Eminem Burns Rival Rappers on Surprise Album ‘Kamikaze’
The cover art pays tribute to the Beastie Boys classic, “Licensed to Ill.”
Less than a year after Eminem released Revival to mixed reviews, the self-proclaimed “Rap God” dropped a full-length follow-up album with absolutely no warning.
Marshall Mathers made waves in the hip hop world when he tweeted a link to purchase Kamikaze accompanied by a simple message last night.
“Tried not 2 overthink this 1… enjoy,” he wrote.
Tried not 2 overthink this 1… enjoy. 🖕#KAMIKAZE Out Now – https://t.co/ANw73KbwMt pic.twitter.com/qfQoTYBTUy
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) August 31, 2018
Many immediately noticed that on the album’s fighter jet cover art pays homage to the Beastie Boys classic, Licensed to Ill.
Hmm, 1986's @beastieboys Licensed To Ill album cover on the left. @Eminem's 2018 Kamikazee album cover on the right. Intentional? pic.twitter.com/BdK6b2gCQV
— Marc Saltzman (@marc_saltzman) August 31, 2018
Across 13 tracks, Eminem spits about his distaste for mumble rappers with “choppy flow. As All Hip Hop notes, the superstar Detroit rapper also disses Tyler the Creator, Drake, Machine Gun Kelly, Charlamagne Tha God, Lil Xan and more.
Joe Budden, who once said he got sober with the help of Eminem but recently lambasted Revival as “trash,” is targeted on “Fall.” It’s probably not a coincidence that Kamikaze arrived on Budden’s birthday.
“Somebody tell Budden before I snap/He better fasten it or have his body bag get zipped/The closest thing he’s had to hits is smacking bitches,” Em raps.
Damn…… @Eminem dropped a diss track to @JoeBudden on that nigga BDAY 😩🎂 …TALK ABOUT-"lemme start wit i love you…. And i think you got that power to growwwww" vibes 😂😂🤦🏽 #spanking #bigbroshyt
— TheCrayonBoxx🖍️🖍️🖍️ (@chanel_belly) August 31, 2018
The Dr. Dre-produced record features longtime collaborator Royce da 5’9″ and Joyner Lucas. Rolling Stone reports that the track “Greatest” is an “interpolation” of Kendrick Lamar’s 2017 hit, “Humble.”
Early reactions have been positive:
https://twitter.com/PageKennedy/status/1035380367325245440https://twitter.com/The_Zugzwang/status/1035524293889851393
What artist you know that drops an album without saying a word about it and its #1 trending in less than 30 mins? 🤣 @eminem is a rap god
— Lance Stewart (@Lance210) August 31, 2018
@JoeBudden is there a reason you’re liking and retweeting my support of Eminem’s new album?
— Joell Ortiz (@JoellOrtiz) August 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/danielson3/status/1035387598007676929
Shout out to Eminem for dropping a new album out of no where with literally 0 advertising and it being absolute fire 🔥
— Curtis Forman (@CurtisForman3) August 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/UsmileJbGal/status/1035384073869553665
Spotify users can listen to Kamikaze in its entirety by following the link in this tweet:
Surprise! Shady’s back. @Eminem just dropped a new album. Listen to #Kamikaze now https://t.co/dhlTzzgg7X pic.twitter.com/z3arEyXgC8
— Spotify (@Spotify) August 31, 2018
See the full track listing below:
1. “The Ringer”
2. “Greatest”
3. “Lucky You” featuring Joyce Lucas
4. “Paul – Skit”
5. “Normal”
6. “Em Calls Paul – Skit”
7. “Stepping Stone”
8. “Not Alike” featuring Royce 5’9″
9. “Fall”
10. “Kamikaze”
11. “Nice Guy” featuring Jessie Reyez
12. “Good Guy” featuring Jessie Reyez
13. “Venom” from the Motion Pictur