Eminem Battles Himself and His Demons on Masterful New LP

International fame and millions of dollars have done nothing to change the harsh reality of the once poverty stricken Marshall Mathers. He is 15 years deep into a critically acclaimed career and yet he is still just as emotionally fragile, self-loathing and insecure as he was when he was just an aspiring rapper living in a Detroit-area trailer park.

And he lets it all hang out on his new LP.

Mathers, the now 41-year old hip-hop artist popularly known as Eminem released his first album in three years yesterday; The Marshall Mathers LP 2 to an assortment of conflicting reviews. The album features several thematic elements derived from its classic predecessor, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP but is quite a departure from his usual work. Even still, it’s easily his best record in 11 years, back when Em's career hit its pinnacle in the summer of 2002 with the release of The Eminem Show.

Eminem does what he has always done best on this LP; expose his inner demons with a shocking combination of hubris and self-deprecation. One minute he is extolling his own brilliance and historic legacy, the next minute he is hurling insults at himself while putting his shortcomings on full display. He even takes his phenomenal skills to another level as he (surprisingly) delivers numerous verses rapid fire with impossible rhyme patterns and pitch perfect dexterity. He is without a doubt a student of vocabulary and line structure as he so intricately explained in an interview on 60 minutes last year.

Jay Z has the more formidable catalog and consistency, Kendrick Lamar is the up-and-coming superstar of the moment. But Eminem is unequivocally the purest lyricist on the planet right now and one of the greatest in history. He is tactical and scientific with the way he constructs rhyme patterns, interlocking several similar words and abstract ideas into mind-bending lyrics. On MMLP2, he does this time and time again.

This album showcases the evolution of his mind as he ventures into new areas with a decidedly rock-styled production, none of his usual rap guest features and even an entire song dedicated to apologizing to his estranged mother. But the more things change, the more they stay the same; Eminem revisits tons of familiar territory on the album as he angrily hurls numerous vitriolic lines at homosexuals, women and celebrities. And oh yeah, he still hates his absentee father with a passion.

As a whole, The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is an excellent album and easily outpaces 2004’s Encore, 2009’s Relapse and 2010’s Recovery. It doesn’t eclipse the original, which would be a near impossibility. But it does remind the world of exactly why we fell in love with him in the first place. One of the wonderful things about MMLP2 is the fact that Eminem seems acutely aware that his own phenomenal track record is his only true competition, as he so eloquently states on a track entitled, “Evil Twin.”

Finally, even though the quality of his songs have been heavily criticized for the past decade, this new offering is a tremendous return-to-form for a masterful artist who, despite his insecurities, is still a legend in the game and still delivers the goods.

10 Years Later: Revisiting Eminem's Dominant Peak

CLEVELAND - Based on a breathtaking skill set that featured precise and ingenious lyrical proficiency, a searing wit and an alliance with Dr. Dre, many people could have predicted the meteoric rise of Eminem in the controversial, early days of his historic career. But it is safe to say that no one could have predicted that the man would become, in just three short years, a cultural icon and one of hip-hop music's most groundbreaking artists ever.

But he did just that.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of The Eminem Show, a 20-track masterpiece authored by a then 29-year old Marshall Mathers, the man behind the Eminem/Slim Shady monikers. The LP was the third solo effort of his career and it immediately began its dominance on the music charts, selling an unreal 1.8 million copies its first week, en route to a 2012 worldwide total of more than 10 million sold and diamond certification. And while it is true that the album benefited from a pre-iTunes world (and before pervasive bootlegging), it was and remains a tour-de-force in the genre's history.

Partially obscured in the greatness of the record is the status it afforded Eminem himself. At the time, he was largely considered to be on-par with the great Jay-Z lyrically, but in his own league in terms of sheer popularity and creativity. Due to his superb resume and artistic reputation (he had authored three consecutive LP's since 1999 that were massive hits both critically and commercially and praised for their content and inventiveness), this album was highly anticipated. Add in the fact that he turned in a masterful performance on the "Renegade" track the previous summer on Jay-Z's opus, The Blueprint, and it becomes clear why Em was such a phenomenon.

