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Eminem ft. Lil Wayne - 'No Love'

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Fraser McAlpine | 10:10 UK time, Friday, 5 November 2010

Eminem and Lil Wayne

It seems a shame that they've decided to go with the school bully video to this song, don't you think? I mean sure, it's a clear metaphor for the brutal way people can treat each other at times, and if you showed the more grown-up version, well no-one would be allowed to watch it.

But still: this isn't really a song about being bullied at school, and it makes it look like Em, who has rapped about that stuff since his first album, can't quite let go. This is not what 'No Love' is about. It's about accepting the bad things that happened during his wilderness years as a grown up. The time after fame and notoriety hit, after the endless intrusion stopped being fun, and after the harsh media spotlight started to burn.

Never mind school bullies, once you've been betrayed by people you consider to be close friends, once everyone you know appears to see you as a revenue stream first and a person second, that's when you know you're in trouble.

(No video link. The ad which came with it, when I watched it at least, is one of those flash-mob ones where actors abruptly shout songs into the faces of unsuspecting travellers in a train station or airport, in the name of spontaneous fun. Not even remotely annoying.)

So naturally Lil Wayne is going to be along for the ride. He's the guy Marshall was a few years previously. A huge star, with great plans for world domination, which have been held up by the bad things going on in his life. Not the least of which is the prison sentence he has only just finished. No wonder the two of them feel bonded by bad luck. Or as Wayne himself puts it "been to hell and back, I can show you vouchers."

For his part, Eminem is coming back fighting. Yes he's been down, yes he knows he let things slip, but he will be JIGGERED if he's about to let the people who made it all worse get away with it. And OK, the way he chooses to express this is to once again go back to childhood principles:

"I'm standing on the top of my Monopoly board,
That means I'm on the top of my game and it don't stop until my hip don't hop no more"

Now, the only problem with all of this heartfelt anger and retribution is, unless it is 100% compelling, it can occasionally be a little dull. And Marshall's singing doesn't really get any better with time. A point which is proven when Haddaway's original vocal - taken from his sole hit 'What Is Love' fact fans - beats all in the chorus. So when this thing sags, it really sags.

But the good bits - most of Em's rap bit, bits of Wayne's rap bit - are astonishing. So y'know, bully for them.

Three starsDownload: Out now


³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)

"When compared to most rappers in the game, his bravado is justified." "

"Perhaps his most motivated delivery on the album, castigating those who left him when he was down"

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Good song, 4 stars, but every single person in the world has recovery so I doubt this will even top 40.

  • Comment number 2.

    I don't have Recovery, or anything from the album for that matter, cause I'm too busy listening to Big Boi and Kanye West to bother with whatever Eminem's putting out nowadays in the rap world.

    His old stuff was good but everything he's done since Encore has felt tired and unoriginal, not that I don't like Eminem cause I actually really want him to produce something great again but this is just not up to standard for me.

    2 Stars

  • Comment number 3.

    @1@ It is already in the Top40
    X Factor has had an impact on the charts since 2005.
    Series 1-
    Steve Brookstein- Against All Odds reached No1 in January 2005
    and No11 in Ireland

    Next single- Fighting Butterflies reached No193

    Albums- Heart And Soul- No1 in May 2005
    40,000 Things- No165 in October 2006
    Rowetta-
    Singles- N.A
    Album- Rowetta- No89 in October 2005

    Verity Keays- N.A did not release a single or an album
    Tabby Callaghan-
    Singles- None released
    Album- Bread vs Art apperantly being released
    Cassie Compton- N.A
    Roberta Howett- N.A
    G4-
    Singles- Bohemian Rhapsody- No9 in February 2005
    Albums- G4- No1 in February 2005
    G4 & Friends- No6 in November 2005
    Act Three- No21 in November 2006

    Voices With Soul- N.A
    2 To Go- N.A

  • Comment number 4.

    I agree with Harry, I'll get back to you once I've explained why; I must dash out with the sister to do some Crimbo shopping right now.

  • Comment number 5.

    " Haddaway's sole hit What is Love ? " Fraser , just WHERE do you get your information from ? Go and find out how many top 10 hits Haddaway had . and report back . Lol .One thing is for sure , when the Chart Blog regulars take on the Chart Blog reviewers , in a pop music quiz , we will eat you for breakfast . Ha , this gives me an idea . . . .

  • Comment number 6.

    An idea hmm? Do tell, spirit. Do tell.

  • Comment number 7.

    The Hoosiers' 'Unlikely Hero' and Ellie Goulding's 'Lights' have been rescheduled to unspecified weeks, so I'm guessing this is why they never charted at all.

    This does really shock me as The Hoosiers train is now well and truly out of action. I hope they can rescue this, preferably with 'Made To Measure' or 'Glorious'... something HUGE that screams "LISTEN TO ME".

  • Comment number 8.

    Come on , who is gonna tell me how many top ten hits Haddaway achieved ? Fraser says 1 . Ha .

  • Comment number 9.

    Oddie , going by the amount of cock ups in Frasers reviews , I feel our team would thrash his team in a music quiz . It might be time to have a word with Scott Mills and get the challenge on the radio . Greg could be game too . Fraser would need to call in a few favours from some ringers to even get close to us . Lol

  • Comment number 10.

    I reckon we could take Reggie easily, his facts are usually way off. Some of my favourites include:

    "Jason Derulo's three #1 singles"
    "Pro Green's fantastic 'Upper Clapton Dance' is on his new album, out now, get out there and buy it"
    "That was 'Fireworks', brought to you by Katy Perry and David Guetta, and of course, yours truly"
    "That was Coldplay with 'Viva la Vida', the lead single off their new album. It's quite a change in sound isn't it?"

    In regards to Fraser though, well, I have an untold love for him and his reviews, which I always find entertaining but, as with myself, sometimes reviewers can get it wrong. I was under the impression Cheryl Cole was signed to Syco until a few days ago!

  • Comment number 11.

    I don't quite know how I feel about this song it's not quite there and little Wayne is pretty much awful anyway but I suppose after the brilliantine the way you lie and not afraid it's hard to be biased and true recovery has soldiers so top 10 me thinks not.

  • Comment number 12.

    Haddaway has achieved 4 top 10 singles ! Not 1 as Fraser incorrectly states .

  • Comment number 13.

    *New poster alert*

    New poster to here anyways, i like the song, its a relatively solid song with no real splashes of 'Marshall Mathers LP' Eminem, although im not the biggest Lil Wayne fan so it does drag it down, 3 stars is OK for me

    my main gripe is with spirit, ive been reading for a while and most of the time agree with everyone here, but now when you are digging the man out for the smallest mistake, personally i dont care much for Haddaway and that song was the only 1 i would recognise, so i would also have said it was there only hit, but as OddOne says, people make mistakes, and dont necessarily have time to Google every little detail

    Just come down from that high horse for a second

  • Comment number 14.

    Welcome to the (forums?)... ?... THING we got goin' on here Eboue!

    Please feel free to use the "Topical Posts" box at the bottom of the page which will let you know which topics have new posts in, and feel free to contribute to the Jedward ft. Vanilla Ice - 'Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)' topic, which is where we often stray from the current music chat, but some of us post exclusives and juicy gossip there too, although if your a regular reader, you might already know this :L

    Hope to see you around! :)

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