I want to preface this by saying that I am a huge Eminem stan (lol)
I think he is one of the top 5 rappers alive in terms of skill and even now his technical proficiency in his more recent albums is still astounding (ie. Godzilla).

The problem is his new albums get critically panned, they don't sell nearly as much as they used to and his ability to move the needle in todays rap landscape leaves something to be desired, Super Bowl nostalgia aside. Now I can't say I have listened to all of his post-2010 work religiously but I have heard enough to consider that he still has the sauce.

Anybody else care to chime in? And please for the love of God, race baiters stay the f*** out of this conversation. Would love to hear from Eminem fans and true hip-hop heads

His bars these days are pretty wack, the beats are often mediocre and he hardly has anything interesting to say.

Overemphasis on lyricism, sacrificing pretty much every other aspect of the music for the words he rapping. The acrobatics were cool in 2009, but they got old and now its more impressive when he puts together a song with real heart and character, rather than some shallow display of technicality. He has a few songs here and there that hit, but the truth is as good of a rapper as he is, he's not a very good artist anymore. And the music definitely doesn't resonate with people the way it did from 1999-2013.

simple answer hes old

Great points, exactly the kind of response i was hoping for

Yes, rap is a young mans game for the most part

Great video on the subject (not just about Revival).

I’m definitely in the minority but the cringe Eminem phase of I’m not afraid, love the way you lie etc and all the random references to abuse made me uncomfortable when that s*** was out. (Space Bound as well)

Another point I wanna add is that hes much more harshly criticized these days for things like his use of the "F" word in the past and his stance towards women. Back in the 2000's, you would've been told to stfu if you brought up those points but now that hes not the man anymore, people get the opportunity to rip on him for things that he talked about in the past. The MAGA base that loved him for years left him after the BET freestyle and the liberal crowd dont f*** with him, period.

These are fair points, I respect his artistry and honesty in my humble opinion to talk about those subjects but also respect yours

He overthinks his approach to music

If you listen to something like Just don’t give a f***, the lyricism is elementary compared to the technical rhyming and wordplay on Kamikaze, but it’s an incredibly fun, hype and energetic song with an insanely memorable hook and passionate but not bitter delivery.

Yeah, I never gave Recovery a chance based on the singles, until several years later. I’m a fan of Relapse, though I barely listen to it or any Eminem lately.

Dude revisit Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP and you will remember that the guy was just built different back then

Oh I know, I’m very familiar haha

I think most of Eminems best songs had him doing the hook but when he started farming these out the music started the feel manufactured more. Godzilla an exception because I’m a Juice Stan.

Think songs like space bound sounded like someone trying to justify made up toxicity than be listenable tracks. Eminem is also constantly putting out extremely wack bars, which sucks because My Fault is one of my favourite songs ever guy is a legend of the game.

style over substance

yes when i listen to hip hop im not there for heartfelt thoughts or interesting concepts, i just want to hear him do the thing fast 😤

this before we even talk about them god awful pop crossovers

People outside of his core fanbase are not interested in his personal drama, which he makes a huge focal point of his subject matter. So when you hear an entire album about someone commenting on their own career in excruciatingly specific detail, no matter how self-aware, it gets exhausting. Especially when the personal drama basically extends to other people not liking his music or hating on it, whereas on MMLP the stakes were higher and when he was talking about his career it was about things that most people cared about, like the censorship of music/art, the emotional and mental effects his music had on people, his own personal struggle of growing up poor and abused and overcoming it, are all “real life” s*** that people can in some way relate to and identify with.

People talking s*** about his music, is just simply not something most people can get invested in to care about, no matter how complex the lyricism.

People were fans because he represented their teenage angst, not because he was exceptionally great
People have now outgrown that teenage angst and all that’s left is annoying skibidibidibidibida raps

MMLP2 was relatively good and impressive all things considered. Not sure what happened after that. Trump I guess.

I mean... what is a 50 year old white man's place in Hip Hop during the Trap era.