Album Anticipation + Tracklist Wish List: Eminem

By Trey Alessio

In 2016, there were many albums that were announced but never saw the light of day. These remain in musical purgatory, but in this “Album Anticipation” series, I’ll break down the albums I’m looking forward to this year and create my dream tracklist for each project. Here’s the first album in this blog series. 

Eminem - TBA

Don't worry I'm working on an album! Here's something meanwhile. https://t.co/QX3cdpqFD2

— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) October 19, 2016

Eminem isn’t the most active on Twitter, but on October 19, 2016, Slim Shady tweeted out a link to a 7-minute jaw-dropping, bar-for-bar freestyle/a cappella song and announced he’s working on a new album.

I’ll be the first to tell you, I am a Stan through and through, so when I heard this news, I started freaking out. I can’t wait to see what Eminem has up his sleeve. There are very few details about this upcoming album, but I think it’d be fun to speculate and/or wish.

First of all, I’d like to see this album entirely produced by Dr. Dre. Eminem’s last album, “Marshall Mathers LP 2,” was produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, and while I thought it was great, it did kind of have more of a mainstream vibe to it. Dre brings out the best in Eminem, and I’d love to see Slim Shady’s best work. With that being said, I’d also like to see a lot of crazy, Slim Shady vibes and a reunion-of-sorts with former frequent collaborators. It seemed like Kanye West’s album, “The Life of Pablo,” and Chance the Rapper’s mixtape, “Coloring Book,” both were a gathering of friends and a creative space for beautiful music. I want to see Eminem’s version of that. Wouldn’t it be cool to see Eminem bring back some familiar faces (Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne) to lay down some fire on this new album?

I also want a mixture of the old school, crazy Slim Shady vibes, the weird, comedic-voiced Slim Shady vibes and the inspirational, pump-up Eminem vibes—all dope vibes. Wouldn’t that be the craziest Eminem album ever? I just want the nostalgia meshed with the new-school, evolved version of Eminem on this upcoming album. I’m not expecting a cohesive story, but I am expecting greatness.

Tracklist Wish List

1. I’m Back Again – No hook, just bars… Slim guns anyone from Donald Trump to Kim Kardashian to Christopher Reeves to Lindsay Lohan with a “Rap God” vibe. No one is safe. This could be a sequel to the song, “I’m Back,” from the original “Marshall Mathers LP.”
2. Drained (feat. Anderson .Paak) – A song about how women and fame drain all his energy… He will most likely flame some prominent females from the current world of pop culture. Anderson .Paak will be on the hook—something that could be feasible simply because they’re both on the same label, Aftermath.
3. Motivation – the pump-up song… Eminem always seems to throw in that quintessential fiery, motivational song such as “Lose Yourself,” “Till I Collapse,” “Not Afraid,” “Survival.” It seems likely that Eminem would put out a new pump-up, possibly lead-single song.
4. Paul (Skit) – Paul Rosenberg leaves Marshall a harsh voicemail about making another album under the Slim Shady persona. I want some more hilarious Eminem skits on this next album.
5. Detroit vs. Everybody Pt. II (feat. Big Sean, Royce Da 5’9” and D12) – The follow-up to the Detroit anthem from “Shady XV”… Eminem teams up with fellow Detroit-natives Big Sean, Nickel and D12 to pay homage to their hometown. We’ve all been waiting for the sequel to this song, and I think Eminem’s album might be a perfect spot (if it doesn’t show up on Big Sean’s upcoming album, “I Decided).
6. Steve Berman (Skit) – Eminem discusses this new album with Steve Berman, who isn’t pleased with the final product. Bring back the skits, Em!
7. Bitch Please III (feat. Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Jay Z and Lil Wayne) – Braggadocios and womanizing… Eminem rallies up the crew for the “Marshall Mathers LP” follow-up song. This could be feasible as there were rumors circulating around the Twittersphere that Dr. Dre purposed a European tour with Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar. Throw in Jay Z—who toured together in 2010 and collaborated with Eminem on Jay Z’s song, “Renegade”—and Lil Wayne—who collaborated with Eminem on “Drop the World” and “No Love”—to give us the most monstrous track possibly ever. 
8. Finger On the Button – politically, socially conscious… Eminem always used to have a politically-driven song like “White America” or “Mosh.” With “Campaign Speech” under Eminem’s belt, it seems likely that he’ll touch on Trump’s presidency and other political topics.
9. New Wave – Eminem throws shade at the new wave rappers such as Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, etc. He also challenges elite-level rappers to step their game up, much like Kendrick Lamar did with his “Control” verse back in the summer of 2013. This seems feasible because on “Shady XV,” Eminem rapped, “Perhaps I’ll launch some cracker taunts at Action Bronson, Macklemore, Mac Miller and Asher Roth / And have some back and forths / And record a wack response to Kendrick Lamar’s “Control” verse and perform “Fack” in concert.” Eminem actually did perform “Fack” for the first time in Brazil last year, so maybe he’ll actually give his version of a “Control” response.
10. Calm Before the Storm (feat. Rihanna) – the radio jam… Whenever Eminem and Rihanna team up on a track, it’s sure to be a chart-topper. 
11. Ken Kaniff (Skit) – Eminem’s gay alter ego is back… We all love Ken Kaniff’s hilarious skits, so it would be cool to see him show up on this new album.
12. Suckin’ It – the funny song with Eminem’s goofy, funny voice (for example, “Ass Like That”). Last December on Shade 45, Eminem jokingly teased a new song with the hook saying, “Tell me what time, what time, what time, what time are you sucking it?” While we all think this was just a joke, Eminem seems like the kind of guy to flip a stupid joke and make it a funny song.
13. Detox (feat. Dr. Dre) – “Forgot About Dre” and/or “Old Time’s Sake” vibes… We all know Dre scrapped “Detox” and released his album, “Compton,” in 2015, but what if Eminem got Dre on a track where they unleash their inner demons?
14. After Mathers – contemplates what the rap game will be like after he’s gone… I’d love to hear hardcore “Marshall Mathers” vibes on a song like this. I think something like this is possible because Eminem is getting older and probably thinking more and more about his legacy.
15. Bonnie and Clyde ’17 – insane, serial killer, Slim Shady vibes… What if Eminem got his grown-up daughter to hop on a sequel to their song from the “Slim Shady LP?” I think this would blow everybody’s minds.
16. Impatient (feat. 50 Cent) – “Patiently Waiting” vibes… We’ve all been waiting for 50 Cent and Eminem to hop back on a track together since 50 Cent released his loosie song, “My Life,” back in 2012. Maybe our wish will come true with this new album.
17. To Infinity – “Infinite” vibes, maybe touching on his legacy again… I think this is possible because Eminem recently re-released a re-mastered version of his first-ever single, “Infinite.” Maybe Slim Shady will leave us where he originally started.

CREDIT: Rap Basement