Video: Eminem ft Rihanna - The Monster

Better late than never, eh?

Relased this morning, six weeks after it went to number one, here is the video for Eminem's The Monster. Like a lot of the material Marhsall Mathers LP 2, it takes a trip down memory lane, recreating scenes from 8 Mile, The Way I Am, and Eminem's Grammy performance with Elton John. (Rihanna is there, too, wearing an unusually demure wardrobe.)

In the end, Eminem comes face-to-face with his former, drug-addled self, locked in a cage and surrounded by security guards, and chooses to turn his back and walk away (SPOILERS!). As metaphors go, it's not exactly subtle.

Eminem ft Rihanna - The Monster

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Songs you may have missed - Saturday style

Sorry for the lack of posts this week - it's been a busy one at work (mostly working on this piece, about the first 1,000 albums to reach number one in the UK). Here's what I missed along the way.

1) Pharrell Williams - Happy
As you may have heard, Pharrell's swinging new song (from the Despicable Me soundtrack) comes with a 24-hour music video. You can see that on 24hoursofhappy.com, or you can watch the TV edit right here. Your choice, but both will bring a big stupid grin to your face.




2) Arcade Fire - Afterlife
If Pharrell made you smile, this might be a bit of a comedown. Beautifully cinematic but eerie with melancholy, Emily Kai Bock's video adds an emotional wallop to Arcade Fire's rumination on life after death.




3) Lizzo - Batches and Cookies
I have no idea what this song is about - but Detroit-via-Houston-via-Minneapolis rapper Lizzo sounds like she's having a lot of fun anyway. Brimming with energy, this is what it would sound like if Nicki Minaj covered Salt-N-Pepa's greatest hits.




4) U2 - Ordinary Love
The first new material from Bono & co in three years, Ordinary Love is taken from the Nelson Mandela biopic Long Road To Freedom. Bono sounds like he's straining for the high notes these days, but there's a rush of nostalgia when The Edge's chiming, reverb-soaked guitar kicks in. The gospel-infused chorus is rather special, too.

The lyric video, unveiled on Facebook on Thursday, is the opening salvo in the band's return. Bassist Adam Clayton recently told Ireland's 98FM: "We're in the studio. We're trying to get these 12 songs absolutely right and get them finished by the end of November, and then we can kind of enjoy Christmas,"




5) Eminem - Stan (Radio 1 Live Lounge)
Eminem turned up for his chat with Zane Lowe after watching Kanye West's bizarre mad-man-at-the-back-of-the-bus performance on the show earlier in the year.

"I was trying to figure out how I was going to top the publicity of yours and Kanye's interview," he said, "so I decided I was gonna walk in here, and just pee on the floor and leave." He then held Zane's gaze with an icy glare for what must have seemed like hours, before he deadpanned: "I'm peeing right now".

The massive, four-part interview is well worth dipping into (here's the link for the first segment) but it was Eminem's performance with a live band at the end that really made it appointment listening. Here's Stan, sounding as fresh as it did 14 (!) years ago.




6) Tinashe - Vulnerable
After waxing lyrical about the new wave of dark&b earlier this week, this song zinged into my inbox. 20-year-old Tinashe is every bit as captivating and seductive as Banks and Solange and her peers. Vulnerable is possibly the sexiest new song you'll hear this week. Although it could do without the "asses" and "bitches" of Travi$ Scott's predictably banal rap.




7) Sophie Ellis Bextor - Young Blood
If you've been watching Strictly, you'll know that Sophie Ellis is turning out to be quite the dancer. Her Argentine Tango literally gave me shivers (admittedly, the heating was up the left that day). But she's also hard at work on the day job, making big old pop songs with PROPER ENUNCIATION.

Her forthcoming new album, Wanderlust, is a real labour of love - written with Ed Harcourt, and eschewing the frothy disco of her earlier records. The first single, Young Blood, is a gorgeous, dramatic ballad aimed right at the top of the Radio 2 playlist. It's the best thing she's done since Groovejet.

And that's your lot. If you're still after something to listen to, I'd really recommend Bret Easton Ellis's first podcast - in which he has a big old chin-wag with Kanye West about movies, lacking maturity and binge-watching Breaking Bad. You can download it here.

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Jason Nevins has done a good Eminem remix

Notorious gay rights advocate Eminem has the UK's official number one, thanks to his (fourth) collaboration with Rihanna, The Monster.

The duet is one of those songs where rich and famous people whinge about how difficult it is being rich and famous. But Eminem's lyrics ("I'm getting so huge I need a shrink") elevate the track above the usual self-help flannery.

