Eminem, "Not Afraid"
The first thing that's noticeable about "Not Afraid," the first single off Eminem's forthcoming album Recovery, is the singing. He's not going singer-songwriter, mind you; the chorus is constructed from an army of Ems, not unlike the ones he's gathered at awards shows past, raising their voices in a style that brings to mind ragged glam-rock anthems from 40 years ago, defiantly uniting to say that they're going to overcome their fears. Eminem has thankfully dropped the accent that plagued so much of Relapse, as well as the stale pop-culture references of his previous "comeback single" effort "We Made You"; perhaps those were just more plagues that he needed to detoxify from his system, since he sounds absolutely on fire as he gets both angry at the world and his own recent on-record shortcomings ("In fact, let's be honest, that last Relapse CD was eh / Perhaps I ran them accents into the ground"). The standard disclaimers about pop stars having a tougher go at world domination in the fractured universe of 2010 still apply with this track, but it's nice to hear a new track that is the aural equivalent of completely going for it, and I suspect that because of that quality — and the still-potent-to-many idea of Eminem rising up from the ashes to take on the world — "Not Afraid" will be pretty unavoidable by this time next month.
Behind the Music/A.A. psychobabble blah blah blah
Good lord, this is unlistenable. I'm still mystified how this man's tossed-off freestyles can be so good and his well-considered, polished, years-in-the-making Actual Product so horrid.
I'm both surprised and relieved to see that he hasn't taken to wearing facepaint in an effort to win back his fanbase.
I have a theory that musicians with hearing loss compensate by using that ridiculously tightly-cranked snare sample. These guys don't hear mids anymore, so it's absent from their music.
I thought we were entering the Era of Handclaps fersure.
He might not be afraid but I am. It's both awful and catchy–and dammit, something about that chorus reminds me of something very non-Eminem. Help!
His verses on Drop the World and Forever were the best things he has done since Lose Yourself, so it's good to hear that he stayed on the same track.
Uh, Eminem was never good. Big Boi, Warrior Queen, yes. Slim Shady? Never.
Sidebar: Which editorial staff member of The Awl and/or Rolling Stone is responsible for the "Ke$ha Rox" tag on the front of Project Sandwich on Thompson? Stop that, you.
not it! i have to see her live this weekend, sigh.
You know, there's always been this massive amount of scared little boy about Marshall that no amount of bluster and swagger can ever disguise. It's endearing.
I think that's right and well-observed. And probably a big part of his appeal. His voice has the sound of a little kid telling the bully, "I'm not afraid of you!" at the start of the fight, saying it loud enough to convince himself most of all.
Endured the nightmare that was 'Funny People' last night and this guy was the funniest thing about it.