Eminem/ Beautiful video review

Global rating of the product:4 stars
Any writer who would pendown articles about Marshall Mathers without mentioning his hometown or the Detroit hip hop scene would be in the wrong. Eminem is deeply rooted into Detroit. In his brand new video release, the brilliant emcee will take you for a walk at the Tiger stadium in the middle of demolition works. Now that it’s gone, Eminem’s video offers some remembrance to the outside viewers who didn’t have a chance to see the monument. With its loads of abandoned structures, its cement buildings and his manufacturing industries, Detroit might seem austere to the outsider. But one has to remember that the D-town is also the place of birth of Motown records and that its hip hop scene is pretty much alive.
Like the magical Phoenix, the town of Detroit has the potential to rise from its ashes.
A lot of groupies might be obsessed with his external appearance, but Eminem is taking you for a walk into a world in which only inside beauty matters. His universe is made of symbolism and metaphors and you listeners have to catch the meaning behind his words.
Like Detroit City, Eminem shows us how an individual can dig into his internal ressources in order to resurrect his personal treasures.
With the tornado of negative events that disturbed his life since 2005, and Deshaun Holton aka Proof’s death in particular, Eminem was drowning in his sorrow, he often felt like life wasn’t worth living and sought some solace in taking pain killers.
Pain killers didn’t help him soothe his daily spleen; they just took him a step closer to self hatred and doubts, to the hell of another near death experience. In short, Eminem had hit rock bottom once again- to the point he doubted his own rapping abilities.
Maybe he was about to retire, but the little flame that ignited his passion for rap music was still burning.
In the Beautiful video, Eminem gets very introspective, so introspective that he is not reachable. He crosses people on his road, but avoids eye contact and conversation. When you reach the depth of desolation, only God can listen.
At the time Eminem wrote his song, he was facing times of trouble in which the demons of the past would resurface.
To all of you who would be tempted to judge Marshall Mathers, the artist sends an insightful message: “walk a thousand miles in my shoes”.
From his unstable upbringing to his present life, you don’t really know all he has been through.
While being very personal, Eminem’s message is quite universal. It reaches out to a wide range of people of all races and from all continents. It could be summarized in one sentence: “don’t let them bring you down”.
Rather than wasting your time on the external beauty attributes, let your eyes embrace the universal inside beauty of mankind.
The way Eminem handled this video is impressive. It was very emotional to watch it from the beginning to the end. As the outstanding artist he actually is, he resurrected his craft from the ashes. Wow. Remarkable piece of work!
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Edga Da Messiah Kayci/ God's Infection LP

Global rating of the product: 4.5 stars
Underground emcee Edga Da Messiah Kayci has been exposed several times on the Eminem blog. The remarkable artist’s clever use of instrumentals, his incredible flow delivery, his dark Ice T alike voice raised a lot of interest from most readers.
Far from being average, Edga’s know how in handling instrumentals will manage to transport the listener into a cosmic dimension in which you will feel the fight between opposed spiritual forces. Edga gives a new definition of contemporary hip hop. The messiah is back. Let’s walk step by step through the tracks of his God Infection’s LP.
The Revolution Has Begun: the violin/ rhythmic drum background is the prelude to a new era introduced by Edga. You gotta love the swinging instrumentals that introduce the changes announced.
Witness The Coming: at the dawn of a new era, follow the Messiah in his crazy, repetitive rhythm on which his flow spreads like an unexpected whirlwind. Get metaphysical, elevate yourself, touch the sky with the emcee.
Edga’s force also lies in his avant-gardist use of the instrumentals in which he dares to combine strange sounds to dope beats.
Who Can? Who can fuck with the man who brings you back to the genesis of rap music, recalling its elements, spreading words like atomic particles, creator of crazy rhythms ex nihilo? Enemies get erased by verbal fluency in no time.
In Where Do We Go, Edga gets even more mystical. In this rhythmic, hammering instrumental transe, Edga seems to travel through time and space in order to rejoin God’s dimension. Edga’s mom passed away while he was working on this CD, which makes the track even more emotional. Instrumentally, the drum-trumpet-keyboard association unleashes the invisible spiritual forces. A son is talking to his deceased mom. Emotional words cross the river of ages and centuries to melt into the universal sea of mankind. Wow…this track is truly elevating!
