Rap soundtrack albums have long been an important weapon in the hip hopper's arsenal, so for Eminem's silver screen debut, we are to be furnished with two - this one out now, and another coming in January. It's a tactic designed to double sales, but one that may well backfire.
'8 Mile' relies heavily on acts signed to either Eminem's Shady imprint or the Aftermath label set up by his mentor, Dr Dre. Most exciting for the long-term hip hop fan is the first fruit of Rakim's relationship with Aftermath. For many, the greatest rapper of all time, Rakim's Aftermath debut album is due next year; until this soundtrack, all that was known about the project was that it is to be titled 'Oh My God'. And, sadly, that is the only cogent response to the track included here, 'R.A.K.I.M.' It's not that the God is slipping, just that he's been given a beat to rhyme over that isn't so much abstract as deconstructed. The production simply sounds wrong, as if the master was on a computer disc that got corrupted on the way to the pressing plant, and nobody noticed.
Elsewhere, unaffiliated guests Gang Starr show that their years out of the limelight haven't impaired their sense of style, 'Battle' boding well for a new LP also due in 2003. 50 Cent, though, the latest Aftermath signee, fails to shine on the turgid gangsta rap dis 'Wanksta', and as ever Em's D12 mates are a little less than convincing. This CD will sell solely on Eminem's four contributions, which include the uncommonly restrained current single 'Lose Yourself'.
January's 'More Music From 8 Mile' is a compilation of tracks from 1995, the year in which the film is set. It opens with Mobb Deep's malevolent masterpiece 'Shook Ones Pt II', a record so brimming with paranoia it makes you feel like you're being followed home. The rest of the album can't touch it, but throughout the quality threshold is high.
Why Interscope have chosen to release these CDs separately is a mystery. Those newcomers to hip hop whose interest has been sparked by Mathers' emergence won't buy 'More Music…' because they won't see the point; veterans of '95, keen to hear old school rhymers coming back hard, will hear 'R.A.K.I.M.' and save their money, praying for better from 'Oh My God'. Put the two together in a competitively priced double set, though, and you could have had a halfway essential release, and one that would doubtless make more sense to anyone keen to investigate the music after seeing the film.
Missed opportunity, then.
