Early Friday morning, Eminem surprised fans with his 10th studio album, Kamikaze. “Tried not 2 overthink this 1 … enjoy,” he wrote on Twitter.

The is Eminem's second new album in the past year, following Revival, which arrived back in December 2017 and debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200. As per usual, on Kamikaze the rapper delves heavily into current events, covering everything from Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault scandal to his own BET Cypher freestyle, where he spent most of his bars blasting Donald Trump and calling out his Trump-supporting fans.

The cover for the 13-track Kamikaze, released on Aftermath Entertainment, is a shout out to the Beastie Boys' iconic album cover for 1986's Licensed to Ill. The album was executive produced by Dr. Dre.

There aren't many features on the album. Singer Jessie Reyez shows up on two tracks - "Nice Guy" and "Good Guy" - while storytelling rhymer, Joyner Lucus, known for last year's attempt to tackle racism "I'm Not a Racist," features on "Lucky You."  Em's longtime friend, Royce Da 5'9, who's put out some great work of his own this year is featured on the track "Not Alike." Kamikaze also includes a song, "Venom," from the anticipated upcoming Tom Hardy-starring Marvel film Venom.

Lyrically, Em touches on American political and social culture, while addressing his personal battles. On "The Ringer" he claims President Trump “sent the Secret Service to meet in person / To see if I really think of hurtin’ him / Or ask if I’m linked to terrorists” following his BET Cypher. He also spends some time calling out new school rappers such as Lil Pump, Lil Xan and Lil Yachty, asking, “Do you have any idea how much I hate this choppy flow everyone copies?"

He gets more personal on "Stepping Stone," addressing D-12 member Proof's death, and rapping: “Imma wash away my sins / Imma rinse away this dirt / I forgot to make amends / To all the friends I may have hurt.”

Listen to Kamikaze via Spotify below. You can also purchase the album on vinyl, cassette or CD via Eminem's official site.

 

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