“Making Relapse, I was still working the drugs out of my system, so there was a lot of…just jokey Shyte. It was a lot of punchline-y, funny, shock value-kind of going back to The Slim Shady LP.”
Many fans may have been heavily disheartened when the news dropped that Relapse 2 was placed on hold until 2010 and would have to suffice with Relapse: Refill which would be a re-release of the May album with 7 additional tracks.
Seeming to be at his top form as of late, many were ready for the onslaught that was left from the ending track “Underground” to see how it would translate onto the sequel.
Recording has clearly become a cleansing process for the rapper as listeners can go through the album and sense the tone change through subsequent tracks and shift from the Shady of old to a reinvented Eminem.
Promising a more emotionally driven album, the rapper recently spoke with Complex Magazine and elaborated on what caused such an abrupt change with the “sequel.”
“Well, when I finished Relapse, I had a whole album of material that didn’t make it that I wasn’t ready to throw way, so that was going to be Releapse 2. But then I got with Dre in Hawaii and started recording more, and now the new material has knocked out all the old songs.”
Referring to songs such as “My Mom,” “Must Be The Ganja” and even the lead single, “We Made You,” Mathers stated that the songs were fine by him, but now he looks to step away from the comedic relief and giving more depth that was established back in 2002.
“Now I’m going for songs instead of one-liners. I don’t want to make Shyte that you hear once and then the joke’s over. I want to make records that you could play a hundred times, a thousand times.”
Even with Grammy Award winning albums like The Marshall Mathers LP, which has been helmed as his best work to date, the rapper adds that he still hasn’t crafted that classic album.
“Of all the albums I’ve made, I still don’t feel like I’ve made the perfect album. I’ve had ones that touch on this, and others touch on that, but never one that’s just perfect and fully relevant. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it but I’m certainly trying every day.”
Adding that he is focused more now than he’s ever been, the wait for Relapse 2 should be worth it for a man that only looks to outdo himself with a career that has never been in question in regards to his ability.
Ditching the bleached blonde hair, the rapper is a reminder of his character in 8 Mile and is only a further validation of the hunger that still exists for an MC that had already claimed the crown.
