We have two repeats on this week’s Hot 100 at #8 and #9: Teddy Swims’ ‘Lose Control’ and Benson Boone’s ‘Beautiful Things,’ respectively. Both have been kicking around the Top Ten for at least a few months.
At #10 is Eminem with ‘Houdini,’ the first single from his new album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). This song is a throwback to his turn-of-the-millennium heyday, opening with an interpolation of his 2000 hit ‘Without Me.’
Throwing back to the week of Nov. 30, 2013, we find Lorde atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Royals.’ The rest of the top ten is a mix of the same artists and songs that have been dominating the chart for several installments of Throwback Weekends, but we do have a new entry at #2.
Eminem’s ‘The Monster,’ featuring Rihanna, spent four weeks in the #2 spot before finally reaching #1 in December. This was Eminem’s fifth #1 on the Hot 100 (and, as of today, his last) and his first since 2010’s ‘Love the Way You Lie’ (another collaboration with Rihanna). As for Rihanna, this is one of 14 #1 hits on her resume, putting her behind only The Beatles and Mariah Carey on the all-time list.
Eminem was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, becoming the sixth rapper to make it on his first ballot (Missy Elliott became the seventh, and first woman, a year later).
Once you have accepted that the functional definition of “rock & roll” refers not to a specific style of music popularized in the 1950s but rather all of the elements that led to and sprung from that music — and that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame rightly celebrates musicians in such genres as jazz, soul, disco, R&B, pop, and rap — Eminem’s inclusion is a no-brainer.
Only the “rap isn’t rock” purists could begin to argue otherwise.
Today’s random weekend selection is a cut from Eminem’s 2002 album The Eminem Show, his fourth studio release and second straight to reach diamond status. This was Eminem’s biggest album, selling 27 million copies worldwide, and marks a time when he was basically the biggest name in the music industry.
‘Say What You Say’ is one of the less memorable tracks on The Eminem Show. A diss track about producer Jermaine Dupri on which Eminem splits verses with Dr. Dre, it has some clever lines but a forgettable chorus and little of the clever wordplay or heightened emotion that made Eminem a special talent.
When I first started today’s post, I was going to write that Eminem had ceased to be commercially relevant for the past decade or so. But when I checked the numbers, I was surprised to see that his last five albums have combined to sell more than 15 million units. Every one of them went either Gold or Platinum.
If that seems like a letdown, it’s because the five albums preceding those sold 66 million, all multi-Platinum, two Diamond. That’s a string of success unmatched by most recording artists through history.
Meet Me In Montauk 