Kamikaze (album)

kamikaze
Studio album by
Publication (s)	August 31, 2018
admission	2018
Label (s)	Shady Records , Aftermath , Interscope
Format (s)	CD , download , LP
Genre (s)	Hip-hop , hardcore rap
Title (number)	13
running time	45:49
production	Dr. Dre ( Executive Producer ) Eminem (Executive Producer) Mike Will Made It Illadaproducer Luis Resto Boi-1da S1 Ronny J. Jeremy Miller Jahaan Sweet Lonestarrmuzik Swish Allnet Tay Keith Tim Suby Fred ball
Studio (s)	Effigy Studios (Detroit)
chronology Revival (2017) kamikaze Music to Be Murdered By (2020)
Single release September 21, 2018 Venom

Kamikaze is the tenth solo album by the American rapper Eminem . It was released unannounced on August 31, 2018 for download and streaming via the labels Shady Records , Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records . A week later it was also released on CD .

background

Unlike all of Eminem's previous albums, Kamikaze was released without notice and just eight months after his last studio album, Revival , which was released in December 2017. The day before it was released, the rapper only posted a 15-second excerpt from the song Venom , which is part of the soundtrack of the film of the same name , on the Internet. The album itself was promoted by Eminem on the day of its release on social networks.

content

On Kamikaze , Eminem mainly attacks his critics, as his last studio album Revival was received negatively by many media and fans. He also takes a critical look at modern hip-hop and its artists (e.g. on The Ringer , Not Alike , Fall ). The title Kamikaze alludes to the fact that Eminem is risking his reputation and career like a suicide bomber with the album .

In the very first song The Ringer , which consists of a single verse, brings Eminem for sweeping blow against representatives of modern Mumble Rap ( Engl. To mumble "mumble" "mumble") from, including Lil pump , Lil Xan , Iggy Azalea , Lil Yachty , Machine Gun Kelly, and 21 Savage . He could not do anything with their music, the content of which revolved around luxury and women. However, given his greater notoriety, only they would benefit from an argument with him. Eminem pokes fun at these rappers by imitating their rap style and saying they all copy Lil Wayne . In contrast, he is positive about Joyner Lucas , Kendrick Lamar , J. Cole and Big Sean . He reaches out to the people who criticized his last album Revival and said they would have welcomed it if he had used Auto-Tune too and his lyrics were not so demanding. In addition, Eminem criticizes fans who would measure him again and again on his album The Marshall Mathers LP . Most recently, he shoots again at US President Donald Trump , who is afraid to answer him publicly and instead would have sent the Secret Service over because of his texts .

Subsequently, Eminem ironically describes himself as the greatest rapper of all time in Greatest , poking fun at other artists who brag about their sales figures when they didn't come close to his. He also disses the South African rap duo Die Antwoord , who made fun of him after the revival . In Lucky You , Eminem and Joyner Lucas rap about their opposing careers from their own perspective. While Joyner Lucas argues that despite his efforts he will probably never win a Grammy , Eminem says that he has won many awards, but has sold his soul and now has a lot to lose. Normal Eminems, on the other hand, always treats difficult and mistrustful relationships with his ex-wife Kim and with women in general. He wonders why they can't be "normal" and whether it is ultimately his fault. Stepping Stone represents an emotional review of the career of Eminem's rap group D12 : He apologizes to the remaining members, whom he never wanted to use as a “springboard” for his own career. However, the death of Proof in 2006, which has always held the group together, was tantamount to the end of D12, which he now officially announced.

On Not Alike , Eminem and Royce da 5'9 ″ attack the modern rap scene again and show how little they have in common with it. They make fun of the new generation of rappers by imitating their rap style (e.g. from the Migos ) and content. Eminem mentions Machine Gun Kelly again by name, which prompted him to do his Disstrack Rap Devil against Eminem. The theme song Kamikaze deals with the bad reviews that the previous album Revival received. Eminem ironically compares this to his song Fack from the best-of album Curtain Call: The Hits from 2005, which was also heavily criticized. Like a kamikaze pilot, he now pounces on his critics. In case , Eminem continues his campaign against the critics and other rappers in the role of his alter ego Slim Shady : This time he attacks Tyler, the Creator and Joe Budden, among others . On the other hand, Hopsin , Logic and again J. Cole are positively mentioned . Justin Vernon , who can be heard in the chorus of the song, expressed his displeasure with the song.

