On Eminem’s last album, Kamikaze, he struck back at critics of his prior album, Revival, who said he was washed up and done with. On Kamikaze, there’s a scripted sketch in which his agent, Paul, calls him up to say that Kamikaze is a bad idea, asking “What’s next? Kamikaze 2, the album where you reply to everybody who didn’t like the last album that you made replying to everybody that didn’t like the previous album?” While this is supposed to be a joke and a sign that Eminem can be self critical, it sadly became true as Music to Be Murdered By is exactly the album that that sketch warned about, as evidenced by the first rapped line on the album: “They said my last album I sounded bitter.” But while Kamikaze was actually responding to the very real flop that was Revival, Kamikaze itself was certified platinum and the highest selling hip-hop album of 2018, so Eminem responding to Kamikaze’s critics just reeks of a deep seated paranoia.

That’s not to say that Music to Be Murdered By is a bad album by any means. Eminem is still an extremely talented rapper, even if the subject matter grows tiresome at times. However, while Eminem is talented, I can’t say the same thing about all of the album’s guest stars. I mostly listen to underground hip-hop, with a very small handful of mainstream rappers that I make exceptions for, so many of these guest rappers are new to me. But Young M.A, who appears on “Unaccomadating,” is absolutely terrible and I can only imagine she was included on this album because of her sexuality in an attempt to clean up Eminem’s reputation as a homophobe. I don’t really believe Eminem hates gay people, despite some problematic language, but there seem to be a few attempts on this album to make him appear more tolerant, such as one of the best songs on the album, “Those Kinda Nights,” where Eminem talks about pursuing a woman at a club and casually mentions her being bi without judgement.

One guest rapper that can keep up with Eminem is his frequent collaborator, Royce da 5’9”, who appears on two songs, “You Gon’ Learn” and the joyously dancehall reggae inflected “Yah Yah.” Probably the best song on the album, which was wisely released as the first single and video, is “Darkness,” which is Eminem’s commentary on America’s mass shooting epidemic, as told from the point of view of the shooter. But there’s some definite duds on this album, most notably “Stepdad,” which is about Eminem being abused by his stepfather as a child. At the risk of coming off as insensitive to a serious issue, after all the songs that Eminem wrote about his mother mistreating him (which he apologized for a few albums ago), I’m frankly bored with hearing about Eminem being abused as a child. Some other songs, like the convoluted “Marsh,” a song that can’t seem to decide what it’s about, seem to be mostly filler to drag this album out to its epic length of 20 tracks and 65 minutes.

As Ed Sheeran, one of the biggest pop stars in the world right now, sings over a track on this album, it’s hard to swallow a star like Eminem who can draw a collaboration with someone like Sheeran worrying about people calling him a has been. I really wish that he would just rap and get over his issues with criticism. If they look hard enough, any artist could find criticism of their work online. That’s sort of the curse of the Information Age. But not everyone overreacts quite as much as Eminem does. But if his fears grow tiring, his lyrical ability can still give you something to admire, even if the album is somewhat uneven.