Jul 28, 2025 at 5:25 PM

356. Eminem - Kamikaze (2018) [July 28th, 2025]

A very nostalgic album for me. I literally got into Em like, two weeks before this dropped, so the rollout (or lack thereof) really brings me back. Kamikaze is definitely a step up from Revival, but I would say that it hasn't aged too well in the 6 years (d---) since it's release.

To be fair, I don't hate Kamikaze. "The Ringer" is a great fiery intro from Em (and let's be honest, it's much better as an opener than "Marshall Powers" could've ever been"), and "Greatest" is probably one of my favorites on here. I like to clown on Joyner a lot these days, but "Lucky You" is an all time b-----r.. "Normal" sucks though. I get that it's a Drake parody I guess, but it's just lame. "Stepping Stone" is a nice sentimental ode to D12 though. "Not Alike" is a great BME track, and d--- Em went in on MGK. "Kamikaze" is..."Kamikaze. Nothing much to say about that.

I wanna give a special focus to "Fall". In a lot of ways, "Fall" feels like a pseudo sequel to "Walk on Water" for me. On WOW, Em clearly laid out his insecurities and his fears about the high expectations that people place on him. On "Fall", Em is clearly shaken by the (albeit deserved) negative reaction to Revival. The last "I'm not gonna Fall, b----" before Justin Vernon's chorus has always felt pretty sad for me. Although, mentioning Hopsin as a sign of your legacy was a bad move lmao.

Then the album falls apart. "Nice Guy" is Revival levels of bad, and "Good Guy", while okay, feels way too out of place on here. I have to admit that "Venom" is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, but I do recognize that it's not exactly MMLP level.

Kamikaze's biggest problem is based on the fact that a lot of it's subject matter is either dated, or wrong to begin with, Hearing mumble rap discourse in 2025 is beyond lame, and the fact that Em chooses to defend Revival on most of these tracks is hilariously dumb. For an album that is billed as a "f--- You to the Haters" having 5 songs that have nothing to do with the theme is almost laughable. Still, I do think that it's mostly a very vulnerable album, and I think I'll always have a soft spot for it in a way.

 

Jul 29, 2025 at 1:05 PM

357. Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats (1996) [July 29th, 2025]

Is it a bit strange to check out Ween's full country album before albums like The Pod and Quebec? Perhaps

12 Golden Country Greats is strange, in part, due to how normal it is. Instead of the genre crossing that was a staple on their previous album Chocolate and Cheese, Gene and Dean decided to do a full on country album. And it's fine. The type of country that they do on this record isn't my cup of tea usually, but there's enough Ween humor on here to make it worthwhile at least. Eh, it's nothing too special in my opinion

 

Jul 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM

358. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo 2 (2025) [July 29th, 2025]

This one might be unpopular. At least for now (literally 1 listen), I didn't really enjoy Alfredo 2 that much. I revisited the first Alfredo in preparation, and I still think that it's a great project.

Alfredo 2 on the other hand, was good, but not mindblowing for me. Freddie is charismatic as always, and I feel like all the features did pretty good. I am more mixed on Alc though. None of the beats here are bad, but I feel like recent Alchemist beats haven't really grabbed me like they used to before. "Feeling" and "I Still Love H.E.R." were pretty dope tho.

Hoping that I enjoy this one more on a relisten