The pieces Nice Guy and Good Guy again deal with Eminem's split relationship with women, with singer Jessie Reyez taking on the role of Eminem's partner. In Nice Guy, both express their mutual distrust and insult each other, which eventually leads to a violent argument in Good Guy . He accuses her of cheating, to which she does not reply, because she wants him to believe that he is the good one in the relationship. The last song Venom was recorded for the soundtrack to the film of the same name . Eminem mainly uses puns , comparisons and metaphors , where he slips into the role of the main character of the film, who attacks his victims like a parasite .

Production and samples

Dr. Dre and Eminem themselves acted as executive producers at Kamikaze , with the songs being produced by 14 different music producers . Most instrumentals come from Illadaproducer that the songs The Ringer (along with Eminem (Co) and Ronny J), Lucky You (with Boi-1da and Jahaan Sweet), Normal (S1, Lonestarrmuzik and Swish Allnet) and Good Guy produced . Mike Will Made It provided the music for Greatest (with Jeremy Miller) and Fall , while Tim Suby produced the theme song Kamikaze . Not Alike's beat is by Tay Keith and Ronny J, and Nice Guy was produced by Fred Ball and S1. Eminem also produced the songs Stepping Stone and Venom in collaboration with Luis Resto and was involved in the additional production of many songs.

Five songs on the album contain samples of songs by other artists. The Ringer contains an insertion of the track Ooouuu by rapper Young MA, while Greatest contains elements of the tracks Humble by Kendrick Lamar and Woke Up Like This by rapper Lil Uzi Vert and Playboi Carti. The title Normal samples the song Seconds the Swedish band Little Dragon , and the song Kamikaze are introductions of the tracks I'm Bad by LL Cool J included. Good Guy also contains excerpts from the play Glassy Sky from the anime series Tokyo Ghoul .

Cover design

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

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

The album cover is based on the illustration of the album Licensed to Ill by the Beastie Boys , whose fan Eminem was. It shows the gray fuselage of an airplane with the black lettering " FU-2 " ( Fuck You, too ) and " TIKCU5 " ( Suck It in mirror writing ). In addition, the title Kamikaze can be read with a reversed E on the stern. On the back of the album you can see the front part of the airplane, which the pilot is flying against an obstacle with his middle finger raised .

Guest Posts

In addition to Eminem, other artists are represented on six tracks on the album. So the rapper Royce da 5'9 " , has frequently collaborated with Eminem in the past, on the song Not Alike to hear, while the singer Justin Vernon on the case makes its appearance. The singer Jessie Reyez supports Eminem on the songs Nice Guy and Good Guy . Another guest appearance comes from the rapper Joyner Lucas , who is featured on Lucky You . In addition, Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg has an appearance in Skit Paul .

Track list

#	title	Guest Posts	producer	length
1	The ringer		Part 1: Illadaproducer and Eminem (Co) Part 2: Ronny J	5:37
2	Greatest		Mike Will Made It and Jeremy Miller	3:46
3	Lucky You	Joyner Lucas	Part 1: Boi-1da and Jahaan Sweet Part 2: Illadaproducer and Eminem (Add)	4:04
4th	Paul (Skit)	Paul Rosenberg		0:35
5	normal		Part 1: Illadaproducer Part 2: S1, Lonestarrmuzik and Swish Allnet (Add)	3:42
6th	Em Calls Paul (Skit)			0:49
7th	Stepping Stone		Eminem and Luis Resto (Add)	5:09
8th	Not Alike	Royce da 5'9 ″	Part 1: Tay Keith and Eminem (Add) Part 2: Ronny J	4:48
9	kamikaze		Tim Suby and Eminem (Add)	3:36
10	case	Justin Vernon	Mike Will Made It and Eminem (Add)	4:22
11	Nice guy	Jessie Reyez	Fred Ball, S1 and Eminem (Add)	2:30
12	Good guy	Jessie Reyez	Illadaproducer and Eminem (Add)	2:22
13	Venom		Eminem and Luis Resto (Add)	4:29

