I do respect how Eminem made Relapse and Recovery different from all of the rest of his albums. Relapse had the extreme, puppet accent. It sounded crazy, but off. Recovery was his first true semi pop hip hop album ever and he experimented with Rihanna. Then MMLP 2 was a nostalgic album.
If he can put together a really unique LP (true hip hop) that throws us off at first but makes us really dig it, like in Shady XV, this is going to change our perception on the shortcomings of his post Encore work. We'll look back at Relapse as much more classic, because it was unique in terms of his voice and flow. We'll look back at Recovery and know that Em could do work with other pop artists.
Shady XV is making me believe that Eminem made all the albums the way he wanted to. But his next LP is going to sort of make or break the way a lot of us see his overall career. It can make us appreciate the post Encore work even more (knowing that he truly is the most versatile rapper ever), or it can blend in with Recovery thus making his other albums not so special. So his legacy is on the line here. I hope he knows what to do, but Shady 15 gives me a glimmer of hope. Remember ''I'm having a Relapse'' song pre Relapse? Well Relapse actually did sound similar to that freestyle. So if this Shady XV is any indication of where he's going on the next LP, I'll take my chances.
I got to hand it to you Eminem, but I have high expectations for your next LP. Hopsin could never do it like you.