a beat is rare”. Although Royce Da 5’ 9” has far less to boast of (his last album was stranded at the bottom half of the Billboard 200), the Slaughterhouse member does well to hold his own in the elite company of an unparalleled rap genius. Leaping off the massive success of 2010’s ‘Recovery’, Eminem defies gravity on ‘Hell’ as he soars through track after track like an aerodynamic creature made of subliminal rhymes and expletives. Eleven years after its first studio recording, the partnership finally yields its first real fruit in ‘Hell: The Sequel’, an 11-track EP laced liberally with dextrous wordplay laid over top-notch instrumentals. This disagreement wasn’t resolved till 2008. In the aftermath of that early partnership, the two artistes joined forces as hip-hop duo Bad Meets Evil and recorded a number of singles including ’Renegade’ (which wound up on Jay-Z’s ‘The Blueprint’ album sans Royce’s verse).īad Meets Evil split shortly after its formation due to a lengthy dispute between Royce Da 5’9” and D12, Eminem’s rap crew. Eminem first collaborated with fellow Detroit emcee Royce Da 5’9” on ‘Bad Meets Evil’, a single off the thirteen-time Grammy-winner’s 1999 major-label debut, ‘The Slim Shady LP’.
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