Eminem - Music to Be Murdered By Side B

The Guardian 0

(Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
The album’s deluxe version adds an hour of new music rich in dextrous delivery but intent on pushing the same old buttons

Once, releasing a “deluxe version” of an already successful album simply meant appending its contents with B-sides and live tracks in order to rejuvenate its sales, squeezing the kind of diehard fans who’ll shell out for any new release by their favourite artist. In 2020, however, hip-hop has significantly raised the bar.

Deluxe versions of previously released albums by DaBaby and Lil Baby both came with what looked like entire new albums attached; the murder of rapper Pop Smoke in February didn’t preclude his label finding 15 new tracks to add to his posthumously released debut album a month after it first came out.

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