Eminem Retires!

[CBright7831 0]

On Eminem's new summer tour, a tense video storyline is woven through the Detroit rapper's show. Following a montage of visuals encapsulating his vast celebrity -- magazine covers, TV footage, limos, crowds -- the star is seen alone backstage, aiming a loaded pistol at his image in a mirror before turning it toward himself.

 

The climax is abrupt: With the gun to his temple, Eminem pulls the trigger. The screen goes black.

 

When the dressing room eventually fades back into view, the audience sees that the rapper sits unharmed; the gun has misfired. Eminem looks into the camera.

 

"This is how you go out with a bang, baby!"

 

At a casual glance, it might come off like the latest shock attack in a career defined by controversy. But dig a bit deeper and you'll come upon a revelation even more startling, one that has been known only to the artist's closest friends and associates.

 

Marshall Mathers is ready to get rid of Eminem.

 

Here's what it could mean, say those close to the rapper: When he steps off the stage Sept. 17 in Dublin, Ireland, he will have made his final concert appearance. "Encore," his slyly titled 2004 release, will stand as the final Eminem album. The reign of Eminem, and his alter ego Slim Shady, will have been voluntarily vanquished.

 

It wouldn't be a mere name game, in the hip-hop fashion that let Puff Daddy become P. Diddy, or the fanciful indulgence of a superstar toying with personas, like Prince. Nor would it be some gimmicky farewell stunt, say hometown friends and professional associates, many of whom asked not to be named in this story, citing sensitivity about the issue deep within Eminem's record label and management camps.

 

What it would represent, say those friends, is a dramatic life shift for a celebrity grown weary of public commotion -- and an artist who feels trapped by musical expectations.

 

"Em has definitely gotten to the level where he feels like he's accomplished everything he can accomplish in rap," said rapper Proof, Mathers' right-hand man onstage. "He wants to kick back and get into the producing thing."

 

Detroit producer Jeff Bass, who won an Academy Award for cowriting Eminem's "Lose Yourself," said while he won't rule out the possibility of further solo albums from Mathers, "the Eminem part of his career isn't going to be at the forefront anymore."

 

If Mathers is truly set to shake things up, exactly where he goes from here is unclear. He's not doing interviews this summer, and his spokesman at Interscope Records in Los Angeles declined to comment. Manager Paul Rosenberg said there's been "no official decision" about the future. But he acknowledged that some kind of recalibration is likely, adding that Eminem's latest multiplatinum record is "certainly the cap on this part of his career."

 

Others by his side, from business partners to fellow rappers in D12, say Mathers is ready to embark on a path like that of mentor Dr. Dre, who upon reaching his 30s eased away from the microphone for a successful career as a producer and star-maker.

 

Such a move by Mathers would shake the tectonic plates of pop culture. At 33, he is now the best-selling hip-hop artist in history and is, by many standards, the globe's biggest music star.

 

If this is indeed a final bow, Eminem will join a special society of pop icons: the ones who went out on a high note. It's a small and exclusive membership that includes the Beatles, Sam Cooke, Led Zeppelin and Nirvana -- artists who, by choice or fate, quit while they were ahead. They're the ones who left stories with clear beginnings and ends and legacies that never risked getting spoiled.

 

"Why not bow out while you're on top?" said Proof, speaking last Friday inside his tour bus at Germain Amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio, second stop on the Anger Management Tour 3.

 

"Marshall is very smart about this stuff," said another musical partner. "He knows the danger of being at this level, where there's nowhere to go but down."

 

Good riddance, asshole!

[Renegade 0]

He'll be back when he needs more money

[Dangerous A 0]

Good riddance, asshole!

 

 

What do you care? If you didn't like his music, why don't you not listen? If you didn't like what he had to say in interviews, why don't you just turn the station? So what if he's a jerk, so is 90% of the music industry.

[CBright7831 0]

Good riddance, asshole!

 

 

What do you care? If you didn't like his music, why don't you not listen? If you didn't like what he had to say in interviews, why don't you just turn the station? So what if he's a jerk, so is 90% of the music industry.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, no that's the thing. I did like Eminem when he had talent. He lost that in early 2003 though and it's been downhill from there.

[Dangerous A 0]

I kind of see where you are coming from. I'll I don't think he lost any talent so much as his act got stale. I have all Em's albums except Encore cause I really wasn't feeling it. He can still freestyle and flow with the best of them, it's just now he really doesn't have much more to say. In other words, he's now played out.

[CBright7831 0]

True.

 

And there is something about him now that drives me up the wall.

 

I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, it makes me hate him.

 

You would have never heard me call him an asshole from 98-02, even thoug he probably was at that time also.

[Dangerous A 0]

Probrably because Encore fell flat on it's face. Seriously, I was real disappointed in that album. That, or his affiliation with people like 50 Cent and D-12, who are subpar at best.

[CBright7831 0]

I actually liked Devil's Night. I wish I could say the same for the catastrophe known as D12World.

[razazteca 0]

Is this retirement going to be like Jay-Z, who "retired" then did an album with Linkin Park?

[Dangerous A 0]

Actually, I could see him "retire" the Eminem/Slim Shady gimmick bit and try to reinvent himself as Marshall Mathers.

 

Jay-Z "retired", but supposedly if and when he needs or wants the money, he may release an album as Shawn Carter.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

How in the hell did Zeppelin go out on a high note? Their last couple albums weren't very good at all.

[Guest BrokenWings]

You would have never heard me call him an asshole from 98-02, even thoug he probably was at that time also.

