The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (also referred to as the MMLP2) is the eighth studio album by the American rapper Eminem. It was released on November 5, 2013, by Shady Records, Goliath Artists, Aftermath Entertainment, WEB Entertainment, and Interscope Records. Eminem's mentor Dr. Dre serves as an executive producer alongside Rick Rubin. The album is a sequel to Eminem's third album, The Marshall Mathers LP, and follows his usual style by featuring guest singers—in this case Rihanna and Nate Ruess—and by using outside producers: S1, Alex da Kid and Rick Rubin.
The idea of a sequel to The Marshall Mathers LP came about after Eminem recorded a handful of songs in the early stages of the creation of the album that reminded him of his earlier music, though Eminem wanted to experiment with "retro, vintage" sounds from turntablism for the sequel. The album draws influences from arena rock and old-school hip-hop, mainly inspired by Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill (1987) and LL Cool J's Radio (1985), while the production is more minimalist than Eminem's previous albums. It was supported by the singles "Berzerk", "Survival", "Rap God", the US number-one hit "The Monster" (featuring Rihanna), and "Headlights" (featuring Nate Ruess), which was released exclusively in Australia.
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was regarded as one of the most anticipated albums of the year; it sold more than 792,000 copies in its first week in the US as it topped the Billboard 200. In March 2017, it was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album received widely positive reviews, with critics praising Eminem's technical rapping abilities and production choices. It marked an improvement in a reception over Eminem's previous three albums, and was named on multiple best album year-end lists. It won Eminem a record sixth Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards.
Background
On May 24, 2012, Eminem revealed that he was working on his next album, during an interview on Hot 97's morning show with Peter Rosenberg. On June 30, 2012, Eminem talked about the album with DJ Whoo Kid, on his own radio station, Shade 45. He stated that the material was taking shape, and that Dr. Dre would be involved in some way. Eminem explained: "I usually get going and kind of start going a certain direction and just record what I'm feeling. Then I'll go see Dre and fill in some of those pieces."
On August 1, 2012, Nick Craig interviewed Eminem on Channel 95.5, where he explained that he was working on the album, but was focused on finishing Slaughterhouse's Shady Records debut Welcome to: Our House, On August 10 however, Eminem appeared on Shade 45 and told Sway Calloway: "We actually just finished the [Slaughterhouse] album last week ... Now I've got time to be able to start doing things for my own project." Royce da 5'9" appeared on MTV's RapFix, hosted by Calloway, with his group Slaughterhouse, on August 30, 2012, and talked about Eminem's album. Royce confessed: "Marshall is the studio right now, laying the most awesome lyrics in the world. I'm not so sure how the world is going to respond from some of the things that I've heard from him."
On February 8, 2013, Shady Records president and Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg told Billboard that Eminem's eighth studio album would be released after Memorial Day, 2013 (May 27). "We fully expect to be releasing a new Eminem album in 2013. He's been working on it for some time," said Rosenberg. "It's safe to say that it will be post-Memorial Day at some point, but we're not exactly sure when. We've got some dates locked in for him to perform live in Europe in August, so we're trying to see what else lines up." On March 22, 2013, during an interview with Power 106, Dr. Dre said that he was working with Eminem, and that Eminem was "finishing up his project."
On June 17, 2013, Shady Records producer The Alchemist appeared on RapFix Live, and tweeted to shadygodz (One of the Stan fans aka Sanket Kale Mathers) about Eminem's upcoming album: "That's my boss. I DJ for him and I'm not at liberty to speak on much, but you know his caliber and what he does. Clearly going to further territories. I think what you would expect, especially after the last go-round. He was just getting his feet back on Relapse and then Recovery just came with the smash hits and everything and I think now — he's Eminem." Prior to the announcement of the album's name, it was named to multiple "Most Anticipated Albums of 2013" lists; including MTV, Complex where it was listed in sixth position (and later on in second); and XXL, where it was listed in fifth.
Recording and production
On June 17, 2013, producer S1 told Hip Hop Weekly: "I've been working on Eminem's new album and I'm very excited about that." The track list reveal showed "Bad Guy" as the opening track, and S1 confirmed that he and vocalist Sarah Jaffe, one half of S1's duo The Dividends, are featured on the song. He also credited Aussie M-Phazes and Streetrunner as co-producers. M-Phazes himself confirmed this in an October 2013 interview.
Tim Riley, vice president of music affairs at Activision Blizzard, explained to Billboard in August 2013 that he was contacted by Eminem's manager Rosenberg in March to partner Eminem with Call of Duty: Ghosts. In June, Riley and members of his team flew to Detroit to meet Eminem and Rosenberg. The team was showcased a "handful" of songs, while Eminem was shown early concept art and gameplay footage of Ghosts. "Survival" was picked as the best-fitting song, but the final version differed vastly from the earliest version of the track. Over the next couple of months, Eminem turned in five successive versions of the song, each one "bigger and more anthemic sounding than the last." – The final version was turned in only a day before its reveal on August 14.
