Eminem spends the start of his surprise album “Kamikaze” — which was released Friday at midnight with simply a tweet announcing its arrival — chewing over a 2017 freestyle in which he criticized his fans that also happen to be Trump supporters. Later, he spends a moment mulling the negative reaction to his 2017 album, “Revival.” In between these rare pauses for critical self-reflection, the feisty, angry, unsympathetic, youth-distrusting, not-fully-up-to-date-on-his-pop-culture-references Marshall Mathers returns. “Venom,” the closing track, will appear on the soundtrack of the Marvel movie of the same name, which is about a journalist who winds up hosting an alien symbiote. Feeling like an outsider has always been part of the Eminem mythology, and on “Venom” he retells his origin story, from performing at the hip-hop festival Scribble Jam to sleeping on the floor of his friend Proof’s motel room to getting Dr. Dre’s stamp of approval. The lyrics get weirder as the track speeds on, as if whatever demon is inhabiting him this time is seizing the controls.

Source: New York Times August 31, 2018 19:12 UTC