8 minutes to fame

8 Mile Soundtrack

Various artists featuring Eminem, Jay-Z, D12, Xzbit, Nas…

8 Mile Soundtrack

Various artists featuring Eminem, Jay-Z, D12, Xzbit, Nas and Macy Gray

Shady/Interscope Records

Eminem has done it again. From Slim Shady to Marshall Mathers and everyone in between, he’s taken on yet another persona. This time it’s his character from the movie “8 Mile,” Jimmy Smith Jr., better known as Rabbit. Eminem’s storytelling skills are put to good use as he conveys Rabbit’s hesitations, frustrations and complications while breaking into the rap game.

The three tracks on the soundtrack performed by Eminem are undoubtedly the best. Songs “Lose Yourself” and “8 Mile” both have frantic, heart-pounding beats as Eminem raps straight from Rabbit’s experiences in the movie, using lyrics such as “Go to work and serve MCs in the lunch line/But when it comes crunch time/Where do my punch lines go?” Even without knowing the events of the movie, listeners will still be able to understand the underlying desperation and anger in Rabbit’s story that Eminem paints with his lyrics.

The last track by Eminem, “Rabbit Run,” is the most unique. Instead of a catchy hook, Eminem raps straight through in one long verse, as if he were free styling. The clock tick-tocking in the background and the heavy, pounding beat blend perfectly with Eminem’s fast-paced rapping as Rabbit struggles to find his voice before time runs out. Eminem also teams up with Obie Trice and 50 Cent for “Love Me,” which has some smooth rhymes from the other two rappers and is another standout song on the soundtrack.

Other rappers provide some excellent new material for hip-hop fans. D12 makes an appearance with “Rap Game,” which is another great track. Eminem has a small, creative part where he raps in pig Latin. Another notable track is Jay-Z’s “8 Miles and Running,” featuring Freeway, and was produced by Eminem. Nas and Xzbit keep up the high quality of the soundtrack with their contributions. There are a couple of R’B songs, such as the one by Macy Gray, that provide an unnecessary break from the driving rap and don’t seem to fit in with the rest of the songs. Despite, the soundtrack pretty much sticks to the theme of what it takes to succeed in the rap business.

Although others contribute strong tracks, Eminem is ultimately the driving force behind this superior rap compilation. He manages to bring together well-established hip-hop stars with lesser-known rappers and still comes up with something worth buying from Target. Most of all, Eminem proves once again that he is a great storyteller using the medium of rap, and it’ll probably be a while before he exhausts the supply of tricks up his sleeve.