In a behind the scenes video for "Berzerk", released in October 2013, Rubin explained that he met Rosenberg a few years back and that they had discussed the possibility of him and Eminem working together. He stated that the idea of "throwback" song to earlier hip-hop recordings was an idea conceived later in the creative process of the album. He noted that initial sample the song was built around ended up not being used, and that the final product differs greatly from the original. In an October 2013 interview with MTV, DVLP said that the instrumental for "Rap God" had been in the making two years prior to the track's release. While the instrumental had been offered to rappers such as T.I. and Fabolous, the producer didn't feel the record fit their music. He estimated that Shady Records got hold of the instrumental around Fall 2012, and DVLP himself did not hear "Rap God" until Eminem phoned him after its release.
The idea of a sequel to The Marshall Mathers LP came about after Eminem recorded a handful of songs in the early stages of the creation of the album that reminded him and his friends, namely Rosenberg, of Eminem's earlier recordings; " The more I listened to it, the more it made sense to call it that," said Eminem. Eminem also wanted to experiment with "retro, vintage" sounds such as beatbreaks and scratches, and he felt that Rubin could help him "take that to another level."
Rihanna, with whom Eminem previously collaborated on "Love the Way You Lie" from Eminem's previous studio effort, Recovery (2010), was featured on the song "The Monster". On September 11, 2013, she hinted at the collaboration on Twitter: "Just left the studio ... Recorded a #monster hook for one of my favorite artists! And that's all I can give you ... #NavyShit". Upon the track list announcement, Staten Island singer Bebe Rexha revealed on Twitter that she had co-written the Rihanna collaboration featured on the album. Rexha recorded "The Monster" in November 2012 in Harlem's Stadium Red studio while working on her debut album. The producer of the track, Frequency, auditioned records for Shady Records VP of A&R Riggs Morales, who "freaked out" upon hearing "The Monster", instantly requesting for the verses to be stripped and Pro Tools sessions sent to Eminem. Eminem added his own verses and tweaked the instrumental, while keeping Rexha's backing vocals. The song was revealed to be a part of the album with the reveal of the track listing. In an October 2013 interview, Rexha claimed that she said "This is an Eminem record, y'all" while standing in the booth after she recorded the chorus, and that she "know[s] when [Eminem] heard it, it spoke to him."
Rapper and fellow Aftermath/Interscope artist Kendrick Lamar, who toured with Eminem in 2013, was featured on "Love Game", while indie pop band Fun. lead singer Nate Ruess was featured on "Headlights".
Skylar Grey, a frequent Eminem collaborator since Recovery was featured on the song "Asshole". In an October 2013 interview with American Songwriter, "Love the Way You Lie" producer Alex da Kid revealed that he has submitted further beats for Eminem, but said "you never know what they're going to use or not going to use." He would later be confirmed as the producer of "Asshole" and two of the deluxe edition bonus tracks. "Asshole" was initially created during a studio session with Alex and Eminem in Detroit in 2012. Grey was writing songs for her Eminem-executive-produced album Don't Look Down in Detroit, and visited Eminem to exchange song ideas and hooks. She wrote the hook for "Asshole" during the trip, while in her hotel room.
"Legacy" was written approximately two years ago during a session between Russian singer-songwriter Polina and songwriter David Brook in New York. A few months later, Polina visited Interscope executive Neil Jacobson, who, upon hearing the song, commanded her: "Don't play this for anyone. It's an Eminem record." The following week, Polina and Brook joined Emile in the studio where he produced the song and then sent it to Eminem. Eminem wrote his own added verses to the song, but left Polina's vocals untouched.
In July 2012, Eminem's close friend and label-mate 50 Cent stated that he was involved in the recording for Eminem's upcoming album and would probably appear on the lead or second single, but ended up not being featured on the album at all.
Music and songs
The album's opening track "Bad Guy", produced by S1, M-Phazes, and Streetrunner, with a chorus sung by Sarah Jaffe, has been described as a sequel to Eminem's "Stan" from The Marshall Mathers LP. "Survival" features a chorus sung by Liz Rodrigues and production by DJ Khalil. On the anthemic track, Eminem celebrates his return over "breakneck, arena-rock" electric guitars and "trashy" drums. "Berzerk" is produced by Rubin and pays homage to old-school hip-hop. With samples from the Beastie Boys' "The New Style" and "Fight for Your Right", and Billy Squier's "The Stroke", the track is "a punchy, guitar-and-beats driven song which channels Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and Licensed to Ill-era Beastie Boys." The album also draws influence from LL Cool J's Radio era, while the production is more minimalist than Eminem's previous records. Produced by DVLP, "Rap God" sees Eminem rapping over an EDM-inspired instrumental with varied flows. He pays tribute to many influential hip-hop acts, but also proclaims himself an all-time best, with the closing line stating: "Why be a king when you can be a god?" "The Monster" is a "dark", "demon-battling" song, with the production that was handled and provided by Frequency. The track features backing vocals from Bebe Rexha and a chorus by Rihanna.
Artwork and packaging