Maps of Music

Kamikaze (2018)

Where the lyrics of Kamikaze take you, and where it was really made.

Eminem's tenth studio album was released with no prior announcement, just eight months after Revival, as a direct answer to the backlash that Revival received.

Key places

Heaven studio in Detroit (2018)

Recording site Heaven (Detroit) — Listed as a recording studio for Kamikaze in Detroit. The listing pins the building itself, but no session date or song is given. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Record One studio in Los Angeles (2018)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Listed as a recording studio for Kamikaze in Los Angeles. Only the city centre is pinned, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Kamikaze: tenth studio album by the American rapper Eminem
• Released August 31, 2018
• Labels: Shady Records, Goliath Artists, Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope Records
• Executive produced by Eminem and Dr. Dre
• Guest appearances: Joyner Lucas, Royce da 5'9", Jessie Reyez
• Production by Eminem, Luis Resto, Boi-1da, Tay Keith, Ronny J, Mike Will Made It, among others

Background

• Revival, the previous album, drew polarizing reception
• Music journalists debated whether Eminem's relevance and ability were waning
• Kamikaze responds to that debate with insults aimed at critics and rappers alike
• Released eight months after Revival, with no prior announcement
• The no-promotion release was a retaliation to the backlash against Revival

Recording

• January 8, 2018: Eminem unexpectedly released a remix of Revival song Chloraseptic with 2 Chainz and Phresher
• January 22, 2018: photos showed Mike Will Made-It in the studio with Eminem and Dr. Dre
• S1 kept sending beats during the Revival sessions; Eminem used some of them on Kamikaze tracks
• The afternoon before release, Eminem posted a 15-second teaser of a new song featuring the Venom film logo, without comment
• Released on digital stores and streaming services without promotion

Cover

• Full cover shows fighter pilot LT. Mathers III crashing an F-86 Sabre jet into an unknown object
• Artwork is a homage to Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill (1986)
• Eminem had cited the Beastie Boys as an inspiration for years but gave them no prior consultation
• The Beastie Boys' Mike D responded positively to the homage

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Marshall Bruce Mathers III, born October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, Missouri; American rapper, songwriter, record producer and record executive.
• Known for rap flow and conscious rap including political criticism and social commentary; widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time.
• Credited with popularizing hip-hop in Middle America and the acceptance of white rappers in popular music.
• Debut album Infinite (1996) was a commercial failure; Slim Shady EP (1997) led to signing with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope.
• The Slim Shady LP (1999) brought mainstream popularity; The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) and The Eminem Show (2002) each sold over one million copies in a single week.
• The Eminem Show became the best-selling album worldwide in 2002; Recovery (2010) was the best-selling album worldwide in 2010.
• Co-founded Shady Records in late 1999; the label signed D12, Obie Trice, 50 Cent, Stat Quo, Bobby Creekwater and Cashis.
• Starred in 8 Mile (2002); "Lose Yourself" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the first hip-hop act to win it.
• Over 220 million records sold; eleven number-one albums on the Billboard 200, with The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (2024) the latest.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 in his first year of eligibility.

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: generally favorable reviews, weighted average 62 out of 100 from 16 critic scores
• Critical reception ranged from mixed to positive
• Some praised it as an improvement over Revival and a welcome return to Eminem's more aggressive persona
• Others criticized him for failing to adapt to the current sound of hip-hop, and found the album outdated as a result
• Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 5.6 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus
• Rolling Stone: Stephen Kearse gave 2.5 out of five stars, writing that Eminem has no insights or ideas about the state of rap
• Billboard: Charles Holmes said Eminem tries to stop his artistic decline by blaming everyone except himself
• Pitchfork: Marc Hogan gave 5 out of 10, calling the career an exhausting feedback loop
• Vox: Aja Romano called it Eminem's best in years
• Consequence of Sound: Dedrick Hendrix gave a B-

Reappraisal

• Billboard (2024 ranking of Eminem's 12 studio albums): Damien Scott placed Kamikaze fifth
• Scott highlighted the tracks Stepping Stone and Good Guy
• Scott wrote that the lofty themes of Revival are gone and the album shows Eminem can still rap better than anyone

Records

• Opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 434,000 album-equivalent units in the US
• Ninth consecutive number-one album in the US
• Entered the UK Albums Chart at number one with 55,000 album-equivalent units in its first week
• Number one in 21 countries
• Best-selling hip-hop album of 2018 by October 17
• RIAA platinum certification for 1 million album-equivalent units in the United States
• Ninth-best-selling album globally of 2018 according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Eminem's vocals on Fall drew criticism for the slur used about Tyler, the Creator; guest vocalist Justin Vernon distanced himself from the collaboration.
• Eminem later apologized in his Kamikaze interview with Sway Calloway.
• Several weeks after release, Eminem took out a full-page ad in The Hollywood Reporter mocking negative reviews of Kamikaze, including The Hollywood Reporter's own review.
• Lucky You was the first time Eminem topped Billboard's Streaming Songs chart.
• Five tracks from Kamikaze were in the top 10 of Spotify's chart in the week of September 4, including the top two spots.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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