According to MTV, the rapper chose Rihanna to sing the hook because they're both "a little nuts".

"That's one of the things that I was telling her in making the record: I think that people look at us a little crazy," he said. "As soon as I got the beat I just heard her on it."

Apparently, a proper video for the single is in the works. Until then, here's a four-to-the-floor remix by Jason "Remember me from the 1990s" Nevins. He ups the tempo and plonks a rave-o-tronic synth riff over the top. Solid work.

Eminem ft Rihanna - The Monster (Jason Nevins Remix)

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Katy Perry's entire Prism album, and six other songs you may have missed

It's Friday, so it must be time for the customary round-up of new songs from the last seven days. This week's line-up looks like this:

1) Katy Perry - Prism
Officially out on Monday, Katy Perry's uploaded her third album to SoundCloud in its entirety, in a bid to combat the people who leaked it yesterday.

The release also coincides with the first swathe of reviews. They're mostly positive - but The Guardian, with depressing predictability, has written a sneering critique of the album's lyrics.

Alexis Petridis's article is based on the flimsy premise that, when Billboard called Prism "Katy Perry's most spiritual album to date", it was somehow suggesting she had consulted Deepak Chopra and M Scott Peck to create the most insightful and revelatory excavation of the human psyche ever to appear in popular song.

Thankfully, the co-writers are mostly Swedish (to paraphrase Petridis, the liner notes read like an IKEA catalogue) and the lyrics are, for the most part, totally unimportant. And, although nothing quite strikes you like Roar, it's a thundering collection of melodic pop.

Recommended tracks: Legendary Lovers, Walking On Air, Unconditionally.





3) Little Mix - Move (Alias Remix)
Good song. Good remix. Job done.





3) Eminem - Rap God
So this is what it sounds like to be reinvigorated. Eminem, on a six-minute lyrical rampage, proclaims "I'm beginning to feel like a Rap God," and actually sounds more deserving of the title than Kanye "Yeezus" West.

Lyrical gems include: "Got a fat knot from that rap profit / Made a living and a killing off it / Ever since Bill Clinton was still in office / With Monica Lewinsky feeling on his nut-sack / I’m an MC still as honest / But as rude and as indecent as all hell".

Phew.





4) James Blake ft Chance The Rapper - Life Round Here
From the video's YouTube description: "The video, shot entirely in black and white, tracks Blake and Chance as they cruise in a lowrider through an eerie forest inhabited by stallions and Somalian pirates." How can you resist?




5) Rebecca Ferguson - I Hope
"Interesting fact": The most-read article I wrote on the BBC News Website last year was this interview with Rebecca Ferguson. It wasn't spectacularly insightful, or even well-written. The public just have a huge reserve of affection for the Liverpudlian singer.

They're going to lap up her new single, I Hope, which arrives after an ugly and protracted spat with her former managers. Launching with a rollicking drum roll, you kind of hope it'll see Rebecca spitting with fury, like Rolling In The Deep vintage Adele.

She doesn't, of course, but the song is an urgent and uplifting and an instant classic.




6) Lady Gaga ft R Kelly - Do What U Want
This is only a 30-second clip but it restores my faith in Gaga's ability to write a straightforward pop song. The best ArtPop preview to date, not that that's saying much.




7) Bruno Mars - Gorilla
The Indian press is up in arms about this video, in which Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto stars as a stripper (SPOILER: Bruno Mars is seen "cavorting" with her at the end).

Pinto's representatives even issued a statement in her defence to the Hindustan Times, which protests: "Freida’s look in Gorilla is quite a departure from what we otherwise see. Apparently, when she was approached with this opportunity, she knew that this would be a reincarnation of sorts for her and she was quite thrilled to do it, being the risk taker that she is".

It's no Blurred Lines - there's a storyline to explain the raunchy bits - but I still wouldn't watch it at work, unless your boss is particularly easy-going.

And that's your lot. Have a great weekend.

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Songs you may have missed - end of summer edition

A semi-regular round-up of songs that may have otherwise slipped through the cracks. This week's line-up goes a little something like this...

1) Eminem - Bezerk
This bears repeated viewing. Not just for the cameos (Kendrick Lamar, Kid Rock, Rick Rubin) or the footage of Billy Squier playing The Stroke (which Eminem samples) - but for the little nods to videos by the Beastie Boys, Pharcyde and even Back To The Future. Oh, and the song's not bad either.



