Kamikaze is the tenth studio album by the American rapper Eminem, released on August 31, 2018, by Shady Records, Goliath Artists, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. The album, executive produced by Eminem and Dr. Dre, was released with no prior announcement just eight months after his previous album, Revival, in retaliation to the backlash it received. It features guest appearances from Joyner Lucas, Royce da 5'9", and Jessie Reyez. Production on the album was handled by Eminem, Luis Resto, Boi-1da, Tay Keith, Ronny J, Mike Will Made It, amongst others.
Following the polarizing reception of Revival, music journalists debated over whether Eminem's relevance and ability were waning. Kamikaze represents a response, containing various insults against critics and rappers alike. The artwork is an homage to Beastie Boys' debut album, Licensed to Ill (1986). Critical reception towards Kamikaze ranged from mixed to positive. Some praised it as an improvement over Revival and a welcome return to Eminem's more aggressive persona, while others criticized him for failing to adapt to the current sound of hip-hop, and found the album outdated as a result. It also generated some controversy for its diss tracks against various artists.
Kamikaze was promoted with three singles: "Fall", "Venom" (from the 2018 film of the same name), and "Lucky You", and a music video for "Good Guy", along with a supporting tour. Commercially, the album reached number one in 21 countries, becoming Eminem's ninth consecutive number-one album in the United States, and later becoming the best-selling hip-hop album of 2018. It sold 434,000 album-equivalent units in its first week in the US and later received a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Recording and release On January 8, 2018, Eminem unexpectedly released a remix to his Revival song "Chloraseptic", featuring 2 Chainz and Phresher. In the song, Eminem mocked critics of Revival, concluding "I just added to the fuel in my rocket pack, till I'm ready to respond then I'ma launch it at 'em... I'll be back..." On January 22, 2018, photos revealed Mike Will Made-It in the studio with Eminem and Dr. Dre. During the Revival sessions, S1 tried to work with Eminem but he refused; the producer kept sending him beats to use on future tracks that the rapper incorporated into Kamikaze songs. The afternoon before Kamikazes release, Eminem posted a 15-second teaser of a new song on social media, featuring the logo for the superhero film Venom, without comment.
On August 31, 2018, he released the album to digital music stores and streaming services without any promotion or pre-announcement, unlike the extensive marketing done for Revival; he would repeat the strategy with 2020's Music to Be Murdered By. Billboard credits the success of the surprise release to Beyoncé's self-titled fifth studio album released in December 2013 without any promotion or pre-announcement, which was a critical and commercial success, ultimately changing the global release day for music from Tuesday to Friday. The album was sold on his website in several formats, including bundled with merchandise such as apparel. Eminem used social media services such as Instagram and Twitter to announce the release and has relied on the extensive feedback from diss tracks and Internet hype to spread the word of the album. Several weeks after the album's release and subsequent commercial success, Eminem took out a full-page ad in The Hollywood Reporter mocking negative reviews of Kamikaze, including The Hollywood Reporters review itself.
Although he had no marketing prior to the debut, Eminem had previously debuted freestyle rap "The Storm" at the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards using similar lyrics to the eventual title track and he directly referred to his experience performing it on "The Ringer". He debuted a clothing line featuring "The Kamikaze" t-shirt the month prior. Producer Illa da Producer sees the album as similar to The Slim Shady LP in terms of its ferocity, rather than the subdued Revival.
American singer Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, whose vocals were uncredited on the song "Fall", disavowed his participation in the album, claiming that he was not in the studio when the recording was made. A music video for "Fall" was released on September 4, 2018, addressing criticism of Revival. The music video was directed by James Larese, who previously directed the music videos of "Framed" and "Caterpillar". A second video was released for "Lucky You" on September 13, 2018, followed by one for "Venom" on October 5, 2018, as well as one for "Good Guy" on December 7, 2018.
Artwork
The full album cover, front to back, features fighter pilot LT. Mathers III intentionally crashing an F-86 Sabre fighter jet into an unknown object. The artwork appropriates the cover design of the 1986 Beastie Boys album, Licensed to Ill; Eminem has cited them as an inspiration for several years but did not give the band any prior consultation for the cover homage. However, despite this, the Beastie Boys themselves seemed to react positively to this, with Mike D saying "We feel flattered." Promotion for the album featured the same artwork in full, including the Eminem logo with added Japanese writing, neither of which was included on the album cover design made by Mike Saputo.
Promotion for the second single "Venom" featured the logo from the film of the same name. The "E" in "VENOM" was replaced with the "Ǝ" character Eminem frequently uses on his artwork.
Critical reception
Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 5.6 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Other assessments of the critical consensus have been mixed.
