I dont really liek this ablum but....

                After a life sentence has been served, what does Eminem have to show for it? Recovery, where he explodes up and out of a drug, death and food induced ditch that he dug himself. He overpasses Lil Wayne who “fucked the world” and takes it to another level by pulling “his dick from the dirt and fuck(ing) the whole universe.” After going through his ultimate separation from his wife, a friends death, and a drug problem Eminem went to rehab and exits a new man, but accompanying him is an urning to build his throne back up with the momentum of this album and inertia that follows, without allowing any force to stop him.                                    
                Eminem returns and grabs the unmentionables of the “rap game” then clobbers them with a hammer, with a warning being sent out that if any potential enemies get in his way, the same fate awaits. He used Mariah Carry as an example (refer to Obsessed by Mariah Carey and Eminem’s The Warning) and then continues his bravado.
                The general feel of the album is that, like the Terminator, he is back and ready to take anything on. A few curveballs are thrown toward the audience though, as a serious tone daunts down occasionally. There are various tone changes within the album, which might be a representation of his actual emotional changes throughout his transformation. Going Through Changes is a remarkable song that takes a sample of a Ozzy Osbourn song with calm beat over it and a subtle guitar or music box melody that sets a sorrowful mood. This happens while the lyrics of lament plays the strings of one’s emotion with results of poignance. The use of a little girls voice really exacerbates this feeling at a prime moment.
               Another mentionable song has to be No Love, where Eminem features Lil Wayne but seems to be in his own world. He vocalizes “Look at these rappers, ow I treat them so why the fuck would I join them, when I beat them” in a derisible way, yet he is working with Wayne. At other points in Recovery there are surreptitious jabs at Lil Wayne.
             In additional Eminem takes all the criticism he received quite well. He admits that the preceding 2 albums (Relapse and Encore) were abject and keeps reenforcing the fact that he feels he let his fans down.
              Eminem blasts out of the art port, refurbished and with enough fuel to travel around the world once again (he was award platinum albums in multiple countries) as he spits seemingly inextricable  multiplexed verses and rhymes that no rapper can compare to, while making more references then a ostentatious critic on steroids. Eminem keeps each individual flowing like an arrow through the sky, however the overall compilation of songs are a bit turbulent. The beats and over voices really embellish upon his lyrics but in most cases there is so much lyrical geniuses that the actual music is overlooked. The composition of the fresh out rehab album has me looking forward to his future CDs. By the way a life sentence usually ends after 25 years but with parol. Just about how long he has been rapping.

Jeru the Damaja Review

Rap and hip-hop could be compared to the CTA train system, both are CTA trains but of different lines; although at one point, just like in the loop, they used to ride on the same track. This “separation,” as some see it, did not begin to transpire until the mid-1990’s. This is when hip-hop began to transform into the women disrespecting, materialistic, puffed up, huffed up, braggadocio that is commonly heard. In response, some artists have and still are speaking against the new direction hip-hop has been headed, Jeru The Damaja has been one of them.

Jeru The Damaja’s 2004 release of Divine Design, Kendrick spends good deal of time addressing many of the issues that he sees popular media and mainstream rap creating. However, he is not restricted to simply preaching these things. He melts his opinions and experiences into the music and lets it flow out into the listeners ears. The album constantly references guns and shooting, but with his gun being the microphone and his ammo being his lyrical talent.

Even though some would say Jeru’s style is stuck in the early 90’s, he continues to let the mind tingling, well thought out socio-political songs spewing out of his mouth and onto the tracks. With that, if you look back on his other music you can see that his tone was not as it once was, being a little on the calmer side.

The beats on this album on the other hand, were way to simplistic and bland. In an interview with one Melisa Tang, Kendrick did say he intended for such a back to basics approach, as it might be an addition statement against the modernizing hip hop scene. However it is a different direction then what he has done previously, working with much more catchy, ear appeasing, head bobbing beats. There were some exceptions though, like Whatyagonnado, which made me feel as if I was walking home in the middle of the night thought a shady area.

Hip hop is going down one train track with rap going down a different rail. Jeru Has already chosen a line. Now you are at the station and the train is about to arrive, which train would you prefer to take?