Chart successes and singles

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Singles

Lucky You ( feat.Joyner Lucas )   DE 19th 07.09.2018 (6 weeks)   AT 13 14.09.2018 (7 weeks)   CH 2 09.09.2018 (9 weeks)   UK 6th 13.09.2018 (9 weeks)   US 6th 09/15/2018 (12 weeks) The ringer   DE 21st 07.09.2018 (3 weeks)   AT 14th 14.09.2018 (3 weeks)   CH 3 09.09.2018 (3 weeks)   UK 4th 13.09.2018 (3 weeks)   US 8th 09/15/2018 (4 weeks) Fall (feat. Justin Vernon )   DE 37 07.09.2018 (3 weeks)   AT 29 14.09.2018 (4 weeks)   CH 7th 09.09.2018 (8 weeks)   UK 8th 13.09.2018 (5 weeks)   US 12 09/15/2018 (4 weeks) Greatest   DE 40 07.09.2018 (2 weeks)   AT 26th 14.09.2018 (2 weeks)   US 23 09/15/2018 (2 weeks) kamikaze   DE 53 07.09.2018 (2 weeks)   AT 31 14.09.2018 (2 weeks)   US 16 09/15/2018 (3 weeks) Not Alike (feat. Royce da 5'9 ″ )   DE 57 07.09.2018 (2 weeks)   AT 39 14.09.2018 (2 weeks)   US 24 09/15/2018 (1 week) Stepping Stone   DE 69 07.09.2018 (1 week)   AT 47 14.09.2018 (1 week)   US 42 09/15/2018 (1 week) normal   DE 71 07.09.2018 (1 week)   AT 46 14.09.2018 (1 week)   US 39 09/15/2018 (1 week) Venom   DE 77 07.09.2018 (4 weeks)   AT 39 14.09.2018 (5 weeks)   CH 47 14.10.2018 (4 weeks)   UK 16 October 18, 2018 (8 weeks)   US 43 09/15/2018 (5 weeks) Good Guy (feat. Jessie Reyez)   DE 98 07.09.2018 (1 week)   AT 61 14.09.2018 (1 week)   US 67 09/15/2018 (1 week) Nice Guy (feat. Jessie Reyez)   AT 74 14.09.2018 (1 week)   US 65 09/15/2018 (1 week)

Kamikaze entered the German charts at number 4 on September 7, 2018 and, after being released on CD, reached number 2 the following week. Overall, it stayed in the top 100 for 26 weeks. On the other hand, the album occupied the top position in the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It was ranked 34th in the 2018 annual German album charts.

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	2 (26 weeks)	26th
Austria (Ö3)	1 (26 weeks)	26th
Switzerland (IFPI)	1 (39 weeks)	39
United Kingdom (OCC)	1 (55 weeks)	55
United States (Billboard)	1 (73 weeks)	73

Annual charts

Charts (2018)	placement
Annual charts (2018)
Germany (GfK)	34
Austria (Ö3)	25th
Switzerland (IFPI)	9
United Kingdom (OCC)	10
United States (Billboard)	17th

Annual charts

Charts (2019)	placement
Annual charts (2019)
Switzerland (IFPI)	90
United Kingdom (OCC)	67
United States (Billboard)	52

On September 4, 2018, a music video for the song Fall was released, which reached number 37 in the German charts. In addition, the songs Lucky You (# 19), The Ringer (# 21), Greatest (# 40), Kamikaze (# 53), Not Alike (# 57), Stepping Stone (# 69), Normal (# 71 ) rose after the album was released ), Venom (# 77) and Good Guy (# 98) entered the German Top 100 through downloads and streaming . Another video for Lucky You followed on September 13, and Venom was released as the official single on September 21 , for which a music video was released on October 5, 2018. A video for Good Guy was also released on December 7, 2018 .

Sales figures and awards

Kamikaze sold 434,000 times in the first week (calculated from 252,000 downloads and 225.5 million streams) in the United States, significantly more than its predecessor Revival . At the end of 2018, it was awarded a platinum record in the United States for more than one million copies sold . In 2019 the album also went platinum in the UK for over 300,000 sales.

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	platinum	70,000
Denmark (IFPI)	platinum	20,000
France (SNEP)	gold	50,000
Italy (FIMI)	gold	25,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	platinum	15,000
Norway (IFPI)	gold	15,000
United States (RIAA)	platinum	1,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	platinum	300,000
All in all	3 × gold 5 × platinum	1,495,000

Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards

Reviews

Professional reviews
Average rating
source	rating
Metacritic	62%
More reviews
source	rating
laut.de
Music Express
plattentests.de
Rolling Stone
allmusic
The Guardian
New Musical Express
Pitchfork Media
The Telegraph

Overall, Kamikaze was a little better received by critics than its predecessor Revival . The page Metacritic calculated an average of 62% from 16 reviews of English-language media.

Especially in German-speaking countries, the reviews were much more positive than those of the predecessor:

From laut.de got Kamikaze four out of a possible five points. The reviewer Kay Schier sees the album as "a demonstration of power that one definitely did not expect from this position." “Hold. The rapper "heard, understood and implemented the criticism of his last album." The song Stepping Stone , which is addressed to his rap group D12 , is the "emotional climax" .

