ARTIST: Bad Meets Evil
ALBUM: Hell: The Sequel
LABEL: Aftermath
RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2011
A Genius Reunion
Written by Jeremy Weeden
While Eminem’s latest solo album Recovery signaled his return to many critics and gained him new followers, diehard fans since the Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP were a little puzzled by some of his song choices and not so quick to declare Marshall’s return triumphant. Although Eminem went from making fun of pop stars to making songs with them, many fanatics accepted this change as part of the maturing process that all artists go through as they age and their experiences alter their outlook on life. However, Eminem appeared to have lost his humor along with his edge—that “it” factor in his rhymes that made him one of the all-time greats, whether his lyrics were about killing an ex-girlfriend or making fun of Christina Aguilera.
Perhaps some of these criticisms got back to Eminem, or maybe he already had such thoughts on the back burner, but his reunion with Royce Da 5’9″ to revive their group Bad Meets Evil aims to dispel any notion that with his maturation as an artist, Mr. Mathers may have lost a step or two. Royce Da 5’9″ may not have had the same level of success as Slim Shady, but it is obvious on the duo’s sophomore effort, Hell: The Sequel, that he brings something special out of Eminem when they rap together. Royce is one of the few rappers capable of matching Eminem not only in intensity and flow, but also lyrically. Royce is just as lyrically gifted and deranged at times as Eminem, which explains the Bad Meets Evil moniker for the group.
The two MC’s waste no time getting into the swing of things as the album starts off with track “Welcome 2 Hell,” produced by Havoc of Mobb Deep fame. This song features Eminem and Royce handing the mic off to each other as both rip it to shreds with a ferocity not often found in hip-hop today. Eminem starts it off, and the venom in his voice and his razor-sharp flow let listeners know up front that this is no Recovery. When his partner-in-rhyme picks up the microphone, any Eminem fan unfamiliar with Royce will soon find him unforgettable. Royce effortlessly spits hot lyrics like, “It’s gotta be no fair, it’s like hitting the lottery, oh yeah/who you know hotta, there gotta be no pair/shotty that I got ol’ lobotomy your hair/classic smash it, smother it, read it and weep then perhaps you will have no rebuttal/ in fact you seein’ me in this rappin’ is like sayin Tila Tequila can sing like Jazmine Sullivan.”
The dynamic duo keep up the pace from there with the familiar tales of crazy women, drug abuse, violence and other crazy topics from the deranged minds of Bad Meets Evil. Eminem even seems to assure his fans that Slim Shady will live on forever with the lyrics, “Shit, the day that I don’t straight shoot, I’ll drop out of my anti-women hate group/say I’m a sissy faggot, record it play it back and put it on straight loop/you haters look like you ate a grapefruit/to see me climbin’ back on that wagon, got my swagga back, I was draggin’/hopped back on it, grab the reins on that bastard/and came back on ’em without remorse man, man of course/ I’m a one trick pony, cause I’ll be screamin’ on these whores till I’m hoarse.”
The album has only one misstep, which is the Bruno Mars-featured “Lighters.” While not a bad song in and of itself, this is another one of the positive, pop-type songs from Recovery, and it seems a little out of place on an album full of misogyny and violence. That aside, this album is a must-have for any fan of Bad Meets Evil or Eminem who is looking for the rapper to return to the more humorous-hardcore style that made him a legend.