First among sequels: Eminem follow-ups pave way for genre
Saeed Saeed explores why hip-hop is increasingly adopting Hollywood-style second acts
If current hip-hop culture has you thinking you are living in a time warp, you are not the only one.
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are dominating the box office with the latest instalment of their Bad Boys franchise and Eminem bleached his hair again to release a sequel to his 1999 major label debut The Slim Shady LP.
The new work, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace), is top of music charts worldwide, providing the biggest indicator yet that hip-hop stars can find success by releasing companion pieces to their seminal works.
As is so often the case with one of the genre’s greatest, Eminem helped shape the idea of artists revisiting their back catalogues, having released The Marshall Mathers LP 2 in 2013. It was a follow-up to the 2000 masterpiece The Marshall Mathers LP, one of the biggest-selling hip-hop albums of all time with more than 25 million copies sold.
His work inspired others, including Nicki Minaj who released Pink Friday 2 last year, a sequel to her 2010 breakout album Pink Friday. Meanwhile, New York rapper Nas recently concluded a manic run of six albums split into two trilogies.
So, what is going on here? While rappers always used cinema as inspiration for songs, is this thirst for sequels the latest trend hiphop took from Hollywood?
Not so fast says Spek, executive vice president of international and emerging markets for music publishing company Reservoir Media.
As part of his role, Spek signed acclaimed US rapper JID, who is one of the supporting artists featured in The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace). A hip-hop artist in his own right and a UAE resident, Spek, whose real name is Hussain Yoosuf, says it is no surprise that hip-hop acts emerging from the CD era are releasing sequels. “That whole idea of creating a cohesive body of work that is full of characters and themes come from the previous recording formats of CDs and vinyl,” he tells The National. “When it comes to Eminem, he created this Slim Shady character that people loved and allowed him to act as his most outrageous. After going through different patches and themes in his career, he wants to go back to this particular era.”
That being said, Hollywood’s inspiration for hip-hop album sequels is apparent in the creative qualities it affords rappers. With Pink
Friday 2, Minaj joins Eminem in tapping into her alter ego, the erratic and flamboyant Roman Zolanski. And in Jay-Z’s Blueprint trilogy of albums, he builds a sweeping story arc of himself entering the music industry as a hustler and emerging victorious yet flawed.
“It’s that narrative drive that excites the artist and has fans buying into it as well,” Spek adds. “When you look at Jay-Z’s work, he is telling you a particular story that is not too dissimilar to watching the Godfather films in that there is a clear beginning and end to them.”
In the case of Nas’s King’s Disease and Magic trilogies, the thread linking them together is their sounds. With all six albums produced by the Grammy Award-winning beatmaker Hit-Boy, the albums’ sonic unity allowed them to be viewed as an overall body of work, despite the different subjects tackled in their individual songs.
As head of artists and repertoire for Warner Music MENA, Karima Damir says artists are resorting to releasing sequels to keep fans engaged in a streaming world where thousands of songs are released daily. “What you are hearing with these sequels is essentially the artist investing in their hardcore fan base, because they are the ones that will save up to go see the shows, stream the records as well as buy the physical releases like vinyl,” she says.
“Sequel albums also mark a certain moment of time for the artist and their fans. It is a chance to reflect on how they both grew up together over the years. It’s that kind of emotional pulling power that will always keep the sequel album appealing.”
Additionally, artists fundamentally want to be remembered through a distinctive catalogue of work. With the search for new sounds and voices rooted in the DNA of hip-hop, Damir says hip-hop sequels often act as reminders of a seasoned artist’s vitality. “It is a form of legacy building and a tool in a healthy competition against newer artists,” she adds.
“For music to resonate, it needs to have a meaning and reason to it – this is what listeners respond to.”
Spek agrees, saying streaming and social media have affected the way audiences consume music in that it has “become more disposable” or songs are heard more in isolation of the wider body of work. He adds: “I think it’s great that artists like Eminem are more interested in creating a tapestry of work. It’s the best kind of escapism.”
Eminem helped shape the idea of artists revisiting their back catalogues with The Marshall Mathers LP 2