Conceited Bastard attacks narrow minded people who are all about money and clothes. Let’s get lyrical on a surrealistic musical background. Well done, Edga.
War: like an army of soldiers marching on, the powerful instrumentals that combine keyboards, bass and drum plays symbolize the era of terror and blood. Get caught into Edga’s whirlwind of words in which he warns humanity in a very prophetic sounding voice.
Among other songs I really like, I’d recommend Cold World to all of you.
Globally speaking Edga has done some amazing work on his CD. His well mastered flow, his good sense of rhythm, his creative use of the instrumentals make an outstanding artist of him.
You can cop his CD with no hesitation!
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Wandering through the dark tunnel of addiction: an in depth analysis of Relapse's narrative side

Today I am dedicating this article to the readers who might have been disappointed by my latest Relapse review, because it lacked details about what I appreciated in the record and what I really disliked about it. Not that I am going to change my opinion about songs I really dislike, but some songs grew on me after a more attentive listen. Also, like I already stated it, the narrative side of the CD is still worth a look. Enjoy:)
I will put aside the songs I really don’t like in the album, so if I haven’t mentioned songs like We Made You and Crack A Bottle, you all know why!
Anybody who has been following Eminem’s music through the years perfectly knows the artist has been confronted with addiction problems since his childhood. The Slim Shady LP gives you a precise listing of all drugs he has been trying, besides the medication destined to hyperactive kids like Ritalin his own mom gave him. Any person who experienced addiction deeply suffers in his/ her inside world. Drugs seem to soothe the daily spleen of the sufferer who plunges into a fog of forgetness. However when he wakes up, the pain is there, even more acute than before. How do I know? I never had any addiction problem, except to rap music…In fact, I can relate to this addiction problem indirectly, because I have seen a person of my close entourage destroy herself through pills and alcohol. It is very difficult to help an addict, unless the addict becomes really conscious of his addiction.
Muhammad L. Lucious has been a fan of Eminem since 1999. He perfectly understands what Eminem is talking about in his music, as he has been through the same, traumatic experiences: he can relate to the nightmare of the world of addiction in the same way. Listen to his testimony:
“”Growing up in Baltimore in the Cherry Hill neighborhood wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Surrounded by drug activity whether it be users or sellers. Violence consumed my everyday life, and avoiding these things weren’t easy for everyone. Growing up without a father or a mother, only my grandmother was there for me. She loved and cared for me the best way she could but the outside world seemed too appealing to ignore. Being caught up in various activities that could have landed me in prison or in my early grave, i lost a lot of friends and missed a lot of things. One day, my best friend and i were walking around the streets at night, ended up being caught in the “wrong place, wrong time” situation. he was shot and i was severely beaten and injured. He died, but i survived…(unfortunately). It is what i thought then. After suffering a severe concussion and having my Achilles Tendons torn by knife blade. i was prescribed Oxycodone and Hydrocodone drugs aka Vicodin, Percoden, Percocet and Valium. suffering from emotional and physical pains i overused my prescriptions and went down a dark road of addiction. Of course, at first you never admit you have a problem, but when various health problems arise you have to face the ugly truth. To quickly wrap this up, i overdosed once in 2005 at the age of 13. young huh? then. After sobering up, more issues arised in life that drove back down the same road. Which in common terms lead me to a RELAPSE, which caused me to have a AT DEATHS DOOR experience where in the hospital after a 2nd overdose, i hit the flat line, for 2 minutes and 34 seconds (so my doc says) you can be dead for up to 5 minutes before definite death, look it up if you don’t believe me. So basically I DIED. but by the grace of God the doctor was able to bring me back in time. and that was my Addiction Story. i call it “Ruin – Recovery – Relapse”.
Eminem had the courage to face his own demons…Relapse is his honest confession to the world.