The Eminem Show built on the maniacal witticsms and deranged wordplay of the brilliant The Marshall Mathers LP and actually added more substance to Em's backstory and perspective. It was an undeniably heavyweight hip-hop record with the sheen and sensibilities of well crafted pop music. Artistically and intellectually, Eminem was never sharper than he was on this album. He delivered loads of self-deprecating introspection and even exposed his political side. All of this nuanced versatility was expertly packaged with his signature "rebel with a cause" rhetoric firmly in place. Much to my surprise, many 20-something black men, who usually listen to hardcore rap music, were blasting The Eminem Show on their car speakers constantly when it first debuted. What makes that surprising is Eminem's unique style of hip-hop. His signature subject matter eschews typical hip-hop themes in favor of trailer park-style tales of popping pills and murdering his child's mother in graphic detail in addition to bashing easy target pop stars and disparaging his own mother.

As it stands, the summer of 2002 ended up being the time when Eminem's popularity reached a fever pitch; he was at the apex of a career wrought with acclaim and controversy, but built on mind-bending talent and relentless dedication. No one knew it then, but nothing would ever be the same in both hip-hop and Em's career. Sure, he enjoyed great success several months later with the release of his first film, "8 Mile," and his Academy Award winning song "Lose Yourself." However, whispers began to surface about an incredible new talent on the horizon named 50 Cent. Ironically, Eminem and Dr. Dre served as 50's mentor and unleashed him upon the music world in early 2003, leading to a thorough genre domination with his first official album, Get Rich or Die Tryin. His popularity, coupled with Eminem's conscious decision to step away from the white hot spotlight, signaled a new phase in hip-hop.

Eminem stayed mostly invisible as a solo artist for the two and a half years after The Eminem Show, before deciding to resurface with his first artistic misstep; 2004's Encore. That album, though still a multi-platinum success, seemed like a half-hearted effort from the megastar. It would be almost five more years until he returned with Relapse, and by then, the world of rap music had undergone the equivalent of fifty years worth of changes. As for the man himself, his personal life descended into extreme turmoil and tragedy and nearly resulted in his own drug-induced death. Thankfully, he recovered from that extensive dark period and was a much changed man.

No matter what happened next, nothing can take away from what Eminem accomplished with that classic 2002 album, The Eminem Show. It represents a cultural flash point and remains a superlative effort from a seminal artist at the peak of his powers.

What a show!

West's Genius Dominates New LP

CLEVELAND - For all of his headline grabbing insolence, his occasionally detestable behavior and an ever-increasingly polarizing reputation, Kanye West remains both a music maven and a cultural phenomenon.

Latest evidence: his new album.

That's right. West's 5th solo LP, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy made its much anticipated debut this week and gained almost universal praise from fans and critics alike. Not only has his writing skills evolved to the point of his lyrics often being choke full of thought provoking relevance, but his production skills continue to ascend. The net result is a brilliantly polished opus long on innovation as well as substance.

The most fascinating thing about the album is West's intuitive ability to blend an enormous ego with a healthy offering of self-examination. He is both psycho-therapist and patient on this record and the balance makes for a greater realization of the man's genius.

After a tempestuous year that saw his already complicated public profile absorb damaging hits, it speaks to his resilience and immense gifts that he's re-emerged better than ever. The album's stand out track, "Runaway" greatly epitomizes his tapestry of musical excellence juxtaposed with his predilection for "being a jerk."

Forget Jay-Z, the hip-hop legend most responsible for Kanye's initial public popularity a decade ago. Forget Taylor Swift, the doe-eyed country music star who was famously disrespected by West at an awards show last year. And forget Kanye himself when he's in "douchebag mode." Instead, remember Kanye West the budding legend and hip-hop innovator. That person more than any of the others is the true sight to behold and the one we should all direct our attention to.

Seriously.

Shakur Hid True Brilliance Behind 'Thug' Act

CLEVELAND - Tupac Shakur managed to be a superstar rap artist as well as a highly coveted sex symbol, but never quite understood the power of his true brilliance because he was busy covering it up.