2) Ellie Goulding - How Long Will I Love You
Ellie in drippy ballad mode this week, mooching around on the beach and bleating on about her brilliant boyfriend. Still, it's always nice to hear her gorgeous voice, stripped of all the parps and fzzbrts of her dance tracks.

NB: Ellie is also responsible for my favourite tweet of the week.

Of course. I do love boobs RT @blackngould: @elliegoulding remember your "RT if you love boobs" tweet?

— Ellie Goulding (@elliegoulding) September 11, 2013

3) Little Daylight - Glitter and Gold (Charli XCX remix)
Pop brat Charli XCX gets her sticky fingers all over this summer jam from Brooklyn's Little Daylight. She slows it down and slaps glitchy lo-fi handclaps all over the top. It's definitive.





4) Au Revoir Simone - Crazy
If it weren't for Arcade Fire, this would be the video of the week: Dream-pop trio Au Revoir Simone remaking Martin Scorsese's surreal, under-rated After Hours in the form of a three-minute pop video.

The band take on roles originally played by Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette and Linda Fiorentino, and make a brief appearance in person. There's a superb attention to detail - right down to the film grain - but I'm not 100% convinced by the song.




5) Miguel - Can't Sleep 2Gether
Pants-obsessed R&B pervmeister Miguel is at it again. "I can't sleep / You can't sleep / Let's can't sleep together" he squeals, over a slow, lusty guitar groove. He'd be better off with a good book.





6) Janelle Monaé - Dance Apocalyptic (Live on Letterman)
Now this is how you go about performing on a chat show.

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The five best lyrics of Eminem's comeback

By calling his new record The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem is setting himself a huge challenge. The original album is the one with Stan and The Real Slim Shady on it - and marked his creative and sales peak, selling 27m worldwide. Eminem's recent releases, however, have lacked that potent brew of snark and fury. So can LP2 recapture the magic?

Well the first single, Bezerk, certainly has a lot going for it. Produced by Rick Rubin (he gets about a bit, doesn't he?) it rips up Billy Squire's hard-rockin' anthem The Stroke and sticks it messily onto an old-school Run DMC beat. "Let's take it back to straight hip-hop and start it from scratch," spits Eminem, who goes on to deliver some of his best lyrics for years.

1) "Been public enemy since you thought PE was gym"
2) "So sick I'm looking pale, well that's my pigment"
3) "I just showed up with a coat fresher than wet paint"
4) "Just like I did with addiction I'm about to kick it"
5) "Make like K-Fed and let yourself go"

OK, the last one suggests his cultural reference points are stuck in a 2004 timewarp, but you could also argue it ratchets up the nostalgia factor. A cautious welcome, then, for the new material...

Eminem - Bezerk (audio)

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Eminem? Oh, go on then

The whole Eminem comeback has largely passed us by here at Discopop Towers. All those shouting, self-hating murder fantasies seem like relics from the dark ages, like the crusades and treating mental illness with mercury. Didn't we all decide that rap music should be fun again?

Anyway, Marshall is still ploughing his peculiarly angry furrow, but every so often it's nice to be reminded what a clever sod he is. His guest slot on the new Bad Meets Evil single is a case in point. His tongue-twisting lyrics are a powder keg of witty wordplay, giving the plodding backing track a thrilling shot of adrenaline. It's just a shame he can't resist making a gratuitous anal sex gag in the first verse.

For God's sake, man. You're 38. Give it a rest.

Bad Meets Evil - Fast Lane ft Eminem


If you need an antidote - here's a new video from Brighton duo Rizzle Kicks. Sylvester and Jordan are both 18 and, according to this article, they "rap over indie, rock and pop, reggae and soul and mariachi samples".

That may sound like a cue to throw your computer out the window and hide under the duvet but, amazingly, it's not altogether horriffic. In fact, current single Down With The Trumpets is a great little summer anthem, with a cheeky brass sample lifted from Lily Allen's Smile.

Rizzle Kicks - Down With The Trumpets


Let's be honest, though, these guys won me over as soon as they mentioned Rachel Bilson. Here is a picture of Rachel Bilson in hotpants.

*sighs*

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Rihanna flips out

Dear Rihanna, this is so far beneath you, it's in the earth's molten core.


I mean, I get the brand synergy. On the one hand, you've got an anonymous, sterile temple to everything that is wrong with modern consumer culture and, on the other, you have the Westfield Shopping Centre. I AM JOKING OF COURSE.