Besides addiction, the dark themes of abuse are also mentioned. Not only mental abuse, but physical abuse. I have no idea if the physical abuse theme should be interpreted metaphorically or literally, but it gave me the chills. I felt unwell while reading the lyrics to Insane. To tell the truth, the song raised tears in my eyes. I was thinking about the numerous silent victims of incest. Child abuse needs to be stopped on a worldwide scale.
The introduction to Relapse, Dr West is nicely done. It then leads directly to the artist’s disturbed mind, opening on 3AM. The darkness of the theme is reinforced by dark instrumentals, piano notes are hammering into hell’s ballade. Violins insist on the dramatic side in which Eminem turns into a scary serial killer. You will never know what happened: either the pills created this madness or all the bloody crimes actually happened.
I still don’t like the accent- but I appreciate the lyrics and Eminem’s flow in the song. Efforts are put on the way of rapping-unfortunately spoilt by this strange accent in my opinion.
My Mom tells the story of addiction inside of Marshall Mathers’ family. Terrible story of a mom who makes an addict of her own son. Moms, take care yourselves and of your kids! Still don’t like the song, though.
Insane is probably the scariest song of the whole album. Its instrumentals will make many of you think of the Brain Damage song. The lyrics are…insane, well worked on. Em flows like crazy on this one…I’ll never know if his messing with our heads or telling the factual truth. Well done. I love this one despite its scary physical abuse background.
I won’t go into detail with Bagpipes from Baghdad, because it kinda wipes out the main theme. All I can say is that I found this song highly amusing and that I enjoyed the bagpipe sounds.
Stay Wide Awake is one valuable song for multiple reasons: the use of the instrumentals, the power of the words, Em’s stormy flow, I must say that it is excellent on this one!
Again, the scary themes of rape appear in Eminem’s album, but this time the artist slips into the skin of a rapist. Lyrically, the song is crazy. The instrumentals give a surreal impression to the listener.
Another song, maybe, is worth the listener’s attention : Déjà Vu
The expression, that comes from the French language, puts persons in “already seen before” situation. It is a quite painful expose of a family father struggling with his addiction and failing in stopping it. Embracing the face of death, waking up at the hospital, Marshall puts a lot of honesty in his narration.
I really value Underground. Lyrical creativity prevails in this one.
The last verse reveals to the world that the artist is ready to face the world, music critics as well.
During my journey into Marshall Mathers’ mind, I learnt a lot. I understood that, if you have the courage to face your demons, you will come out of this experience stronger than ever.
But it costs a lot. It won’t come to you spontaneously. Doing a public confession to the world costs even more.
After 4 near death experiences (left in a coma for 9 days, trying to commit suicide at Ronnie’s death, swallowing pills again at Infinite’s flop, history repeated itself on December 2007), Marshall Mathers is truly a survivor. He made me realize that we shouldn’t consider life as granted, but rather as God’s gift.
Marshall’s come back is a miracle in itself, if you consider all he went though and I am grateful for what I learnt from Relapse’s teachings.
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

13 questions for Dina Rae: an exclusive interview!

In order to clear some unfounded rumors, Dina Rae happens to be the mystery guest for my blog…hope this puts everything clear!

A few weeks ago, Dina Rae kindly accepted this interview. I’d like to thank her for that. Dina Rae is familiar to many people for being “track 13 girl” on Eminem’s albums. But the amazing artist has also a lot of collaborations with the Detroit underground hip hop scene at her active. She has done a lot of music of her own. Besides her music skills, she is also a gifted dancer. Often envied for her sexiness, the talented female singer has made a name in the music industry. Listen to what Dina has to say:)
1. What motivated you to become an artist and how did you get started in the music industry?
I was trained as a dancer at a young age, so that always gave me the creative outlet, but my musical career evolved because of me having a serious spine injury that halted my dance career and pushed the singer songwriter in me more to the forefront. As I child I always enjoyed musical theater, so I always knew I had it in me to sing. My vocal coach Cydney Davis, who has worked with many great singers such as Marvin Gaye, Barry White, and Joe Cocker trained me since the age of nine, so I was well prepare for my future as a vocalist…One day at Fat Lip of The Pharcydes crib, he began playing this loop on his turntable and heard me singing this hook I’d just wrote. Right then and there he demanded that I lay it down and record it and that was it for me! It was over then! I knew at that moment songwriting and singing was all I wanted to do. I felt like I found my nitch.