What a shame.

It was 13 years ago today that arguably the most shocking and pivotal moment in hip-hop history took place; Shakur died from wounds he suffered in a rainstorm of gunfire six days earlier in Las Vegas, NV. His death dealt a gigantic blow to both his legion of devoted fans as well as the music industry, particularly urban music. At the time, Shakur (popularly known as 'Pac) was the biggest star in the game. His magnum opus, the sprawling, double CD All Eyez On Me had been released seven months earlier and received massive acclaim. Additionally, 2Pac had been embroiled in a tit-for-tat feud with rival East coast rap star the Notorious B.I.G. and had recently released a vitriolic song entitled, "Hit 'Em Up" in order to publicly humiliate B.I.G.

Shakur had come into national prominence in 1992 when both his debut album 2Pacalypse Now and his feature film debut Juice were released to glowing reviews. From there, the previously introspective, often political 'Pac began to get involved in trouble of all sorts. He began modifying his image and soon became "thugged out" in both appearance and behavior. Brushes with the law and antagonistic lyrics soon became his trademark and ironically, his fame and status grew significantly.

In 1993, Shakur shot two police officers and was accused of sexual assault on a woman. He himself was shot several times in November 1994, and even though he survived the attack, he went to prison for the sex crime. 2Pac wound up spending less than a year incarcerated, but once his $1.4 million bail was posted by music mogul Suge Knight, he was a free man, but indebted to Knight for his generosity. This is when 'Pac signed to Death Row Records and promptly began crafting music for All Eyez On Me. Strangely enough, 2Pac became more brash and pugnacious once he was out of prison. Being in Knight's camp almost seemed to provide him a security blanket and he let his hubris hang out all over the place with "gangsta' posturing" and sharp bravado designed to paint him as a "hardcore thug nigga from the street."

The problem with all of this was simple; 2Pac only hurt his image by cultivating such a negative one. By the time he attended the Mike Tyson/Bruce Seldon prizefight at the MGM Grand on September 7, 1996, he'd completed his 5th solo album, "Makaveli: The Seven Day Theory" which was scheduled for release two months later. He was gunned down in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting on the Vegas strip after the Tyson fight while riding in a BMW with Knight.

Since he had been shot two years prior, many believed that he would again pull through. He also seemed to be, through the mythology of his music, invincible. He wasn't. He received major surgery and lapsed into a coma before finally fading away on that awful Friday the 13th afternoon 13 years ago. Of course, fans were overcome with major grief and disbelief and Shakur became canonized almost immediately. He was now seen less as a troublemaker and more as a martyr who became the voice of a generation.

What is so wasteful to me is that Shakur was amazingly intelligent, philosophical and articulate. There's an interview of him, filmed in 1988 when he was just 17 years old where he poses some very thoughtful observations and questions about politics and the plight of poverty stricken people and how they are overlooked by the "hotshots" in Washington, D.C. That intelligence and analytical ability was on display occasionally, though not nearly enough because he was busy living up to his contrived "thugness."

Don't get me wrong. I'm aware of Shakur's upbringing and his street-side, so there are no false illusions on my part. I'm just disappointed that the man who became an icon in death wasn't more forthcoming with his genius. I always say that if he were around nowadays, he'd be a far more professorial type, maybe in the vein of Michael Eric Dyson; Dr. Tupac Shakur if you will.

Shakur's lyrics were often a work of art -- when he eschewed the violence and mayhem for poetic amelioration. He was an idealist as well as an activist in his own way, but he too often got in his own way and his potentially transformative influence was extinguished.

Looking back on 2Pac's brilliant career from the vantage point of 13 years later, I can't help but wonder how he would have impacted the world in the 21st century. Remember, he was just 25 years old when he was killed so he had so much room for improvement and time to shake off that young ignorance that we're all cursed with initially. Tupac Shakur was so much more than we knew at the time, but if we continue to listen to his music, we'll continue to decipher his true message, not the commercialized one.

Long live Tupac.