Goodbye 20th Century

Last month, four marquee rappers who were huge around the turn of the millennium dropped hugely anticipated albums on the same day. In my feature on the new albums from Eminem, Busta Rhymes and Method Man and Redman, I discuss how each is trying to adapt to a rap industry they don't really understand and haven't been competitive in for between five and ten years. While Eminem's Relapse comes off mostly as an empty parody of his former work, and Busta seems lost, over-the-hill cause on Back on My B.S. (making the album's title deeply ironic), Meth and Red manage to recreate the amazing chemistry that made their original Blackout! (1999) such a thrilling record. Blackout 2 comes off as the best of the lot, and though Eminem sold plenty well, it seems pretty clear that he, like Busta, are completely disconnected from their former audiences, unlike Meth and Red. Click here to read the whole feature.