 

It's funny, because he was far larger an asshole then - probably the reason you enjoyed him in the first place. He's definitely grown up and matured a lot in recent years, and it makes for a less-than-great album, as I feel he's watching more what he says and does, for Hailie's sake.

 

I figure the article had it right when it said he would basically fade away and do an album every five years or so, as Dre does. Which is fine by me, as it gives him the time he'll need to really perfect it. I think that's the reason Encore was his worst album to date; the pressure involved in writing/producing so quickly while trying to do so many things at one time.

[Carnival 0]

He's just gonna "retire" for a few years, then come back with an album so the interest is at it's highest to hear eminem finally come back.

 

Anyways it doesn't matter, he'll go down as the greatest of all time.

 

He started to make really really poppy and stupid songs. Especially on Encore. But to say he lost any talent as far as his flow, shows how little people know about rap. He's is currently leaps and bounds ahead of where he was when he released the Marshall Mathers LP in terms of flow and word play. There are a couple songs on the Slim Shady LP where he isn't even on the beat. It's very easy to see he is a much better rapper all around right now than he was 5 years ago.

[ant_7000 0]

I doubt Em and Jay-z need money since they're the few rappers that make millions. No rapper actually retires maybe semi-retired, make a couple songs on mixtapes or appear on a label mate/crew member album.

 

Em was getting played out to me, Encore pretty much summed that up, as long he doesn't get on the boards full time now im cool with him retiring. Now MTV and VH1 will hype Em as GOAT. *Shakes Head*

[Fökai 0]

After hearing "Ass Like That" for the first time, I figured this wasn't too far behind. That song makes my ears bleed.

 

It's a shame that he didn't just retire after the genius that was his second album. Even then, everyone in the industry knew that that was his peak as an artist.

 

EDIT: Okay, maybe after 8 Mile came out.

[cameron chaos 0]

Actually, I could see him "retire" the Eminem/Slim Shady gimmick bit and try to reinvent himself as Marshall Mathers.

 

Jay-Z "retired", but supposedly if and when he needs or wants the money, he may release an album as Shawn Carter.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Both of them are worth millions already and make money off the artists they have brought in (D12, G-Unit, Obie Trice and Memphis Bleek, Freeway, Beanie Siegel, Kanye West) and their sales, as well as money earnt on their own back catalogues, from their clothing and shoe lines, posters, all sorts. I doubt either will want or need money ever again. The only reason for either to rap anymore is because they want to and it's clear neither does save guest appearances on tracks to get their new signings over with their own old fanbases.

[Placebo Effect 0]

You forgot pure greed.

[The Czech Republic 0]

How in the hell did Zeppelin go out on a high note? Their last couple albums weren't very good at all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I like "Carouselambra" and "Fool in the Rain" too much to say that In Through The Out Door was downright awful. Presence was pretty useless, though, except "Achilles' Last Stand."

 

Also, I thought Eminem was good, five years ago.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

People are buying this shit? Bitch please. The debut of Marshall Mathers in hip-hop is coming soon enough. Perhaps a Carter/Mathers double album?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Boy, I can see how he must be pretty worn out after his long five year career I'm sure he'll be back soon enough in some form. I don't really see why rappers and pop stars feel the need to "retire" when they just come back in a year or two anyway.

 

I think part of it is how the media more than ever shoves people like this down our throats, so it almost seems like they've been around longer than they really have. I heard someone on the radio the other day ask "how long has Britney Spears been around now? 15 years or so?" She's only really been around since 1998, but it almost seems longer.

 

I hate Eminem...I know some people enjoy his music, but I can't appreciate what he stands for at all. Plus I get sick of seeing white kids trying to dress and act like him. Good riddance.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

What if Black or Mexican kids do it?

[Skywarp! 0]

I think The Onion was able to pinpoint why Eminem has gotten irritating on their review of "Encore", in particular, Eminem's attack on Triumph in "Ass Like That":

 

"The song backfires spectacularly, because Eminem and Triumph essentially share the same shtick—deflating celebrity egos with barbed wisecracks—and because at this point, Triumph is a lot funnier and more pointed in his putdowns than his human counterpart. Naturally, it boils down to context and perspective: When Eminem first started taking the piss out of celebrities in his songs and videos, he was the consummate underdog. Now that he's amassed a colossal fortune and countless awards, he's a Goliath picking on Davids whose fame could disappear by the time Eminem drops his next album."

 

 

http://www.theonionavclub.com/review.php?review_id=7983

[snuffbox 0]

Woodstock - 2009

 

Eminem

Eagles

Jay-Z

Kiss

Cher

Creed

[Brett Favre 0]

Easily top 10 artist of all time (I wouldn't say greatest), although it probably would have been best if he stopped after the Eminem Show/8 Mile Albums. Its a shame that Encore was ever released.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Top 10 what artist, then?

[Brett Favre 0]

Mainstream Rap.

[I like Forums 0]

I will never respect anyone who claims Eminem is the GOAT.

 

 

Personally I'd say Notorious takes the cake.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I wish him the best so that he decides to not rap anymore and thus my little brother won't want to buy his CDs.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Mainstream Rap.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Okay. Still not close, but at least we've got something.

[CBright7831 0]

The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, Devil's Night, The Eminem Show, and 8-Mile STK were are all great. MMLP is still a favorite of mine to play and to this day I still say Em got robbed of Album of the Year @ the 2001 Grammy Awards.

 

I like Steely Dan, but that was just bullshit.