2. Define your musical style within a few words…
2.  I hate to pigeonhole myself but if I had to sum it up I’d have to call it edgy Pop mixed with R&B. My sound is very Hip Hop influenced, so I also like to call Hip Pop. I like to curse alot in my music, but I think I’m pretty melodical and lyrical too. I love really hard beats as my musical backdrop, so I guess that’s why you can’t just call it your traditional R&B.
3. Can you enlighten the readers about your solo work?
 I would definitely say that I’m a mouthpiece for women. In my music I like to say all the things women can’t sometimes say because were either scared to, we’ll lose our jobs or we gotta “play our positions” as women. I have a bluntness in my music that if you know me personally, it’s how I would have a regular conversation with you. I would say that my explicitness and hardcore production draws the male fan base also.
4.You also did some interesting choreographic work…a few words about it?
I love choreography and dance that’s the root and the backbone of everything I do. My favorite experience with choreography was a show I did when I was young with Tina Landon and Janet Jackson’s dancers based out in Los Angeles. Currently, I’m in dance rehearsals with my latest material, choreographing my new show.
5. Most people know you as the Track 13 Girl on Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP…I myself discovered you thanks to the Drug Ballad song.
Your vocals create the softness into the rough addiction universe of the song.
Can you tell us how you got to meet Eminem?
I made a promise to myself never to answer this question again, but I’ll make this one final exception; lol! A mutual friend from Interscope Records basically linked us up at the time, when I ran into them picking up food in LA somewhere.
6.  You actually made impression on Eminem. How is it to work with a like him? Does he put working standards to a very high level?
I admire Marshall’s work ethic immensely and I have been inspired by it. He expects nothing but perfection when you’re in the studio with him; but he doesn’t mind if I get a little high from time to time. Just kidding, haha!!!
7. You also did some interesting collaborations with Detroit underground rapper Mu. A few words about them?
 Mu is one of the most lyrical and articulate rappers I know. He has co-written a couple of songs with me on the R&B tip. He’s a very talented artist.
8. You do have other Detroit underground emcees collaborations at your active…what is your personal insight on the Detroit hip hop scene?
 I keep up with my close friends and family in Detroit, but I haven’t been back to The D since Proof’s funeral. Everyone was and is so devasted by his death, I don’t know that Detroit s Hip-Hop scene will ever be the same without him. We can only keep his legacy going. I know I will.
9. What is the most difficult challenge you had to face as an artist?
As an artist I’d say that trying to release an album after working with an artist of Eminem’s caliber has been the most trying. There’s this misconception that because I sang on all these records with him I’m automatically straight, you know? But it actually works quite opposite. Don’t get me wrong I’m so grateful for the experience and opportunity of making history with him, it’s just that your identity is always next to, or compared to his and that’s hard to overcome. I don’t do what Em does; I do what Dina Rae does. Always have, always will.
10. Which ( mainstream or underground) artist earned your respect and why?
I’m really into Lady Gaga right now. She’s got that edgy dance thing, and seems real honest and integral with her art form. She was a hustler too and I respect that.
11.. According to you, what makes you appear as unique in the world of music?
I’d say I’m unique because of my diverse influences, in life and in music.
12. Besides your obvious musical skills, your sexiness is certainly a great asset too. Did you experience some envy or jealousy?
I think any halfway attractive female is going to get jealousy and hate from other females. For me I guess it was a lot of envy from Eminem’s female fans because he was grinding on my butt onstage while we were performing the song Superman during The Anger Management Tour Lolll!!!!!
13. Any upcoming musical projects/ collaborations for 2009?
Yes, I’ve formed my own label Purple Diva, Inc. that will be launching all my new music this year. I’ll be releasing a digital EP entitled The Return of The Real this summer, followed by my solo debut, Purple Diva, dropping in the fall. If you know what I’ve done and know what history I’ve been apart of, then you already know what you’re about to hear; nothing but hits! Dina Rae-The Purple Diva signing off.
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved