(product links go to sponsored Amazon products, previous post links go to related pages on my blog, news and place links go to source pages)
Eminem made the news recently when he was the surprise headliner of the concert that marked the reopening of Michigan Central, a building whose dereliction had come to symbolize the city's financial struggles. It was a Detroit-centric show, a Detroit-centric performance with his guest stars, and he continues the theme here with fellow Detroit MC Big Sean and Michigander BabyTron, on Em's latest single, Tobey:
It's a little too "trapy" for my taste, as it gets repetitive between standout lines throughout the verses, but Big Sean and Eminem have a few strokes of genius here and there, particularly the eight-bar Melle Mel diss.
25 years in and still current, with references that draw from the past and present equally. Solid.
The video itself was directed by frequent Eminem collaborator and pioneer of underground rap for the past decade Cole Bennett, from what was probably an insanely long storyboard, and the special effects are well done for something that probably didn't cost plural millions, seeing as videos aren't really a thing anymore with no ratings-driven TV station to play them.
