Eminem in Hanover: the gods of rap do not die

No surprises in the distance

If we put this historic scale to the concert, then the verdict can be made quickly: the one offered by Eminem is a single disappointment." Anyone who has already seen in advance the setlists of previous European concerts, could neither the intro ("Medicine Man" from Dr. Dre's Compton album), the "Lose Yourself" reminder of the soundtrack "8 Mile "nor the arrangement of Surprise songs in thematic blocks.It was exactly the same 28 songs in the same order as when they were playing in Milan.

Of course, the background music was good , as befits an appearance of this size clbad, but equally uninspired.The strongest performance comes from the singer Emily Skylar Gray, who worked with Eminem for many years, accompanying him on three songs : "Walk on Water", "Stan" and "Love the Way You Lie" – it was almost a pity

The fact that Kon Artis, aka D-12 member Mr. Porter, is an excellent back-up rapper, is known to the British radio DJ at least since the legendary freestyle session Tim Westwood . And we can look forward to a live consisting of an orchestra, band, choristers and New York producer The Alchemist as a DJ for a decent sound

Little helped in the mood: the Hannover exhibition center However, it is only partially adapted to large concerts with tens of thousands of visitors. Although the sun came out after the rain of the afternoon in the evening, and logistically it was well prepared for the mbades (despite the usual problems with traffic jams and long queues). But while the sound could be heard until the last row, the scene and Eminem could not be seen in the front rows, there was simply no raise for the rear seats. Instead, the last third was staring at the thousands of front-end smartphones or one of the three relatively puny monitors

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The biggest problem with all the predictability and the shortage Eminem himself had surprises: like a jukebox, he was emptying old tubes and new songs. For most songs – even this criticism was already known in the reports of the first concerts – eminem only rapped one or two stanzas. Almost an insult to his own work that was his hit "Stan", where he just naughty punch line and did not rapple the last stanza. The rapper has also missed any improvisational talent. Even with the three sets of Slim Shady just before the end, he did not completely play the songs, and he did not have the idea to spontaneously add a verse or even a whole song such as "Just Lose It".

The rapper has also made no effort to dialogue with the public. If we had already written a script for the evening, then the three German curse words "Freifick", "bad" and "Scheise" (sic!) Would have occurred, the times of Eminem said in a Stefan Raab show – and of course he delivered these. The fact that the rapper spoke at the end of one of the best concerts of all time and devoted the last regular song "Not Afraid" to the public and Hannover, you could not really take it then. And so it is not surprising that the performance is complete after 100 minutes.

In the autumn of his career, the rapper delivers, as on the last album, a contradictory version. Unlike Rock, where old heroes are celebrated in geriatrics, Rap is renewed in all its years.

The ancestors of rap, the OGs (Original Gangster), many now well past 50 years, are indeed Respected, relevant to the rap generation of today, but not more. Slick Rick, legend of Eastcoast, is housed in a small Berlin club for his concert in Germany, the pioneer DJ Grandmaster Flash can now book for corporate events. Recently, there was even a generational feud in the United States when several young rappers spoke about legends The Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac was making fun of. Absolute absurdity from the point of view of the previous generation.

But Eminem floats above things. There is almost no criticism of him. In Hannover too, we understand why: a demotivated Eminem, who has only 70% of his potential, is always better than most other rappers. If he wants, then he can. It always flashes. He delivers double-time pbadages like a young god of rap. Rapper back-up Mr. Porter and Voract Royce da 5 "9" – that he brings back on stage for "Fast Lane" – can at least bring him water.

In the discussion about the best rappers of all time, Eminem has secured his place in the top three , but the only question left unanswered is the one where he stands next to Tupac and Biggie, unlike the two legends In the Golden Age, he won his place in Rap Olympe but during his lifetime, and so it is Heracles of Rap, not in his old days every day of Hydra to cut off his head.

David Foster Wallace wrote in 1990 in the essay "Signifying Rappers": "Rap is not funk, rock or jazz, and this huge crossover that sends ghetto music to ghettos via radios is anything but a repetition of previous crossovers. " Since its birth in the 1970s The Bronx still has rap found its way into other genres and has become over decades the most important and innovative music genre in the world

Eminem, who has been the most important rapper on Earth for almost 20 years, plays a major role in this field. This era seems to end. He stands at the crossroads: can he defend his place on the throne of rap or retire to the Olympus rap? In the long run, the current performance will not be enough to stay relevant. It is quite possible that the ringtone of Eminem's career accompanies even an overall loss of rap ratio.

But there is another version of the story that becomes very clear even in a mixed night like Hannover: If anyone has the potential became the first retired rapper, then Eminem. And it's like that in 2033: the best rapper. An ancient rapper. A wise rapper.