Eminem surprises his fans with a new album, "Kamikaze"
Without warning anyone, Eminem is already back. The 45-year-old rapper has just released a successor to the unloved Revival, this Friday, August 31.
Kamikaze is Eminem's tenth studio album. Co-produced with Dr.Dre, this album is an answer to many critics of Revival, released in December 2017. In a post on Twitter, Marshall Matters, his real name, unveiled the cover and the names of the 13 songs on the disc. The visuals of the album are accompanied by a message about his previous record: "Tried not 2 overthink this 1... enjoy.," he advises his fans.
But many netizens have noticed a disturbing resemblance between the cover of Kamikaze and that of a hip-hop album released in 1986, the famous Licensed to Ill Beastie Boys. On both pockets, we find a plane, crash, cut into two parts on each side of the album. While the pioneers of the American hip-hop scene put their name on the tail of the plane, Eminem, instead, inscribed the name of the album. But the resemblance is obvious.
Marshall Mathers has never hidden his special affection for the Beastie Boys: at the time when he began to discover music, one of his first references is the group of neighborhoods in New York, which he buys from elsewhere the album Licensed to Ill in adolescence. After announcing the death of Adam "MCA" Yauch, a member of the trio, on May 4, 2012, Eminem even told MTV News the importance of this group in his own career, which he cites as "an influence ".
"Adam Yauch brought a lot of positivity into the world and I think it's obvious to anyone how big of an influence the Beastie Boys were on me and so many others. They are trailblazers and pioneers and Adam will be sorely missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, Mike D., and Ad-Rock."
In search of a new musical impetus, Eminem seems to want to draw on his old inspirations for this new album with more evocative name.
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