Cheers

So another rapper with his street story to tell emerges from the Shady stable. Oh joy. And it features Eminem, Dr Dre and the loveable 50 Cent. Forgive me if I can contain my excitement. More of the same, you’d wager? Well, yes and no. Positives first. Cheers is a sonically stunning record, light years ahead of anything else coming out of this scene. Intertwining a selection of live instruments, samples and sounds, Eminem’s production is often jaw dropping, inviting you to dash to the next track to see what kind of trick he can pull next. Those of us who remain unconvinced by his exalted status have still got to admit that he knows his way around a sound desk. If this was a DJ Shadow style instrumental album then we’d be in business but, as it is, the cracks start to appear as soon as Trice himself appears on the scene. It’s the same old story really, a picture of degradation, violence and death. Obie Trice’s personal trick, however, is a neat little line in misogyny that manifests itself in ‘Got Some Teeth’, ‘Lady’, ‘The Set Up’ and the charming ‘Bad Bitch’. All from a man who waxes lyrical about his young daughter in the credits. If he’d manage to invest his lyrics with even a fraction of the inventiveness of the music then Cheers could have been a classic. As it is this is very much the Eminem show, a spectacular sounding piece of lazy bullshit.