Man, do I really like "Not Afraid," the first single leaking off of Eminem's Recovery album. I wasn't really a fan of the horror-movie obnoxiousness of Relapse, but this is a completely fascinating, and beautifully executed, example of his contradictions, and perhaps a new direction:
Stylistically, this is Eminem at his best. There are tons of multiple rhymes within lines, and lots of wordplay, including references to raising an actual bar, and jokes about dental crows and getting shot (trust me, it works), and perhaps my favorite: "It's time to exorcise these demons / These motherfuckers are doing jumping jacks now." The song is profane and violent, and often funny.
But it also balances all of those tendencies with a tenderness, vulnerability, and responsibility that have marked Eminem's most emotionally mature work. Fader jokes that the chorus has a certain "Hakuna-Matataness" to it, and that's true, but it's also sonically rich, giving heft to declarations that might come across as somewhat emotionally hollow. There's a perspective switch halfway through the song: it's third person through the early lyrics, as Eminem is describing someone pretty messed up, cursed by his talent, set against the world. But by the second verse, he's in solid first person and dedicating himself deeply, and emotionally, to his fans.
When he rhymes, "I solemnly swear to treat this group like my daughters and raise it," I was actually caught off-guard by the tenderness of the line. Despite songs like "My Dad's Gone Crazy," Eminem seems to draw a sacred circles around his daughters, one his by birth, one by choice. For him to include his fans in the circle is a huge gesture. I've always experienced Eminem as the guy I shouldn't want but do anyway, someone who I bond with by picking my way through the minefield of his lyrical and mental volatility. He's not someone who woos his audience, who asks them to stay, who promises to nurture them. Rather, when he creates unity, he does so through shared anger and pain. And those emotions are there too, but Eminem sounds like he's in a better place than we've ever heard him. I have no idea how that'll impact him in the long-term, or even on a full album. But this is very compelling.