Kamikaze
by Eminem
  • Record Label: Atlantic
  • Release Date: Aug 31, 2018
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 1419 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,144 out of 1419
  2. Mixed: 127 out of 1419
  3. Negative: 148 out of 1419
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  1. Jonsnow123
    Aug 31, 2018
    8
    Eminem is back with a response album after the utterly disappointing and infamous Revival. He is certainly more hungry and hits the mark more often than not this time around. Eminem is at his best writing with his back against the wall. However people should be able to criticize revival which Eminem clearly hasn't understood, u don't have to be a hater to understand revival is wack.Eminem is back with a response album after the utterly disappointing and infamous Revival. He is certainly more hungry and hits the mark more often than not this time around. Eminem is at his best writing with his back against the wall. However people should be able to criticize revival which Eminem clearly hasn't understood, u don't have to be a hater to understand revival is wack.

    Anyways Eminem tries to drop multiple bombs on his Kamikaze mission, most are funny and hit the mark while some fall flat and feel unjust. The Tyler diss was uncalled for, he is probably not offended by the slur, but Tyler deserves more respect than "Tyler create nothing" flower boy was a masterpiece miles better than revival. Tyler called out revival but previously defended relapse, Em seems weak.

    But all in all em blasts through with much better beats and production values, putting more or less the choppy robotic flow aside, and puts his heart into dropping lyrical bombs and entertaining hardcore fans. To say that Eminem won't make any new fans after this is an understatement. Props to em for bringing the old skits back, and i liket that he addressed the D12 inner circle beef in stepping stone.

    Favorite tracks: Kamikaze, The Ringer, Stepping Stone, Fall, Lucky you

    Least favorite: Venom(although it is for a soundtrack), Normal, Good/Nice guy    … Expand
  2. AnyThingWorx
    Aug 31, 2018
    8
    Although personally I didn't hate "Revival", I still think Em needed a return to form, especially after how unfocused "Revival" was, thankfully, "Kamikaze" does exactly that.

    The opening tracks have some really solid rapping abilities and great wordplay with the lyrics, especially THE opener; "The Ringer" with great brag rap and critical of the double standards of criticism and mumble    Although personally I didn't hate "Revival", I still think Em needed a return to form, especially after how unfocused "Revival" was, thankfully, "Kamikaze" does exactly that.

    The opening tracks have some really solid rapping abilities and great wordplay with the lyrics, especially THE opener; "The Ringer" with great brag rap and critical of the double standards of criticism and mumble rap, and has an incredible flow. And leads into the incredibly fast track "Greatest", which criticized all of the rapper who have achieved "so much" when in reality all they have done is over-saturate their content into the mainstream, which ALSO leads into "Lucky You" with Joyner Lucas, with Lucas infuriated that he doesn't have any mainstream awards, even though he's arguably the best out of the breakout rappers lately, with Em switching it up and talking about although he's arguably the greatest, he's being ignored by the mainstream in favor of the **** mumble rap we have today, and with, again, an incredible flow and speed from both artists.

    Next is a Paul Rosenberg skit, which has Paul concerned over Em about the subject of the album, and asking if he doesn't get his way, if he'll do the exact same thing for the next album, and after the next song, Em responds with an angry call and actually going to a Yahoo user's house because he didn't understand a part of Revival, both of which are funny as hell.

    Anyways, between those skis include a song named "Normal" which Em goes into account as to why he can't have a normal relationship, but goes into conclusion that he's also the same and will always have to deal with it.

    But, after the second skit, comes an emotional song called "Stepping Stone", which delves into Em's relationship with D12, why he feels bad for them, but also why he feels some resentment against them. In the end, he calls to their fans that D12 is indeed over, but at the end of the day, everybody in D12 still love each other and are still friends.

    This next song, actually goes direct with Em's criticism with mumble rap, by taking the beat to "Look Alive" and mimicking the Migos flow and the "Bad and Boujee" hook and having Royce da 5'9" provide a verse that's incredible at him failing to understand why mumble rap is so popular, which is supported by Em's verse as he calls out many rappers, including Lil Xan, Lil Yachty, and others who ride off of other rappers' success or are too afraid to go deep into the genre, overall, a great song.

