Eminem Presents the Re-Up - Music Review

Various Artists

Eminem Presents: The Re-Up

Shady Records

The holiday season is truly a paradox. It’s the only time of year we embrace the most unwanted of things: drunken relatives or a seasonal filler album like Eminem Presents: The Re-Up. Surprisingly, the record isn’t as bad as its premise, as long as you discount the fact Eminem barely appears on it. Aside from a couple of singles and short verses, Eminem’s absent. It’s a good thing though since new Aftermath members Stat Quo, Cashis and Bobby Creek bring a hunger that’s been missing from the label’s bigger names. The standout here is the oft-forgotten Obie Trice who lays a vicious set of lines on the menacing “Pistol Pistol.” It more than makes up for the abysmal Eminem and 50 Cent duet “Jimmy Crack Corn,” which features the worst use of a nursery rhyme in a rap song ever, a true feat in itself. Only on the scathing closer “No Apologies” does Eminem redeem himself with a fiery rebuke to critics for blowing up his personal failures (drugs, divorce). The Re-Up is as inconsistent as mix tapes go, but oddly, it delivers just enough punch. Lower your expectations and you won’t be disappointed.