The yearning for yesterday is constant.
The feeling memories of the past produce within an individual is at times overwhelming, and for many, nostalgia often impairs the anxiety and trials of life in the present.
Like most of us, Eminem loves to revisit the past, and his affinity for the mood nostalgia generates is extremely evident on his forthcoming album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Em discussed his attempt to bring back the warm memories of nostalgia.
“Calling it ‘The Marshall Mathers LP 2’, obviously I knew that there might be certain expectations. I wouldn’t want to call it that just for the sake of calling it that. I had to make sure that I had the right songs – and just when you think you got it, you listen and you’re like, ‘Fuck, man! I feel like it needs this or that,’ to paint the whole picture. The album is not necessarily a sequel, as much as it is a revisitation. So there’s not gonna be, like, continuations of every old song on there or anything like that. To me, it’s more about the vibe, and it’s more about the nostalgia.”
Upon listening to The Marshall Mathers LP 2, we realized Eminem was adamant about delivering those fond memories, and he did a damn good job doing so.
If there was ever a time you forgot that former president Bill Clinton had an affair with White House staffer Monica Lewinsky or Britney Spears’ mental meltdown in 2007, MMLP2 will remind you of those pop culture moments and cultivate a longing to revisit the past.
Take a trip down memory lane with Eminem below.
“Puke Skywalker, but sound like Chewbacca when I talk/ Full of such blind rage I need a seeing eye dog.” – “Rhyme Or Reason”
“With who you say?/ I wasn’t at the studio/ Bitch what’d you do, screw Dre?” – “So Much Better”
“Me against the world so what? I’m Brian Dawkins/ Versus the whole 0 and 16 Lions offense.” – “Legacy”
“Makes you want to get up and start dancing/ Even if it is Charles Manson who just happens, To be rapping/ Blue lights flashing, laughing all the way to the bank.” – “Rhyme Or Reason”
“Slim, this is for him and Frank Ocean, oh hope you can swim good!/ Now say you hate homos again.” – “Bad Guy”
“But I don’t give a shit I’m fine long as/ There’s batteries in my Walkman nothing is the matter with me.” – “Legacy”
“I could be iconic, and my conquest is/ Word to Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest.” – “Legacy”
“Why don’t I just blast a little something like Onyx/ To put me in the mood to wanna fight and write songs that/ Say what I wanna say to the kid that said that I eyeballed him.” – “Legacy”
“Good luck trying to convince a blonde/ That’s like telling Gwen Stefani that she sold out/ Cause I was tryna leave, no doubt.” – “Asshole”
“You’re gonna have to beat the fuckin pants off me/ To take my belt, word to Pacquiao.” – “Asshole”
“It’s poetry in motion, like Freddie Roach/ When he’s quoting Shakespeare.” – “Asshole”
“Even Helen Keller knows life stinks.” – “Asshole”
“Before they put bath salts and all those water bottles in Colorado/ So get lost, Waldo.” – “Asshole”
“It ain’t never gonna stop. A pessimist who transforms you to Optimus in his prime, so even if I’m half dead, I’m half alive.” – “Asshole”
“Been public enemy since you thought PE was gym, bitch.” – “Berzerk”
“The art of MCing mixed with da Vinci and MC Ren/ And I don’t mean Stimpy’s friend, bitch.” – “Berzerk”
“With the ugly Kardashian/ Lamar, oh sorry yo, we done both set the bar low.” – “Berzerk”
“So baby make just like K-Fed and let yourself go, let yourself go.” – “Berzerk”
“Bed-ridden and destined to never leave the /Bedroom ever again like the legend of Heath-er Ledger/ My suicide notes, barely legible read the/ Bottom it’s signed by The Joker.” – “Evil Twin”
“I ain’t called anybody baby since Birdman, unless you’re a swallow/ Word, Rick, word man you heard, but don’t be discouraged girl.” – “Berzerk”
“Ever since Bill Clinton was still in office/ With Monica Lewinsky feeling on his nut-sack.” – “Rap God”
“Think I might be about Busta Busta.” – “Love Game”
“Cause all I wanted to do is be the Bruce Lee of loose leaf.” – “The Monster”
“Me? I’m a product of Rakim, Lakim Shabazz, 2Pac N-W.A, Cube, Hey Doc, Ren Yella, Eazy, thank you, they got Slim/ Inspired enough to one day grow up, blow up and be in a position/ To meet Run DMC, induct them, into the motherfuckin’ Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.” – “Rap God”
“The way I’m racing around the track, call me Nascar, Nascar/ Dale Earnhardt of the trailer park, the White Trash God/ Kneel before General Zod this planet’s Krypton, no Asgard, Asgard.” – “Rap God”
“But I still rap like I’m on my Pharoahe Monch grind.” – “Rap God”
“To just come and shoot ya like when Fabolous made Ray J mad/ Cause Fab said he looked like a fag at Mayweather’s pad.” – “Rap God”
“Peace to Whitney, geez, just hit me/ That I should call the loony police to come get me.” – “Evil Twin”
“Bumping Heavy D and the Boys, still chunky, but funky.” – “Rap God”
“But you confirmed my low end theory, though.” – “Love Game”
“Til you sucked on Wayne, Andre, and Kanye/ LeBron, Akon, Jay, Lil Jon, Raekwon, Ma$e/ Polow Tha Don, Drake, Dante Ross, James Conway, Kwame/ Guess I’m gettin my goddamn Jigga on.” – “Love Game”
“She jumped off, Wee-Bey from The Wire, escape.” – “Love Game”
“And her voice were more hoarser than Tori Spelling’s face/ Still they swarm the gates and my fans making stakes/ To greet Norman Bates with a warm embrace/ Unless you’re Andrea Yates, don’t ask me for a date, don’t be late.” – “Love Game”
“Going cuckoo and cooky as Kool Keith.” – “The Monster”
“And stumbled onto Jeff VanVonderen/ Cause I need an interventionist to intervene between me and this monster.” – The Monster”
“It’s payback, Russell Wilson falling way back in the draft/ Turn nothing into something, still can make that, straw into gold chump/ I will spin Rumpelstiltskin in a haystack.” – “The Monster”
“I’m in a strange place/ I feel like Mase when he gave up the game for his faith.” – “Evil Twin”
“I’m frustrated cause ain’t no more N’Sync, now I’m all out of wack/ I’m all out of Backstreet Boys to call out and attack.” – “Evil Twin.”
“Nah, F with Christina, I ain’t fucking with either Jessica neither/ Simpson or Alba.” – “Evil Twin”
“Into a mental hospital with Britney/ Oh, LMFAO, no way, ho/ Jose Baez couldn’t beat this rap, OJ no Hooray, I’m off the hook like Casey Anthony/ Hey ho, hey ho.” – “Evil Twin”
PHOTO CREDIT: GettyImages, Zimbio, and Ernie Paniccioli of Sony Pictures Classics