    The title track, "Kamikaze" goes over Em's reaction and everybody else's reaction to the reception of "Revival", going as far as comparing to "FACK", which is widely regarded as Em's worst song. However, the execution is a bit off, as the beat is pretty bad, and although a catchy hook and a solid flow, I feel as if the lyrics could've been better, but, overall, not a terrible song. The next song "Fall" continues with this tone, but he also calls out other rappers such as "Tyler the Creator", whom he actually calls a **** which has been met with some dumb backlash online for no reason, especially considering that, A. Em CENSORS the line, even on the explicit version, and, B. Em has said "WORSE" things with the word **** so, to say the very least, people are overreacting. The beat, though, again, isn't stellar, but the flow and lyrics are much better than the previous song.

    The next two songs: "Nice Guy" and "Good Guy" both feature a "duet" of sorts with Jessie Reyez, with "Nice Guy" being sluggish as hell with insufferable vocals from Reyez, and one of Eminem's worst performances (Excluding most of "Relapse"). The subject matter is actually good, though, as it focuses on Em's struggle with relationships despite being as good as he can. "Good Guy" is, thankfully, much better, with a better performance from both artists, with the same general subject matter, though with better writing, flow, and overall execution with the production as well.

    Unfortunately, the closing track; "Venom" (the title track from the Marvel movie of the same name) isn't all that good, with less than stellar performance from Em, and non-interesting subject matter of being the best, with decent wordplay and good production, far from terrible, but it's just average to bad.

    Overall, though, a great album from Em, with an inspiration in his vocals that we haven't seen in a while (save for "Nice Guy" and "Venom"), amazing rap speed and wordplay, (again, save for "Nice Guy" and "Venom"), great features, (AGAIN, save for "Nice Guy"). and funny as hell skits that don't come so abundantly, this album is a great return to form, rivaling the quality of "Recovery", my main complaint has to be the production, which sounds clunky and lazy. But, again, a great album that I recommend you listen to.

    Best Songs: Greatest, Not Alike, Lucky You, Stepping Stone, Normal, the Paul skits.
    Worst Songs: Nice Guy, Kamikaze, Venom.

    Rating: 8/10    … Expand
  3. milanstruyf
    Aug 31, 2018
    10
    Lyrics are as always the best in the game. I'm suprised by its release, sure I'm not the only one.
  4. madmoneyandswag
    Aug 31, 2018
    0
    In utter disbelief at some of the reviews this has been getting. Same old same old from Eminem as of recently. Cool, he raps fast. Ha ha lyrics so funny. So hard so cool. Give me a break. He's lost it and it ain't coming back.
  5. BeastJ18
    Sep 1, 2018
    3
    Below average. Slightly better than Revival, but that's no accomplishment. Eminem thinks he can just rap fast and continue calling himself the best. How about some meaningful lyrics or creative music behind him? No, he was never even close to the best and has quickly and consistently become one of the worst rappers in the industry.
  6. Oisinoc
    Nov 4, 2018
    8
    Pretty good, he goes off and raps his ass off, would have maybe been a 9 if he'd cut out nice guy and good guy
  7. Bork
    Nov 6, 2018
    8
    Revival got bad scores and Eminem is back at the game to respond that he is not scared of critics (us) and nobody in the world
    The beats are really good but not good as other albums, I thought it would get boring just listening him to always talk about critics and other rapper haters, but it doesn't get any boring when the lyrics and beats are that good!
    and yes the Album doesn't have    Revival got bad scores and Eminem is back at the game to respond that he is not scared of critics (us) and nobody in the world
    The beats are really good but not good as other albums, I thought it would get boring just listening him to always talk about critics and other rapper haters, but it doesn't get any boring when the lyrics and beats are that good!
    and yes the Album doesn't have any "Deep" Meaning like REVIVAL and other albums had (even tho Revival had bad scores it did had the meaning in every of the song) imo its okay on this album (this was the first place why Eminem made "Kamikaze" to respond to critics) but I hope it will not STAY like this.    … Expand
  8. DefiningYou
    Nov 13, 2018
    8
    Kamikaze was a big improvement from revival. The ringer, Greatest, Lucky you, Not alike, Fall, And venom were all great songs on the album. He's returned to his original form years ago.
  9. Compuitguy
    Jan 24, 2020
    10
    It's a great album that realy it highly enjoyable and intelligent at the same time

