Before I review the atrocious 2004 Encore album, I think I'll review an EP released by Eminem in November of 2003. The EP contains quite a few fan favorites, and it was recorded in the midst of his feuds with Murder Inc. and Benzino.
Some argue that it's better than Encore. We shall see...
The album starts off with "Monkey See Monkey Do", which is diss towards Ja Rule. The beat, produced by Sticcy Z, goes pretty hard, and Eminem goes hard against his newly formed rap rival. I particularly like the reference to the film 8 Mile, where Eminem warns Ja Rule that he won't bring paintball guns like his character was equipped with in the movie. A good diss track, but I don't think if it is album worthy.
"We Are Americans" is a good old fashion Eminem banger. It's another political song in the same vein as "White America", "Square Dance" and "Mosh." The lyrics were controversial, due in part to the lyrics in which Eminem states he'd rather see the president dead than dead presidents (slang for money). He apparently was investigated for these lyrics. Anyway, it's a great song, and it definitniely could've made it to an album.Luis Resto and Eminem collaborated a good beat, and
"I Love You More" is a bitter sweet "ballad" that sounds pretty god actually. Dre, Eminem and Resto all work on the production to the track, which is a sweet piano loop. This is definitely a song that could've made it on an Eminem album, and I actually could've been a fairly successful single at the very least.
Mike Elizondo, who helped co-wrote "The Real Slim Shady", produces the next track, "Can-I-Bitch." Rapper Canibus has had a feud with Eminem since 1999 when Canibus accused Eminem of ghostwriting LL Cool J's response to Canibus's diss towards him. Eminem made subtle jabs to Canibus on "Role Model" and "Square Dance." Although Canibus took the feud seriously and continued to make diss songs towards Eminem, Eminem never felt Canibus as a rapper even worthy of his attention. So the result of Eminem ending the feud was the comedic diss song known as "Can-I-Bitch." The song has a very eccentric trademarkish sounding beat that matches great with the goofy lyrics. Unlike many Eminem diss songs, where Eminem attacks his opponent in a fairly serious matter, "Can-I-Bitch" sounds like it's supposed to be a joke song, all the while still providing a good diss on Canibus. Eminem makes jokes about him apparently being Canadian, as well as his rapping style and voice. Definitely not an album worthy track but a very enjoyable track, and is actually considered a fan favorite.
"Bully" is an Eminem produced track and is also considered a fan favorite. At first, I didn't think this song would be that good, considering the song is performed in a poetry style where Eminem continuously rhymes in an A-A-B C-C-B style fashion. However the beat and the flow of Eminem is truly bad bass sounding, and I've found myself playing this track a lot recently. So despite it's structure that doesn't represent your typical Eminem rap flow, I could see it on an album of his.
"Come On In" is a really good song. It's basically a D12 song, and the song was luckily put on the 2004 D12 album D12 World. Unlike other Eminem songs that had D12 on it where all the members featured, only Swifty, Kuniva and Kon Artis are on it. They all drop good verses, and the song is apparently a diss on Benzino. I didn't know that, but this is definitely an excellent track by D12.
The EP ends with "Doe Rae Me", which was later re titled as "Hailie's Revenge." It is another Ja Rule diss, and features D12 and Obie Trice. The songs criticizes Ja comparing himself to 2Pac, as well as Ja's diss to Eminem is which he insulted his ex-wife and his daughter. While "Bully" offered a pitiful analysis to his feud and "Monkey See Monkey Do" was just a straight forward diss track, you can definitely hear the anger in Eminem with this one. Swift, Kuniva, Proof and Kon Artis (who produced the beat himself) drops their verses, rightfully defending their homie. Obie's verse is also good. It's a great song, and I wish they put would have this on an Eminem album. Since there were so many Ja Rule tracks, I agree it would've been overkill to put all the diss songs on his albums. But I'd support this being on a full length album. It is basically the "final nail" in the coffin when it came to the Ja Rule beef.
My final thoughts on this album are that it is a very solid EP. Much like The Slim Shady EP, the EP is definitely worth checking out. It isn't as solid as the previous EP, where almost every song was a banger worthy of being on an LP. Straight from the Lab contains 4 songs that are album worthy (and should've replaced the really bad tracks on Encore to improve that album, even though a couple made it to the bonus tracks on Encore), a song that could be on a D12 album, and two diss tracks that could be released as singles, bonus tracks or songs on a compilation album of outtakes. On a side note, it's great that neither of the D12 featured songs on this album feature Bizarre. I'm sure we're all a little grateful for this.
Overall, the EP is is good "break" from his usual collaborators Jeff Bass (The Bass Brothers) and Dr. Dre (minus one track where he collabs with two others), experimenting with his other producers and himself. It can help an artist to experiment with other producers and help grow their progression.
Sadly, that wasn't the case for a lot of his future work, especially a majority of the tracks on Encore. But we will get to that.
Rating: B
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