Eminem's "Not Afraid"

I don't keep up with reviews anymore, so I'm sincerely curious: has this been called out for how irredeemably awful it is? Do Stupefying Debacles by Major Artists still get reviewed like Dylan's Self-Portrait once did, or is that a thing of the past? It's been around for a few weeks, but I hadn't paid much attention to it until it came over the car radio tonight and I gave it some focus. The words are as Oprah/self-help embarrassing as you might get from Melissa Etheridge, and the sound's got that clunky heavy-handedness that goes back to the (inexplicably acclaimed, I always thought) "Lose Yourself." I started thinking about how the grade 6 kids I teach this year have very likely never heard "My Name Is" or "The Real Slim Shady"; they just know he's an important guy, and they probably like this. I'm going to sound them out tomorrow, and, if need be, adjust their thinking.

A few of us took a stab:

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=2309

And I do mean stab.

Thanks...Seems about right; I'm curious as to whether it's still treated like vital work in major print outlets, although they'd inevitably be reviewing the entire album, not just the one song. Two hours later, I'm still thinking about bad this record is.

"how bad..."

Definitely the worst thing on that album (not that it's the only crap track) - I'm shocked they chose it.

Seriously? Other than the horrible bridge with his awful singing, I feel like this is the most inspired single he's had since "Lose Yourself". I'll take this in a heartbeat over pretty much anything on the last two albums. I guess I'm in the minority here.

the line ripped directly from my 4th grade teacher's inspirational poster about the moon and stars makes me cringe without fail. it's not horrible though.

I'll take this in a heartbeat over pretty much anything on the last two albums.

Not exactly the highest praise there.

The major difference between "Not Afraid" and "Lose Yourself" is that "Lose Yourself" is clunky and heavy-handed and has great lyrics and a huge sound, while "Not Afraid" is clunky and heavy-handed and has neither.

Not exactly the highest praise there.

Well, yeah. Please don't think I'm trying to equate this with "Lose Yourself", cuz it ain't even in the same ballpark, but I certainly think its better than all of the singles since.

Naw, the OP equated them.

Definitely the worst thing on that album

Also, there is no way this is worse than that Haddaway sampling track.

this is easily the worst single of the year by a respectable artist

I was rooting for Alicia Keys to get that honor.

Eminem has a new record out? lol I can't believe I am still giving this one chance. Hopefully I'll not waste the 4 minutes on the next one.

check out some of the industry bootlickers that feigned enthusiasm for this shit:

http://www.complex.com/blogs/2010/04/29/whats-the-consensus-the-internets-top-tastemakers-react-to-eminems-not-afraid/

At least he didn't auto-tune the chorus.

Eminem doesn't need AutoTune for his singing to be cringe-inducing and embarrassing.

Both Alicia Keys' singles this year have been dope.

check out some of the industry bootlickers that feigned enthusiasm for this shit:

http://www.complex.com/blogs/2010/04/29/whats-the-consensus-the-internets-top-tastemakers-react-to-eminems-not-afraid/

― Mr. Srehtims (some dude), Wednesday, June 16, 2010 7:22 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

the design on complex.com made my eyes bleed so hard I forgot about the song. good god.

I bet this will be full of 12 steppin'.

― Eazy, Thursday, 8 January 2009 16:30 (1 year ago)