Hell: The Sequel

Hell: The Sequel
Extended Play by Bad Meets Evil
Publication (s)	June 13, 2011
admission	2010-2011
Label (s)	Shady Records , Interscope
Format (s)	CD , download
Genre (s)	Hip hop
Title (number)	9/11
running time	37:18 / 46:07
production	Eminem ( Executive Producer ) Denaun Porter ( Executive Producer ) Havoc Bangladesh Supa dups Sid Roams The SmeeZingtons Battle Roy Magnedo7 JG 56
Chronology of Eminem Recovery (2010) Hell: The Sequel The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013)
Chronology of Royce da 5′9 ″ Street Hop (2009) Hell: The Sequel Success Is Certain (2011)
Single releases May 3, 2011 Fast Lane June 14, 2011 Lighters

Hell: The Sequel ( English for: " Hell: The continuation ") is an EP by the US rap duo Bad Meets Evil , consisting of rappers Eminem and Royce da 5'9 ″ . It was released on June 13, 2011 on the Shady Records and Interscope labels as a standard and deluxe edition, including two bonus songs.

background

Eminem and Royce da 5'9 ″ first met in 1997 at a concert in Detroit and a little later they founded the rap duo Bad Meets Evil (Royce as Bad and Eminem as Evil ). Both recorded several songs together, of which the self-titled song Bad Meets Evil was featured on Eminem's major label debut The Slim Shady LP . However, due to a dispute between Royce and Eminem's rap crew D12 , they parted ways and both pursued their solo careers. Only after the D12 member Proof was shot in 2006, the dispute between the rap crew and Royce da 5'9 ″ was settled. In 2008 Royce had a guest appearance on D12's mixtape Return of the Dozen and in early 2011 Eminem signed Royce and his rap group Slaughterhouse with his label Shady Records .

History of origin and marketing

Even before Royce was signed to Eminem's label, they both went into the studio to record songs together, but without having a real goal in mind. But the recordings made good progress and on April 25, 2011 the EP release was finally announced. The pieces Living Proof and Echo reached the internet unintentionally during the recording at the end of 2010 and are included as bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of the EP. On April 28, 2011, the song Fast Lane was also released on the Internet. On May 27, the track I'm on Everything was released as a teaser on the duo's official website. Before the music video for Fast Lane was released on June 8th, the entire EP landed on the net on June 4th. On August 22, 2011, the music video for the second single Lighters was finally released.

content

Since Eminem and Royce recorded the EP primarily for the fun of rapping and did not develop a real concept, the so-called battle rap songs, which are full of punchlines and contain fast double and tripletime passages , predominate on Hell: The Sequel . These include, above all, Welcome 2 Hell , Fast Lane and the Loud Noises collaboration . The track Above the Law denounces the contrasts between rich and poor and that the law is disregarded because of anger about injustices in society. I'm on Everything is about all kinds of drug use, and on the tracks The Reunion and A Kiss both rappers emphasize that they are only after sex while rejecting relationships. The song Lighters is musically an exception as it is much quieter than the rest of the EP; lyrically, the song is about the rise and fame of the two rappers. Take from Me is also a deeper piece, in which the rappers express their disappointment over illegal downloads and previously unpublished songs that have been posted on the Internet by third parties. Eminem and Royce da 5′9 ″ praise their success and talent on the bonus songs Living Proof and Echo .

Furthermore, many celebrities are mentioned in a positive or negative way on the phonogram. These include Lady Gaga , Katy Perry , Nicki Minaj , Tila Tequila and Jazmine Sullivan .

Production and samples

Many different producers are responsible for the production of the EP. The D12 -member Denaun Porter provided the beats to the songs Above the Law , I'm on Everything , Take from Me (along with 56 co-producer), Loud Noises and Living Proof . Havoc produced in collaboration with Magnedo7 (Co) Welcome 2 Hell and Supa Dups created the beat for the single Fast Lane with the support of Eminem and JG as co-producers. The background music for A Kiss was provided by Bangladesh, while Eminem produced the piece Lighters in collaboration with The SmeeZingtons and Battle Roy . In addition, DJ Khalil produced the song Echo and Sid Roams created the beat for The Reunion together with Eminem (Co).

