If Eminem was looking to get his old stroke back on his upcoming eight solo album,
The Marshall Mathers LP 2, he's right on target with the album's first single, "Berzerk."
Joining the likes of Jay Z and Kayne West
in tapping old school hip-hop legend Rick Rubin to produce his music,
Slim Shady employed the Buddha of Beats to give the song, which dropped
Monday night, his signature mix of booming beats and classic rock
samples.
"Now
this s---'s about to kick off, this party looks wack/Let's take it back
to straight hip-hop and start it from scratch/I'm 'bout to bloody this
track up, everybody get back/
That's why my pen needs a pad cause my
rhymes on the raaag/Just like I did with addiction I'm 'bout to kick
it," rhymes Em over a spare, rock and roll beat enhanced by a sample of
the "kick it" hook from the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right (To
Party)."
The song also samples Billy Squier's 1981 hit "The
Stroke," which makes total sense given the Rubin connection. The former
Def Jam co-founder helped Run-DMC and the Beasties blow their careers up
with songs that melded rap and hard rock and "Bezerk" unquestionably
has the feel of one of Rubin's 1980s classics. And, after a more somber
mood on his post-rehab
Relapse and
Recovery albums, "Berzerk" brings Em right back to the fun-filled, loose and playful vibe of such early efforts as the original
Marshall Mathers LP from 2000.
Even the placeholder video
for it takes you back, as it features a brief glimpse of Slim Shady's
tattooed arm reaching into frame and popping a cassette of the song into
a giant boombox.
In typical Em fashion, there are also some
bricks tossed at tabloid figures (Britney Spears' ex, Kevin Federline,
the Kardashians and troubled NBA star Lamar Odom) and props offered to
his rap brethren, including Kendrick Lamar, Birdman, Dre's old N.W.A.
buddy MC Ren and Public Enemy.
On the hyped-up bridge, Em sings,
"Take your shoes off, let your hair down and go berzerk all night
long/Grow your beard out, just weird out and go berzerk all night long."
The rapper shocked everyone on Sunday night when he announced the release date (November 5) and title of the new album in a pair of commercials that aired
during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
During the brief Beats by Dre commercial, Shady announced the release
date and title of the new album, as well as the fact that was executive
produced by Rubin and longtime mentor Dr. Dre.
It's the second
piece of new music we've heard from Shady this month, coming on the
heels of the more aggressive "Survival," which debuted in the trailer
for the "Call of Duty: Ghosts" game.
