label: shady

compilation includes: eminem, jay-z, nas, obie trice, 50 cent, macy gray, rakim, gang starr, young zee, xzibit, d12, others.
year of release: 2002
website: 8-mile.com
 
What ever happened to hip hop movie soundtracks? There used to be tons of 'em. However with this record, we might see the resurrection, as this shows not only the potential of what it can do, but also how good it can be. What it can do is promote the label's new artists, as well as create a buzz by including some top names. This record definitely does some hyping up the next big hype, but it does more than its fair share of having big names on it. Just soak this in: Eminem (obviously), Jay-Z, Nas, Xzibit, Rakim and Gang Starr. All on the same record. All offering exclusive tracks.
But lets look at this in an orderly fashion. First we got the four Eminem tracks, with the opening one being the single that accompanies this release. "Lost Yourself" is doing what has become sort of Eminem's signature sound: epic and dramatic self made production, that allows Em to use the whole spectrum of emotions that he's able to put into his flow. And we know that he's got a lot of emotions. Hence this single is digging as much into the character of the movie as it is exploring more of Eminem's self. And the same can be said about "8 Mile", a track that comes on later, and that with its six minute duration is even longer than the 5'20" of the single. That speaks on the one chance in life you have and must grab, while the title track also gets your head bouncing with the dope keyboard sound. Here however we are listening to every writers fight with consciousness and the striptease writing always is.

 
tracklisting
1. Eminem "Lose Yourself"
2. Eminem, Obie Trice, 50 Cent "Love Me"
3. Eminem "8 Mile"
4. Obie Trice "Adrenaline Rush"
5. 50 Cent "Places To Go"
6. D12 "Rap Game"
7. Jay-Z feat. Freeway "8 Miles And Runnin'"
8. Xzibit "Spit Shine"
9. Macy Gray "Time Of My Life"
10. Nas "U Wanna Be Me"
11. 50 Cent "Wanksta"
12. Boomkat (Taryn Manning) "Wasting My Time"
13. Rakim "R.A.K.I.M."
14. Young Zee "Thats' my Nigga Fo' Real"
15. Gang Starr "Battle"
16. Eminem "Rabbit Run"
In between these two excellent tracks where Em gives us many more reasons why he is a great emcee, we get "Love Me", that features Em's Detroit buddy of late Obie Trice (we told you about years ago here) and rap's anti-darling 50 Cent. This track is slow and threatening and much more street. The chorus features an unaccredited singing to little success; it doesn't work too well, as doesn't the too keyboardy production. Em is also the one that has the most to say, as 50 does what he does best: he disses cats. And then right toward the end of the record, there's Eminem's "Rabbit Run", that was also produced by him, that's haunting and voices his frustration. The intensity is massive, the rhyming is straight up through the whole song. Hence this is not following any commercial rules, instead it can easily create a commercial demand and change in thinking. And again, another reason why Eminem's so good.
The rest of the record then features enough pleasantries, while not everything can be considered that. The beat on Obie Trice's song "Adrenaline Rush" (produced by Rush) is not as good as the one on 50 Cent's "Places To Go" (produced by Eminem). Our preference of emceeing is however exactly the other way around. Although on "Places To Go" Cent is coming more correct than later on "Wanksta", where he refers to himself as Ferrari F-50, what must be one of the stupidest names ever chosen. While the concept of calling studio gangster wanxter is actually deeper than you might think, this track struggles to appeal too much, as this is mainstream rap at its worst. Something Nas almost falls victim to on his "U Wanna Be Me". He says "keep it thug", what causes us to scream at him: "you must exactly not do that, damn." The song is also badly mixed and the beat by Nas and Chucky Thompson is mediocre at best. Lyrically Nas spits some fire, but the circumstances are so bad, not even that can make much of a difference.
Hence we need to look for the better songs, and we find 'em in "Rap Game" by D12, where they do the little insanities they are good at. Xzibit offers an example of his signature car rattling sound. Meaning the beats are bouncing, there's a certain stabbing feel to it, while X flows over all kinds of cinematic sound effects on "Spit Shine". And it precedes the Macy Gray track "Time Of My Life" and amongst all that testosterone you don't mind listening to this lady. And she carries this Dante Ross and John Gamble song so well, the choir is only making it even more catchy. Compared to this song, the Boomkat (Taryn Manning) song faces a hard wind to be too much. But her "Wasting My Time" is a slower song, and once the organ comes on, you are also drawn into the track that is better than what you first thought it is.
The Jay-Z featuring Freestyle track "8 Miles And Runnin'" is kept unimpressive by a boring Eminem beat and by Freestyle offering little. Even Jay seems to have done this on the way out of the studio, making this sound very uninterested. Another legendary lyricist doesn't live up to his stature, as "R.A.K.I.M." does something intensive. But we are not yet sure if Ra really should be rhyming over such a science fiction beat. He's also dumbing down his rhetoric and the track then fully gets destroyed once the wack singing starts. Young Zee's "That's My Nigga Fo' Real" is simply weak, what then leaves us with the Gang Starr song "Battle". And you can pretty much tell, when they are appearing on a soundtrack, that there's an album around the corner. Now judging from this, the album can be good. Not saying that this song is above all amazing, but Premo does a solid diddy that's catchy, with Guru lacing it with solid rhymes. And while the total sounds a little old manish, we're looking forward to be proven better once "The Ownerz" drops.
Now, we should also mention that if you cop this record early, you might get the limited edition, that features an extra cd of six Shady Records songs: Obie Trice "Rap Name" (the full version of "Obie Trice, real names, no gimmicks" that opens "Without Me"), Eminem "Stimulate" (weak beat, Eminem typical lyrics), 50 Cent "'Till I Collapse Freestyle", Joe Beast "Gangsta" (some mainstream Cali thump cut), Brooklyn "The Weekend" (young chick who sure can sing over something a dope emcee would sound better over) and Shaunta "California" (nocturnal composition that fits the late hours like a glove). However as they are not part of the official soundtrack, we shall not say much more than that, but instead give you our conclusion to this program: And after having seen the trailer for "8 Mile", after considering the fact that the "L.A. Confidential" director is doing this one too and after having listened to the soundtrack, the movies is more promising than many naw-sayers will ever be able to dispute. However, if it's anything like this compilation, then there will be slow, boring, exciting and excellent moments.
review: tadah
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