Rapper Eminem has surprise-released another album. Trying hard to show he’s capable of growth but still has a glimpse of the past on his new album.

On his 11th album released at midnight on the 17th of January, he continues to rap about his messed-up family, his haters and his own problems over 20 tracks. The 47-year-old rapper has featured several other artists on his new album including Ed Sheeran, Young M.A, Skylar Grey and the late Juice WRLD.

The album is “Inspired by the master, Uncle Alfred!” Eminem posted on his Twitter. The name of his album is taken from another album released in 1958 by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. The cover of Eminem’s album is a recreation of the classic photo of Hitchcock. His speeches are also featured on the album for an interlude titled “Alfred.”

Eminem has been around for over 2 decades and during that time his music has changed which fans have not been very happy about. His last couple of albums Kamikaze and Revival haven’t been received very well due to the decline in quality of his music. However, this doesn’t affect him as he has addressed on the first song of the album Premonition (Intro) that he doesn’t care what critics think.

One song on the album has gained more attention than the rest due to highly controversial lyrics. The song Unaccommodating has the lines “I’m contemplating yelling ‘bombs away’ on the game/Like I’m outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting,” which has made listeners outraged. The joke ,about the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack which killed 22 people, is placed in the song as if Eminem gets a kick out of it. Manchester mayor Andy Burnham told the BBC after the release, “This is unnecessarily hurtful and deeply disrespectful to the families and all those affected.”

The best contender on the album is Darkness which is a chilling attempt at telling the story of the 2017 mass shooting at Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest music festival that took 58 lives. He looks at this through the eyes of the shooter, attempting to address America’s gun violence problem as the song ends with countless news reports of mass shootings in America.

Eminem continues stirring controversy for a joke and remains a storyteller through his music. His fans continue to appreciate and enjoy his rap however, there remains a number of haters which doesn’t affect Marshall Mathers.

You can listen to Music To Be Murdered By here.

By Codie Bullen