Four tracks on the album contain samples of other pieces. The song The Reunion contains a sample of Eminem's song Bagpipes from Baghdad and Loud Noises samples content from the film Anchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgundy . When I'm on Everything a cut was a performance by Mike Epps used. Living Proof also includes elements from the song Funky Drummer by singer James Brown .

Cover design

Cover of the album
Link to the picture (please note copyrights )

Cover of the deluxe edition
Link to the picture (please note copyrights )

The album cover was released on May 16, 2011 on the Internet. It is mostly in shades of gray and shows Royce da 5'9 ″ and Eminem sitting on loudspeakers. Records are scattered on the floor and skulls are suggested in the clouds in the background. The words Bad Meets Evil and Hell: The Sequel are in the upper part of the illustration. On the premium version there is also the word Deluxe Edition .

Guest Posts

In addition to the two rappers, other artists are represented on seven songs on the EP. The singer Sly Jordan can be heard in the chorus of Fast Lane , while Bruno Mars has a guest appearance on Lighters . Mike Epps appears on I'm on Everything and Royce da 5'9 ″ s rap group Slaughterhouse is featured on the song Loud Noises . The singer Claret Jai can be heard on Above the Law and Take from Me . Liz Rodrigues also sings the chorus on the bonus song Echo .

Track list

#	title	Guest Posts	producer	length
1	Welcome 2 Hell		Havoc and Magnedo7 (Co)	2:57
2	Fast Lane	Sly Jordan	Supa Dups, Eminem (Co) and JG (Co)	4:09
3	The Reunion		Sid Roams and Eminem (Co)	4:50
4th	Above the law	Claret Jai	Mr. Porter	3:29
5	I'm on everything	Mike Epps	Mr. Porter	4:31
6th	A kiss		Bangladesh	4:34
7th	Lighters	Bruno Mars	Eminem, The SmeeZingtons and Battle Roy	5:03
8th	Take from me	Claret Jai	Mr. Porter and 56 (Co)	3:25
9	Loud noises	Slaughterhouse	Mr. Porter	4:20

Deluxe Edition bonus songs:

#	title	Guest Posts	producer	length
10	Living proof		Mr. Porter	3:55
11	echo	Liz Rodrigues	DJ Khalil	4:54

Chart successes and singles

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Singles

Fast Lane   UK 66 06/25/2011 (3 weeks)   US 32 03/21/2011 (2 weeks) Lighters   DE 26th 09/16/2011 (12 weeks)   AT 41 07/01/2011 (14 weeks)   CH 10 06/26/2011 (25 weeks)   UK 10 06/25/2011 (23 weeks)   US 4th 09/10/2011 (22 weeks)

In Germany, the EP entered the charts at position 20 in the 26th calendar week of 2011 and stayed in the top 100 for nine weeks. In contrast, Hell: The Sequel immediately topped the US album charts with around 167,000 units sold. The EP was also in first place in Canada, third in Australia and fifth in Switzerland. Entry into the top 10 was also achieved in Great Britain and Denmark with seventh place each, whereas in Austria it was only in position 23 could place.

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	20th (9 weeks)	9
Austria (Ö3)	23 (5 weeks)	5
Switzerland (IFPI)	5 (16 weeks)	16
United Kingdom (OCC)	7th (20 weeks)	20th
United States (Billboard)	1 (41 weeks)	41

Annual charts

Charts (2011)	placement
Annual charts (2011)
Switzerland (IFPI)	89
United States (Billboard)	41

More than a month before the EP was released, the song Fast Lane was released for download and entered the US charts at number 32, where it stayed for three weeks. On the day the EP was released, the song Lighters was also released as a second single for download, which rose to position 4 in the US charts. While Fast Lane could not place itself in the German charts, Lighters rose to rank 26 in the top 100 around two months after publication and stayed in the charts for twelve weeks.

Sales figures and awards

For more than 500,000 copies sold in the USA, Hell: The Sequel received a gold record .

Overview:

country	gold
United States awarded by RIAA	August 18, 2011
United Kingdom awarded by BPI	22. July 2013

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	gold	35,000
United States (RIAA)	gold	500,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold	100,000
All in all	3 × gold	635,000

Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards

Reviews

Professional reviews
Average rating
source	rating
Metacritic	72%
More reviews
source	rating
laut.de
rap.de
cdstarts.de
Rolling Stone
allmusic
RapReviews
Hip hop criticism

Hell: The Sequel received mostly positive reviews. The side Metacritic calculated from 14 Reviews of English-language media is a section of 72%.

