Has Eminem Fallen Off? 'Rap God' Doesn't Bode Well For 'MMLP2'

While it likely won't go down as the moment where we stopped praising Em and started making excuses for him (that would be Encore), "Rap God" off his upcoming album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 does bring all the problems with modern Slim Shady to the surface.

The fact of the matter is, he's getting older in a genre where we are still not used to our stars continuing their careers into old age. Much like Jay Z's Magna Carta, Holy Grail, Em's latest seems poised to spend its time jumping back and forth between dated references, "remember how great I was?" asides and attempts to portray hisself as above the rabble of the modern day rap game. Unfortunately for Jay and Em both, it appears that only the most delusional of fans will see these attempts as successful.

Have a listen to "Rap God:"

Where to even begin?

Let's start with the positive. Em's flow is as technically gifted as ever and, if you don't actually listen to the lyrcs, you can probably convince yourself that this is a great song. Take a look at the words, however, and the cracks appear.

Em shows his age by making one of his first punchlines about Monica Lewinsky and it only gets worse from there. Hibbidy hop, ribbidy rap, yakkety yak and a period joke firmly root this track in 90s rap for 15-year-olds.

Shady also regularly gets his message confused, accusing critics of being stuck in a time warp (to a time when Shady's records were critical darlings) and then dropping references to several years old phenomenons like planking and "Lookin Ass N**ga", a song that came out a year prior to Relapse.

Also of note, Em accuses us of being stuck in the past and then says he throws "Lose Yourself" on to make a crowd lose it. "Lose Yourself" was released in 2002. And we're not the ones releasing a sequel to an album that came out more than a decade ago.

Also, I can't let it go without mentioning "I rap like a robot, call me Rapbot." Not even 2 Chainz can get away with a clunker that terrible.

If this is what the rest of MMLP2 is going to sound like, we might as well leave it on the shelf.

Feel free to tell me how wrong I am in the comments.