    Eminem keep proving that he is one of the GOATs if not the GOAT
  10. ProShady
    Nov 4, 2018
    10
    this album was one of the best with fall, the ringer, lucky you being apart of my top ten Eminem songs of all time
  11. MarcusOcean2
    Dec 9, 2018
    10
    This is a masterpiece album in which Slim Shady’s return from Framed (revival) and good old Em in general. MASTERPIECE
  12. sybilcris
    Jan 22, 2020
    10
    Phenomenal...Unexpected....Incredible LOVE IT Absolutely love this album! Thank you Eminem
  13. Jamal01
    Sep 4, 2018
    10
    An absolute fire album. As good as MMLP - crazy flow and wordplay.
    Critics either dont have the ability to understand his lyrics or are just mad they were wrong when they said Eminem had lost it.
    Ringer, not alike, fall, stepping stones and lucky you are all 5/5 star tracks
  14. rodericrinehart
    Aug 31, 2018
    10
    My oh my. Back after a mediocre Revival, this album is what we needed right now. The flow is still impeccable.
  15. vitroxx
    Sep 3, 2018
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. El mejor álbum de eminem desde MMLP2 (2013) y hablamos de que es lo mejor que eminem nos ha dado desde hace 5 años, se dice fácil pero han sido 5 años en donde el rap ha cambiado mucho desde que Recovery(2010) dominaba las listas de rap. Kamikaze es todo lo que un verdadero fanático de EMinem quiere, enérgico, potente, fuerte, rudo, letras ofensivas y una selección de canciones perfecta.

    Quedó claro que eminem sigue siendo el REY de esto de rapear y escribir letras significativas y con poder. Algo quedó claro con Kamikaze, eminem volvió (y con todo) y ahora queda esperar la respuesta de alguno rapero que se atreva a hacerlo... el género quedó en suspenso, hay un antes y después para lo que es el rap en el 2018.    … Expand
  16. ahmadashi
    Aug 31, 2018
    10
    Best Eminem album in a hot minute! Blinding lyrics, perfect cadence, incredible energy, and whole lot of name of dropping. 3rd best Eminem album ever imo. The homophobic slurs may seem hard to swallow at this time and age, but in all honesty, it added to the experience. Also, it's Eminem, you should be used to it by now.
  17. mando414
    Sep 5, 2018
    10
    Finally we get Slim back. Slim Shady is angry and in rare form. Its about damn time.
  18. KwstasMpasonass
    Sep 3, 2018
    10
    Probably the best album of 2018. It reminds me of the old Eminem but with better lyrical skill
  19. lichink
    Sep 3, 2018
    9
    Some great tracks coming from one of the best rappers ever. Some really catching songs with incredible rhymes.
  20. alislim
    Sep 3, 2018
    10
    Eminem's album Kamikaze is fiyah!
  21. PD0706
    Sep 4, 2018
    10
    Simply incredible, the flow, the punchlines, the production. Em continues to amaze
  22. Damnsong
    Sep 5, 2018
    10
    "Kamikaze" reminds me "Hell: The Sequel" and a little bit "The Eminem Show". Obviously, not the best Marshall's album, but this is high-level work. Lyrically still the best rapper (since 1999). Bits are like nothing special, but it does not spoil the album which perceived like answer to squall of their hypocritical criticism. This album only lacks the atmosphere of 2000s, but it's not"Kamikaze" reminds me "Hell: The Sequel" and a little bit "The Eminem Show". Obviously, not the best Marshall's album, but this is high-level work. Lyrically still the best rapper (since 1999). Bits are like nothing special, but it does not spoil the album which perceived like answer to squall of their hypocritical criticism. This album only lacks the atmosphere of 2000s, but it's not Eminem's fault. Also I want to mention that all these critics like **** this new pop Eminem" and "Revival is trash, Recovery garbage", but always when Shady is coming back with his "old school music" they start to shout like "nothing new", "too old", "this is 2018, not 2002". This is definitely stupid and has no make sense.

    Oh almost forgot... R.I.P D12, which have already died in 2006. It was a good time, homies, thank you for everything you've done, and especially for "Fight Music" and "Purple Pills". Always in our hearts.    … Expand
  23. Nik_Outlaw
    Sep 2, 2018
    9
    So many good beats mixed with the finesse of Em's lyrics. People don't like the hooks but i could not care less since he kills it anyway. "The Ringer" doesn't even have one and is my favourite.
  24. Connorcox1997
    Aug 31, 2018
    10
    EMINEM IS BACK. after his disappointing album Revival, Eminem makes his fans up by dropping a surprise album. This album is pure fire.
  25. flagflayer
    Aug 31, 2018
    8
    Pretty good album I'd say, definitely had fun listening to it. Some songs are better, others are more "meh".

