Music Review: Eminen "Berzerk"

Eminem

Berzerk

Album: The Marshall Mathers LP 2

Year: 2013

         Eminen values intelligence in the eruptive  “Berzerk.”

            A buzzing synth opens the single, setting a rumbling tone. He should’ve brought ear plugs with him to the party. While he sips from his cup, he counts the number of product names from the dozens of rap songs he’s heard so far. He hits the count of 147 and finally decides he can’t take it. He puts his cup down on the counter and walks towards the stereo.  He pulls the plug out. People start complaining and covering their ears at the feedback. He shuts it off, plugs in the microphone and sets up his beats. People are going to hear what rap music should actually sound like. He’s been working a rhyme for weeks, paying attention to each word and choosing the proper pop culture references. The critics, who usually pan other performers, will struggle to find something wrong in his lyrics. Some of them may not want to like him but they have to praise him for his wordplay. He lets them he doesn’t care. He gives a nod to fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar. He’s not into the current dance pop style. Rap should have some art to it and be raw as possible. Whenever he mentions MC Ren and PE (Public Enemy), he gets a blank stare. He has to explain who they are and it drives him crazy. They are pop culture icons. (“Now this shit'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 rag/Just like I did with addiction I'm 'bout to kick it/Like a magician, critics I turn to crickets/Got ‘em still on the fence whether to picket/But quick to get it impaled when I tell 'em stick it/So sick I'm looking pale, oh that's my pigment/Bout to go ham, ya bish, shout out to Kendrick/Let's bring it back to that vintage Slim, bitch/The art of MCing mixed with da Vinci and MC Ren/And I don't mean Stimpy's friend, bitch/Been public enemy since you thought PE was gym, bitch.”)

        In the pre-chorus, he tells people to relax and not to worry. People are going to have fun and do something different.  (“Kick your shoes off/Let your hair down and (go berserk) all night long/Grow your beard out/Just weird out and (go berserk) all night long.”)

          In the chorus, he’ll keep the party going with the music he wrote. The party isn’t going to end until five in the morning. People have to try and take a risk. (“We're gonna rock this house until we knock it down/So turn the volume loud, cause it's mayhem 'til the a.m./So baby make just like K-Fed and let yourself go, let yourself go/Say fuck it before we kick the bucket/Life's too short to not go for broke/So everybody, everybody (go berserk) grab your vile, yeah.”)

                He dresses in buisness casual manner, which surprises others. Somehow, they expect to show up in gold chains and baggy pants. He hits a good-looking woman and implies he’s going to have sex with her. He doesn’t intend to retire anytime soon. He’s still relevant and has substance. He won’t resort to watered down lyrics about designer clothes and cars. He understands language but math confuses him. He wonders if anyone in the genre will ever admit  that their lyrics are sub-par. (“Guess it's just the way that I'm dressed, ain't it?/Khakis pressed, Nike shoes crispy and fresh laced, so I guess it ain't/That aftershave or cologne that made them just faint/Plus I showed up with a coat fresher than wet paint/So if love is a chess game, check mate/But girl your body's banging, jump me in, dang – bang-bang/Yessiree Bob I was thinking the same thing/So come get on this Kid's rock, baw-wit-da-baw dang-dang/P-p-p pow-pow, chicka, bow, chicka, wow-wow/Got your gal blowing up a valve/Ain't slowing down, throw in the towel, tow-towel
Dumb it down, I don't know how (huh-huh) how-how/At least I know that I don't know/Question is are you bozos smart enough to feel stupid/Hope so, now ho.”)..

       The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

      Love can knock a person out, blind people to the faults.With the Kardashians dominating every tabloid cover, Standards don’t seem to exist anymore.He’s lived the rock star cliché. Howver, he tells the starstruck woman she’s going to disappointed if she’s expecting his alter ego. She keeps going on and on about how much she loves his music. He says it was nice talking to her and hopes she likes his new song. (“They say that love is powerful as cough syrup in Styrofoam/All I know is I fell asleep and woke up in that Monte Carlo/With the ugly Kardashian, Lamar, oh sorry yo/We done both set the bar low/Far as hard drugs are though/That’s the past, but I done did enough codeine to knock Future into tomorrow/And girl I ain't got no money to borrow/But I am trying to find a way to get you alone (car note)/Oh, Marshall Mathers/Shit head with a potty mouth, get the bar of soap lathered/Kangols and Carhartt-less Cargos/Girl you’re fixing to get your heart broke/Don’t be absurd, ma'am/You birdbrain baby I ain’t called anybody baby since Birdman (Unless you’re a swallow)/Word, Rick, word man you heard, but don’t be discouraged girl/This is your jam, unless you got toe jam.”)

[         The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again to close the single.

        Enimen’s coolheaded rap secretes sarcasm through its pores. He has an incredible grasp of language. He uses common phrases, bends them and turns it into an unlikely metaphor.  The best metaphor is in the first verse: “That's why my pen needs a pad cause my rhymes on the rag.” The words are simply flowing out of him and he can’t contain them. Menstruation is a natural process just like words are for him. With a lesser performer, it could’ve become really gross.

              The pop cultures references are many. However, they are accurate, fitting the similies and metaphors. The Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom reference is spot on. He mentions Kid Rock in a clever way. Although his dig at Kevin Federline is harsh, given he’s kept his profile low since his divorce from Britney Spears

            The sharp “Berzerk” walks the walk, standing apart from the crowd.