What Rihanna needs to do now is restore her credibility by leaking an amazing song that reminds the world why she is the pre-eminent Barbadan pop diva of our times. And guess what? Here is just such a track.

Love The Way You Lie (Pt II) is essentially Eminem's song with Eminem surgically removed and replaced by Rihanna, who is a-warblin' and a-singin' until the very final minute, when Marshall Mathers kicks down the door and starts barking something about moles (true).

It is very much in the vein of Alicia Keys' Empire State Of Mind (Pt II), except with a different song and a different artist.

Rihanna and Eminem - Love The Way You Lie (Pt II)

By the way, did you see Rihanna "interviewed" by Konnie Huq on The Xtra Factor last week? Truly a meeting of the minds. Pay particular attention to how Rihanna answers the piercing journalistic interrogation: "Have you ever had any ghosts in your house?"

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Eminem vs Mos Def

So, I heard Eminem's new album for the first time the other day. It was like meeting up with the coolest kid from school, 10 years after graduation, and realising he'd never grown up: Still making dick jokes, still obsessed with slasher movies, and still angry at his mum. Even Dr Dre's beats sound stale and tired.

Eminem's problem is that he never got over the perception of himself as the rebel, the class clown, the good time party guy. Hell, he still insists on using his childhood nickname(s).

But here's the bad news, Marshall: The rest of us have moved on.

The shame is that, on Relapse's more reflective moments, there are hints that Mr Mathers has the potential to say something interesting about aging and confronting his demons - if only he had an emotional setting other than "angry young man".

"What's a beer?" he asks on Deja Vu. "That's a devil in my ear. I been sober a fucking year. And that fucker still talks to me, he's all I can fucking hear." From the man who had the insight to write Stan, this is a waste of breath. The suggestion that he still hasn't really come to terms with sobriety is only reinforced by the album's shopping list of pharmaceutical product names - Nyquil, Valium, Vicodin, Hydrocodone.

Anyway, I've got a bit carried away here. The reason I wanted to mention Relapse's mediocre retread of former glories was to contrast it to Mos Def's brilliant new single, Casa Bey.

Like recent releases by Common and Q-Tip, it harks back to the more melodic, jazz-tinged, Daisy Age era of hip-hop. The Sesame Street-esque video, which sees the "soul shockin, never stoppin, always keep the beat rockin" lyrics tumbling out of Def's mouth, is absolutely worth five minutes of your time.

Mos Def - "Casa Bey"

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Is it just me...

...or is this Brit-centric spoof of Eminem's We Made You better than the real thing?

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Eminem vs Prodigy: Who wins?

There must be a lot of hat-eating going on today in all those University departments who claimed kids would one day study the lyrics of Eminem alongside Yeats and Wordsworth.

The main lyrical thrust of his new single argues that Lindsay Lohan and Portia Di Rossi are (oh dear) "too pretty" to be gay. The song also includes fart sound effects. There are eight-year-olds with more satirical sophistication.

Eminem also interrupts your current programming to newsflash that Jessica Simpson once had weight issues, Amy Winehouse has used illegal substances, Sarah Palin is sorta-kinda hot and Kim Kardishian is sorta-kinda not (like, duh). It's clearly an attempt to revisit those old zeitgeisty Slim Shady slapdowns... But those oh-so-2008 reference points just make him seem a bit out-of-touch and, well, crap.

What's next? A lyric about Moses parting the Red Sea? A withering putdown of Emperor Nero's virtuosity on the fiddle?

Maybe Mr Mathers should have taken a leaf out of The Prodigy's big boy handbook of writing a comeback. I wasn't bowled over by Omen when it came out at the beginning of the year but a few plays (and blanket coverage on Radio One) brought out the old arms-aloft-rave-glowstick side of me. A side that I thought had died along with the upper ranges of my hearing and the ability to hold a drink in about 2001.

Their new single builds on that ballbusting breakbeat 'n' buzzsaw bassline template by adding a shrieky anonymous acid house diva, beamed straight into your MP3 player from an old Deep Heat compilation.

There is also a rather classy stop-motion video, which slyly references Firestarter without resorting to self-parody. Very nice indeed.

Warrior's Dance - uncut from The Prodigy

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Mama, I Love You...

The Spice Girls loving ode to their mothers is the odd one out in an era where the main themes in pop are domestic abuse, broken homes, and violence. So, when Eminem sings "I just found out my mom does more dope than I do" is that a good thing or not? Why not read an unbelievably heavyweight essay from Stanford University's "Policy Review" to find out?

Eminem Is Right by Mary Eberstadt

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