• At laut.de the EP received four out of a possible five points. It is emphasized that both rappers deliver a real firework of rhymes at eye level and the beats were produced very well, only the song Lighters is criticized:

" Sheer hellfire blazes out of the syllable staccato that Royce Da 5'9" and Eminem spit on Havoc's simple and determined beat. Bad Meets Evil, for sure. [...] Thick like warm syrup the bass drips when "the evil twins" celebrate "The Reunion". The high quality of the beats seems almost wasted. Rappers of this quality would also take far shabbier stages by storm. Eminem leads the razor-sharp sword of his tongue at breakneck speed through any themed world. Royce parries and counters no tamer. [...] With tons of metaphors, quotes, insane pace, sleepwalking sense of rhythm, tricky rhymes and captivating sentence melodies, they fully compensate for any lack of variety in their presentation. [...] But even "a different breed of MCs" doesn't save a single track: Yodelling by Bruno Mars to the piano, along with the fluffy, conciliatory beat of "Lighters", either belongs in the trash or on mainstream radio. "

- Excerpt from the review by laut.de.

• The website Rap.de praises the entire EP, can hardly imagine any increases and awards eight out of a possible ten stars:

“ What is already presented in the opener leaves nothing to be desired and the number of bars is no longer throttled in the course of the EP. […] Em and Royce are THE new dream team! You really don't know who is pulling whom here. Funny sayings, crazy pictures and tricky word games are produced on the assembly line. [...] Both ensure top performance almost every second and complement each other incredibly congenially. Together they have developed a special flex style that you can hardly get tired of. High speed plus pure emotions! [...] If you don't get goose bumps, you should really stop immediately to deal with rap. When was the last time something like that? A release with the participation of an absolute superstar, which was not created taking into account sales and market-related aspects, but out of the pure joy of rapping, out of love for art. "

- Excerpt from the review by Rap.de

• HipHop-Kritik.de assessed the work more critically, mainly because of the beats, and awarded five out of a possible ten stars:

“ Royce undoubtedly deserves every dollar he makes from his association with Em. After such a long career full of breadless art, you can't blame him for a mainstream work like HELL: THE SEQUEL. He proves here (and of course Em too) that he is one of the nastiest rappers under the sun. Unfortunately the fact is that the beats here sound like an assembly line that HELL: THE SEQUEL is not a CD that I like to listen to. The only thing that makes you throw them on is the undeniably good flows and clever punchlines they both have. "

- Excerpt from the review by HipHop-Kritik.de

Web links

• Album review on Hip-Hop Ain't Dead

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Background
2. ↑ Origin
3. ↑ Fast Lane
4. ↑ New Music: Bad Meets Evil “I'm On Everything” on rapradar.com
5. ↑ Explanations of the lyrics. On: genius.com (English). Retrieved May 30, 2012
6. ↑ Chart sources (singles): DE ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. AT CH UK US 
7. ↑ DE: # 20 ( Memento from March 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ US: # 1
9. ↑ international chart tracking Hell: The Sequel
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
11. ↑ ^{a b} Annual Charts 2011: DE AT CH UK US
12. ↑ Fast Lane US: # 32
13. ↑ Lighters US: # 4
14. ↑ Lighters DE: # 26  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ↑ USA: Gold
16. ↑ riaa.com: RIAA database
17. ↑ Certified Awards Search. British Phonographic Industry , accessed September 14, 2014 . 
18. ↑ Rating: metacritic.com
19. ↑ Rating: laut.de
20. ↑ Rating: rap.de
21. ↑ Rating: cdstarts.de
22. ↑ Rating: Rolling Stone
23. ↑ Rating: allmusic.com
24. ↑ Review: RapReviews.com
25. ↑ Rating: HipHop-Kritik.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
26. ↑ laut.de: Review of the sound carrier
27. ↑ Rap.de: Review of the sound carrier
28. ↑ HipHop-Kritik.de: Review of the sound carrier  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.