With apologies to Tech N9ne and Skyzoo, who each have released great projects just recently, I decided to make my next review the years-in-the-making collaboration project between Eminem and Royce da 5'9, Hell: The Sequel. Although both artists are out of their prime, the annoucement of this EP gave the music world another highly anticipated, if not the most anticipated project for 2011.
However, for most hip-hop heads, high expectations weren't exactly the norm. Although Royce has been doing his thing with Slaughterhouse, Eminem has been extremely disappointing as of late with Relapse and Recovery. Both albums have showed signs of the old Eminem, but the majority of the songs on both showed an over-exaggerated delivery style (accent on Relapse, hardcore yelling on Recovery) that turned a lot of listeners off. That includes me, who if you can remember, originally gave Recovery a 4.2/5, but that was a result of falling victim to the hype.
Still, like all of my favorite artists growing up, I will support Eminem and continue to listen to all his projects in hopes of him recapturing one of the old styles or just making consistently good music. With all of that being said, I went into my listening sessions of Hell: The Sequel with bias aside, hoping the two Detroit artist could recapture the flame of their collaborations from The Slim Shady LP days.
The EP's intro track "Welcome 2 Hell" showcases supreme technical ability as Eminem storms out of the gate with a lightning-quick flow. The faster Eminem raps, the less evident his new yelling delivery is, which is always a positive. Royce matches him bar for bar by the time you're really starting to get into the song, it's over at under three minutes.
"Fastlane", the first single from the EP, is the best example of Eminem and Royce's chemistry together. In the second verse, Royce slowly starts to quicken his flow and right in the middle of a line, Eminem catches the flow and continues on with it. It's things like this that make these two a beauty to listen to when they're together.
"The Reunion" has a catchy Eminem-sung hook along with multiple Relapse references. Meanwhile, "Above The Law" slightly sounds like Rihanna's "Hard" from a production standpoint. Royce definitely gets the better of his counterpart in the latter; the first time I feel the one artist completely outshines the other.
"I'm On Everything" is just a fun song, showcasing some of the humor Eminem and Royce da 5'9 have shown over the years of their career while providing an extremely addicting hook by Mike Epps. "A Kiss" is another song where I think Royce is more notable than Em, but Slim Shady has the most hilarious line as he pokes fun at Lady Gaga.
"Lighters" is easily the most controversial song on the EP. The track doesn't fit the project's vibe at all and it just screams radio play on Bruno Mars's first note. However, differing from unpopular opinion, I feel Mars does an incredible job on the hook. Eminem and Royce's verses could be a lot better for the song to be executed perfectly, but it's still solid enough to not get really old and annoying when it's heard on the radio.
The final two songs showcase some of my favorite verses of the EP. Eminem is at his best on "Take From Me" as he takes shots at the mysterious Koolo, who leaked unreleased songs throughout the last few months. Slaughterhouse stops in for the final song, "Loud Noises", with Crooked I and Joe Budden standing over their peers.
The EP, like assumed, is a few years too late to realize its full potential, but it's still a fun listen. Only songs like "Fast Lane", "I'm On Everything", "Take From Me" and "Loud Noises" have some sort of replay value, but that might be just how I feel about Eminem nowadays. He can still spit sometimes, but for the most part, he's not nearly as enjoyable to listen to as other artists. Still, Hell: The Sequel is a solid project that deserves a listen.
1.) Welcome 2 Hell - 3.5 - 4
2.) Fast Lane - 4.5 - 5
3.) The Reunion - 2.5 - 3
4.) Above The Law - 3
5.) I'm On Everything (ft. Mike Epps) - 4 - 4.75
6.) A Kiss - 2 - 2.5
7.) Lighters (ft. Bruno Mars) - 3 - 3.5
8.) Take From Me - 4
9.) Loud Noises (ft. Slaughterhouse) - 4 - 4.5
Overall: 3.60/5