Aja Romano of Vox called the album Eminem's best in years, citing a return to the rapper's old school sound after deviating with Revival. Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph also compared this album to Revival, calling Kamikaze a "high-kicking, low-punching riposte", indicating it is a better release. Similarly, A. D. Amorosi of Variety sees the album as similar to Eminem's earlier work, stating, "[his] voice hasn't sounded quite so cranky, silly, impassioned or enraged since his early days" and for XXL, Scott Glaysher calls the album a revisit of the Slim Shady persona. For Consequence of Sound, Dedrick Hendrix gave the album a B−, summing up, "As a whole, the album may not be impeccable, but it’s the best he's released since 2010." M. Oliver of PopMatters summed up his review, "Kamikaze is Slim Shady at his midlife best; slightly less deviant, not quite as funny—but revived, nonetheless" and gave the album seven out of 10. Kitty Empire wrote for The Observer that Eminem is in "full rabid underdog mode" at a time when hip-hop MCs are more relaxed, giving the album three out of five stars. At HipHopDX, Trent Clark gave the album a 3.9 out of five, contrasting the work with Revival and denying this is a return to form, summing up, "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". Writing for Vice, Robert Christgau regarded the album as being "about hip-hop, his truest passion and sole area of undeniable expertise, rather than the larger emotional and political themes of what he conceived as a groundbreaking statement of principle [with Revival]". In The Atlantic, Spencer Kornhaber addresses both comparisons with Revival and current hip-hop stars on Kamikaze stating, "Really, though, Eminem is waging a war over aesthetics, and Kamikaze is a better listen than Revival because its concision confirms Eminem's value as an entertainer... Certainly, it's refreshing that in a genre especially obsessed with statements of dominance, Eminem doesn't disguise his feelings of irrelevance. He does, however, try to claim his influence." He added that the album shows that "Eminem is great at what he does." For Uproxx, Aaron Williams also praised the rapper's technical abilities and also pointed out the function of engage with his critics that this music performs.
In a more critical review, Stephen Kearse of Rolling Stone gave the album 2.5 out of five stars, situating Eminem in contemporary hip-hop by writing, "Eminem has no insights or ideas about the state of rap, nor does he have meaningful thoughts about his place within the genre. He probably doesn’t even have a Spotify account. He raps only for the sheer thrill of hearing himself rap." The Hollywood Reporters Jonny Coleman considered the album an "epic fail" and described it as "the work of an aging artist trying, and failing, to remain relevant by acting out." In Billboard, Charles Holmes said Eminem "tries to stop [his] artistic decline by blaming everyone except himself," and concluded, "Eminem was once a titan of hip-hop, but he never owned it [...] The world and rap might not need Eminem or Slim Shady anymore, but it could do with a little more Marshall." In The New Zealand Herald, Siena Yates praised Eminem for "technically flawless flows and cheeky wordplay" as well as "a thrilling command of cadence" but gave the album three out of five stars because, "He's just not saying much and what he is saying smacks of ignorance and someone reaching for relevance in a world he's hellbent on rejecting. It's not fun, informative, challenging or entertaining, it's just a lot of technical skill and angry fist-shaking." The Guardians Alexis Petridis gave the album three out of five stars and commented on Eminem's generational difference with current hip-hop stars, summing up, "...if you're going to listen to a middle-aged white man complain that hip-hop isn't as good as it used to be, it might as well be Eminem."
Exclaim!s Riley Wallace cited the anger of Eminem's early work, unnecessary homophobia, and the shortcomings of Revival in a middling review of 6/10: "Angry, reactionary Em is nothing new. Though his skill is absolutely unmatched, homophobic references and overly misogynistic bars in 2018 do feel excessively out of touch. It's not his best or his worst—but, it's definitely what fans deserved eight months ago." For Pitchfork, Marc Hogan gave the album five out of 10, writing, "[Eminem's] career has become an exhausting feedback loop, and Kamikaze flies straight into that downward spiral", criticizing it as "yet another empty, intermittently tone-deaf onslaught of technical rap prowess and humorless juvenilia from an artist who once controlled the zeitgeist with ease" but praising his technical skills as a rapper and clever lyricist. In NME, Dan Stubbs gave the album three out of five stars, saying that Eminem is out of step with trends in hip-hop by writing, "there's a sense Eminem struggles with the modern world" but stating that "there are plenty of moments... that remind us of Em's greatness". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic also emphasized Eminem's technical ability and lack of inspiration: "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." In Spin, Jesse Fairfax criticized the tenor of the album, writing "Eminem's defensiveness seems to preclude whatever reckoning he could otherwise have with any creative shortcomings that may have led him here". NPR's Rodney Carmichael suggested that the album is a parody writing, "[Eminem] may be going out with a cliché bang on Kamikaze, but he hasn't sounded more like himself in years", summing up his review with the critique, "Kamikaze may not be a success on the surface. But Eminem has inadvertently succeeded at making himself the butt of his biggest joke yet. It's so funny he forgot to laugh."