It’d be real easy to hate on the new Eminem track but you know what?… It is actually pretty damn great.
The track in question Berzerk is a massive homage to the Beastie Boys and as a massive Beastie Boys fan maybe that’s the reason why I should be a little sceptical about the whole thing… But props to Slim as he has done this in a way that makes you feel like he is 100% respectful and you just know that somewhere in a Detroit trailer park back in 1986 a 14 year old Marshall Mathers would have been bangin’ out Licensed To Ill on his boombox.
More than that he enlisted the services of Rick Rubin to authenticate it even further, and complete with Beastie-esque flows and vocal samples from the B-boys themselves in the first verse it comes off sounding like a (You’ve Gotta) Fight For Your Right for this generation and OK so the chorus might get a little bit ‘Eminem-y’ but c'mon it’s no Ass Like That… Anyway at least he’s trying and to my ears it’s something so much more interesting than the current influx of ‘commercial’ hip hop we’re subjected to.
Check it out for yourself in full by way of a dodgy radio rip thanks to the good people at Hypetrak HERE or check out the 30 second Beats By Dre promo spot below.
Eminem will be dropping the highly anticipated Marshall Mathers LP 2 in early November (5/11/2013 to be precise).