The online editorial team of the newspaper Die Welt sees Eminem's album as “a brilliant reckoning for everyone who criticized his last record. And the proof that anger can be a good advisor. ”So writes Felix Zwinzscher, you can hear the rapper's hunger due to the bad reviews“ in every line and in all songs. ”

Julian Dörr from the Süddeutsche Zeitung describes Kamikaze as a “pretty good rap record” that is “very entertaining”. Eminem recorded the album "for perhaps the best reason there can be for a musician: Because people thought the previous one was bad." "With its rhythmic range and flexibility," Eminem rap "is still in a league of its own."

The online presence of the star sees Eminem's album as “a settlement with everyone who opposed him. Somehow awesome. ”After the poorer last release,“ old Eminem ”is back -“ with a raised middle finger. ”

Dennis Pohl writes on Spiegel Online that Kamikaze is "Eminem's best album since The Eminem Show (2002)" and "a tantrum with no net or false bottom, free and uncensored". However, "even a record in its new top form in 2018 can no longer hide the fact that an old iron is rapping here."

Reactions from other artists

The rapper Machine Gun Kelly , mentioned negatively on Not Alike , published the Disstrack Rap Devil against Eminem three days later . Eminem responded again on September 14, 2018 with the song Killshot .

swell

1. ↑ Noah Yoo: Eminem Tease's Venom Soundtrack Song: Listen. In: pitchfork.com. August 30, 2018, accessed September 2, 2018 . 
2. ^ William Hughes: Eminem drops a surprise album, raps about Venom. In: news.avclub.com. August 31, 2018, accessed September 2, 2018 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Eminem - Kamikaze. In: genius.com. August 31, 2018, accessed September 2, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Worst Eminem Songs. In: thetoptens.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Information in the booklet
6. ↑ Brian McCollum: Eminem's new album 'Kamikaze' draws inspiration from Beastie Boys' 'Licensed to Ill'. In: usatoday.com. August 30, 2018, accessed September 2, 2018 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
8. ↑ Eminem - Kamikaze. In: officialcharts.de. Retrieved September 14, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Eminem - Kamikaze. In: hitparade.ch. September 9, 2018, accessed September 14, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Top 100 annual album charts 2018. In : officialcharts.de. December 21, 2018, accessed December 21, 2018 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e} 2018 annual charts: DE AT CH UK US
12. ↑ ^{a b c} annual charts 2019: DE AT CH UK US
13. ↑ Mitch Findlay: Eminem Announces "Venom" As Next "Kamikaze" single. In: hotnewhiphop.com. September 21, 2018, accessed on September 22, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Eric Skelton: Here Are the First Week Numbers for Eminem's 'Kamikaze'. In: complex.com. September 9, 2018, accessed September 14, 2018 . 
15. ↑ Eminem - Kamikaze. In: riaa.com. December 5, 2018, accessed December 20, 2018 . 
16. ↑ Eminem - Kamikaze. In: bpi.co.uk. September 27, 2019, accessed on September 27, 2019 . 
17. ↑ Rating: metacritic.com (English)
18. ↑ ^{a b} Evaluation: laut.de Kay Schier, September 3, 2018
19. ↑ Rating: musikexpress.de Ivo Ligeti, September 2, 2018
20. ↑ Evaluation: plattentests.de Felix Heinecker, September 6, 2018
21. ↑ Review: Rolling Stone Stephen Kearse, September 4, 2018 (English)
22. ↑ Review: allmusic.com Stephen Thomas Erlewine, September 7, 2018 (English)
23. ↑ Review: The Guardian Alexis Petridis, August 31, 2018 (English)
24. ↑ Review: New Musical Express Dan Stubbs, August 31, 2018 (English)
25. ↑ Review: Pitchfork.com Marc Hogan, September 6, 2018 (English)
26. ↑ Review: The Telegraph Ed Power, August 31, 2018 (English)
27. ↑ Review: Die Welt Felix Zwinzscher, August 31, 2018
28. ↑ Review: South German Julian Dörr, August 31, 2018
29. ↑ Review: Stern Jule Schule, September 1, 2018
30. ↑ Evaluation: Spiegel Online Dennis Pohl, August 31, 2018
31. ↑ Bonnie Stiernberg: Machine Gun Kelly's Eminem Diss: Twitter Reacts to 'Rap Devil'. In: billboard.com. September 3, 2018, accessed September 9, 2018 . 
32. ↑ Eddie Fu: Eminem Fires Back At Machine Gun Kelly With “KILLSHOT”. In: genius.com. September 14, 2018, accessed on September 14, 2018 .