    Overall an 8/10 if you ask me.
  26. ShadyMMLP2
    Sep 1, 2018
    9
    Eminem?? In 2018 ?? Does this still have any relevance ??
    The answer is YES!
    After Revival's failure, Eminem seems to have learned to deal with criticism and realize every mistake made last year. Kamikaze brings good featurings, good beats, good lyricism and even good choruses (in which Eminem is not very good but this album sounded good) Responding directly to everyone who doubted    Eminem?? In 2018 ?? Does this still have any relevance ??
    The answer is YES!

    After Revival's failure, Eminem seems to have learned to deal with criticism and realize every mistake made last year. Kamikaze brings good featurings, good beats, good lyricism and even good choruses (in which Eminem is not very good but this album sounded good)

    Responding directly to everyone who doubted Mr. Mathers and criticizing the current scene of Hip Hop was the main touch to bring Kamikaze to the top, the name of the album closes 100% with its main idea (Eminem dropped this surprise album without any marketing)

    BOTH: I think the last three tracks did not fit into the album's atmosphere and could very well have been replaced.
    The first few seconds of the Nice Guy track are impossible to hear, seriously.
    Venom made it seem like a continuation of Phenomenal, not that this is bad, but it's more of the same.

    A great album, a great comeback from a great rapper.
    9/10    … Expand
  27. Blyze
    Sep 1, 2018
    9
    Shady is back! ....... This is the album i wanted. Straight Fire.
    Best surprise.
  28. Vlyyk
    Sep 24, 2018
    10
    unexpected bag of goodness - thanks for showing me Joyner and Jessie.
    I only did not like Normal that much - but overall this is great album - insta buy for my old car CD player :D
  29. cpurdue101
    Sep 3, 2018
    9
    Kamikaze is easily Eminem's best work in years. Not only did it flawlessly showcase his greatest strength - unfathomably impressive lyricism - but Eminem's diss-filled album also saw the return of many of the elements which originally brought him to fame: songs filled with scathing anger, a sense of fearlessness, and some banging beats (the lack of which was the primary downfall ofKamikaze is easily Eminem's best work in years. Not only did it flawlessly showcase his greatest strength - unfathomably impressive lyricism - but Eminem's diss-filled album also saw the return of many of the elements which originally brought him to fame: songs filled with scathing anger, a sense of fearlessness, and some banging beats (the lack of which was the primary downfall of Kamikaze's predecessor, Revival). It quickly becomes evident that Em raps each lyric of his surprise album with a reinvigorated passion that listeners haven't sensed in years, whether he is ripping a slew of rappers a new one or pouring out his heart over his seemingly broken relationships with each of his former D-12 members. Kamikaze should stand as Eminem's biggest success in recent years because of its brilliant wordplay, the return of Shady-esque songs, and the vast improvement in instrumentals from Eminem's other recent works.… Expand
  30. madalenabranco
    Aug 31, 2018
    10
    No one can lyrically beat this man. Great album. The attention it's getting with 0 promotion proves it.
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Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Most Discussed Album of 2018
7
#7 Most Shared Album of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
62

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. The Observer (UK)
    Sep 10, 2018
    60
    Kamikaze finds Marshall Mathers revelling in his Slim Shady rabid underdog role, fulminating at critics, boggling at Lil Yachty, and sneering at the Migos flow on Not Alike. How riveting all this finger-wagging is probably depends upon your birth date.
    Read full review
  2. HipHopDX
    Sep 7, 2018
    78
    Fans clamoring for the old Marshall Mathers should stream the old album or hell, rent it from the library or something. After being faced with nothing to prove as the highest-selling rapper of all-time, Eminem’s found another challenge in perfecting the new style he’s put on display.
    Read full review
  3. AllMusic
    Sep 7, 2018
    40
    As sheer performance, Eminem's vocals remain a thing of wonder, which is why it's so dispiriting to hear him circling the drain, relying on old tricks instead of expanding his worldview. He has the musical skills to mature; he's just refusing to let himself act his age.
    Read full review
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