As we all know, Eminem loves surprises. Remember when, many moons ago, in February, he suddenly performed at the Oscars for reasons even he didn’t understand? What a crazy fox, we thought. Well, now Eminem has dropped a whole surprise album. And as far as I can tell, it is not a Christmas album but it does get into the holiday spirit (?) of taking stock of one’s past wrongs and atoning for them.
Eminem’s new album, entitled Music to Be Murdered By – Side B, a companion to his last album, Music to Be Murdered By, reportedly includes an apology to one Robyn Fenty, for offensive lyrics in a past song, in which he said he “sided” with Chris Brown after his brutal assault on Rihanna in 2009. The song was a decade old, but it leaked last year.
At the time of the leak, Eminem’s spokesperson released a somewhat defiant statement: “This is a leak of something that’s over 10 years old. After Eminem recorded it, he scrapped it, and rewrote it. Obviously he and Rihanna have a great relationship,” he said. (Their “great relationship” apparently includes writing other creepy lyrics about giving Rihanna hickeys. Hm.)
Now, finally, in the song “Zeus,” Enimem seems to have actually addressed the incident. “But, me, long as I re-promise to be honest / And wholeheartedly, apologies, Rihanna,” he says. “For that song that leaked, I’m sorry, Ri / It wasn’t meant to cause you grief / Regardless, it was wrong of me.”
Well, okay, Eminem, and perhaps this is an opportunity to simply cease writing lyrics about Rihanna.
