When an artist releases a greatest hits album, it tends to cast doubt on the furthering length of their career, so you’d be forgiven if you assumed that last year’s ‘Curtain Call’ was the last you’d heard of Eminem.

‘The Re-Up’ shatters Marshall Mathers’ momentary silence with the provocative return to form he desperately needed to recover following the mediocre responses to his last studio effort ‘Encore’.

‘The Re-Up’ is more a mixtape than an album, with 22 collaborative tracks showcasing the exhaustive Shady Records family tree of D12, G-Unit, 50 Cent, Obie Trice and so on, it is indeed difficult to digest in one listen.

On the opening track ‘We’re Back’, Eminem reclaims his place in hip hop’s forefront but insists, in true Shady fashion, that he is under-rated; proving that six albums on, the trademark chip on Em’s shoulder is still firmly in place.

The album’s lead track ‘Re-Up’ produced, like much of the album, by Eminem himself, is a solid and convincing statement about the prominence of himself and 50 Cent, disappointingly let down by a ridiculously unnecessary sample of ‘In Da Club’.  It is on this that Eminem states, “This may well be the last rap I ever do spit…/ F**k it, I quit!”, but let’s face it, he’s been ‘quitting’ on records since ‘The Slim Shady LP’… he’s not going anywhere.

The album’s first release, ‘You Don’t Know’, demonstrates the Shady collective’s unrelenting lyrical ability over Eminem’s hypnotic, albeit predictable, bass driven production.

‘Jimmy Crack Corn’ shows Eminem, “the basket case… with start sh*t-itus” at his entertaining finest with an arrogant swagger we’ve barely seen since his ‘Marshall Mathers LP’.

But Eminem is by no means the star of this album. Stat Quo, Shady Records’ new recruit makes the sort of debut to suggest that his career will indeed outlive the short-term hype that once surrounded D12. He steals the show on the solo ‘Tryin Ta Win’, and holds it down for his Atlanta hometown with a ‘lean wit it, snap wit it’ type of flow on the album’s bonus offering ‘Billion Bucks’ - a synth driven track that sounds like it could be the product of a Lil’ Jon studio session. The track is in fact the work of L.T.Moe, an unknown producer who ironically manages to dwarf the reputations of the album’s other beat-makers which include The Alchemist, Akon and of course, the godfather of the family, Dr. Dre.

Few of the album’s tracks are forgettable, despite the mediocre lyricism of Dirty Dozen members Bizarre and Kuniva on songs like ‘Murder’. Such is the quality of the Interscope roster that even the peripheral rookies are carried.

New rappers Bobby Creekwater and Cashis are also initiated into the Shady camp on ‘Re-Up’ with déjà vu flows to have you wondering whether Eminem has a 50 Cent cloning field somewhere in Detroit.

However, ‘The Re-Up’ is essentially a landmark in modern hip hop, presenting a clique more powerful than the now obscure Wu-Tang Clans or Ruff Ryders of yesteryear. A matured Eminem - who has for once refrained from monotonous references to Hailie Jade and Kim - reaffirms his prestige with the precise, twisted and uncomfortably hilarious genius we have come to expect.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Top Tracks:

7) You Don’t Know

8) Jimmy Crack Corn

20) Shake That

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