I remember 1999 as a great year for music because Eminem released his first album “Slim Shady LP.” Despite my parents disapproval toward rap music, my older brother Matthew allowed me to borrow the CD. While listening to the record, I was blown away by Eminem’s style of rap. At the age of 15 I became a fan of Eminem and 23 years later, I am proud to see how Eminem has grown through his music. This past January he shocked fans with the release of his latest album “Music to be Murdered By.”
The album blew my mind because “Music to be Murdered By” is a dynamic album due to how Eminem experimented with different styles of rap. On this album, he uses different beats to set the theme in each song and all the songs have their own beat and flow based on how Eminem wants to rap the lyrics. “Godzilla” grabbed my attention because it is about Eminem and his previous albums.
Before going any further I would like to say that there is an important contributor on “Godzilla.” Late rapper Juice WRLD recorded the chorus to the song before he died from a seizure from overdosing on painkillers. His contribution amplifies the song because his vocals provide excitement and meaning. I thought it was genius to allow Juice WRLD to be a part of a brilliant song because his vocals brings a funky vibe to the chorus.
Eminem is a lyrical genius and he did a great job with referencing his life and lyrics from previous records. Eminem brought creativity to the song by how he added words from his previous tracks such as “fifth vodka,” which is referenced from the song “Stan;” “I’m in a mental hospital,” which is referenced from “The Real Slim Shady;” and “Monster,” which is referenced to the song “Monster.”
The best part of “Godzilla” is how fast Eminem raps in the last 30 seconds of the song. I think it is absolutely ridiculous because he raps 7.46 words per second and the way he raps shows how talented he is as an artist. I do realize there are other rappers such as Twista and Tech N9ne who can rap just as fast as Eminem, but I think he sets himself apart from the others by out performing them and I believe he set the bar high because his rap flow stayed attuned to the beat of the music. In February Eminem challenged fans to rap the fast verse and I found it fun to watch videos of people rapping because some have taken the challenge seriously by rapping the verse without taking a breath.
Overall, “Godzilla” is a genius song by Eminem and I highly recommend people to listen and pay attention to the lyrics. This song shows how Eminem’s age has not affected his musical style.
