Average Rating: 9.2/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
1. Welcome To Hell (9.5/10)
2. Fast Lane Ft. Sly (9/10)
3. The Reunion (10/10)
4. Above The Law (10/10)
5. I’m On Everything Ft. Mike Epps (10/10)
6. A Kiss (10/10)
7. Lighters Ft. Bruno Mars (10/10)
8. Take From Me (10/10)
9. Loud Noises Ft. Slaughterhouse (8/10)
10. Echo Ft. Liz Raudregez (10/10)
11. Living Proof (7/10)
Eminem and Royce Da 5’9” where two rappers who defined the game. They both worked together in 1999 as a duo called ‘Bad Meets Evil’ and as a result they released a few tracks which where lyrically very powerful, along with a very strong flow, and some controversial subject matters. But in 2002, the two broke up, had a feud, and it generally looked like Bad Meets Evil was really the hip-hop duo that almost officially happened, but could have been the very best. But in 2008, the two finally made up, and slowly started making music together. Therefore finally randomly and unknowingly creating a Bad Meets Evil EP, called “Hell: The Sequel”. So was the EP worth the wait? Or should they stop Bad Meets Evil again and just stick to making simple collaborations?
There are a few things to keep in mind before hearing this collaboration. Eminem said that this EP was made completely for fun and completely out of nothing. Therefore knowing that unlike any other Eminem or Royce Da 5’9” albums, this EP will not have a theme or a concept. As Eminem describes it it’s “just songs we recorded”, so the thing to look at here is if they can make an EP good enough for people to want an album, or to see if they can make music that can go up to each of their potential. But however you look at it, there are some very high hopes for this EP to be something really big.
The EP is made out of 11 tracks. Some of them consist of the classic horrorcore and concept less Bad Meets Evil tracks, or in other words the album generally rebrought energy that they both lost in making horrorcore tracks. While all of these tracks not being exactly perfect, they still where the songs I really wanted Eminem and Royce to continue on.
“Welcome To Hell” and “Fast Lane” where both great tracks to open the album with. The lyrics on both of those tracks were random, but at the same time clever and entertaining. There beats where really great, especially on “Welcome To Hell” and the flows where fast and really both of them had excellent chemistry together on those songs, and the rest of the EP as well.
"Above The Law” was another great track on the album, it was still very strong when it comes to the beat, flow, and wordplay, and “The Reunion” feels like a Marshall Mathers LP track. It was clearly a Marshall Mathers LP style track lyrically. Eminem and Royce both used the right tones to match the style of the beat, and it had the best flow out of all the songs on the album.
The duo do talk about other things aside from horrorcore topics on the EP though. “Lighters” was the best track on the album, and it was probably the most surprising due to the Bruno Mars feature. The lyrics on the track talk about self-confidence and motivation. Eminem mostly concentrated on his return to the music industry, and Royce talked about the rise to his success. Overall both members of Bad Meets Evil had great verses, as usual, but this time with the addition of a beautiful hook by Bruno Mars.
“A Kiss” was another great track on the album. It was produced by the Amilli and 6’7” producer Bangladesh. It was generally one of those hardcore rap songs with senseless lyrics in a way, but with Bad Meets Evil it had more of a horrorcore twists, there were more hardcore lyrics here. It had Royce talking about getting drunk, going to strip clubs, getting into fights and stuff like that, and Slim Shady taking shots at celebrities like Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry, something that I have honestly been waiting for. Now really, what more can you want from a Bad Meets Evil song? It was funny, offensive, and made Eminem and Royce look like complete jerks. What more could you want from a duo like Bad Meets Evil?
“I’m On Everything” was a song that just talks about drugs, and obviously using them. Really it was just a fun and funny track to listen to, with a great party-type/hardcore beat, strong flows from both rappers, and a really fun and random hook. I’m On Everything is another certified winner on this EP in my opinion.
“Take From Me” talks about the leaks that are taking place. It’s a topic that nobody ever talked about, or never thought of talking about, and now, finally, Eminem and Royce both talked about leaks and hackers stealing their music, and the song really made me understand why they don’t want their music to leak. Royce made me feel like an ass hole for listening to the leaks, and honestly made me feel really bad about listening to them, and Eminem honestly made me feel like a real traitor for listening and downloading these leaks. The track was full of raw emotion; it was smart, reasonable, and honestly one of the very best on the album.
"Echo” was a song that talked about coming back to hip-hop, and dominating the game again. It had a really good guitar based beat that fitted with the song lyrically, and a really strongly held on to and a strongly made hook, overall it was really one of the highlights of the EP. “Living Proof” was generally the worst track on the album, the beat was honestly mediocre, but lyrically it was a strong track, and “Loud Noises” was a good track, the flow was generally good, the beat was a bit of a downer, and the annoying ‘slaughterhouse’ screams where really was annoying.
Eminem and Royce both showed that they can easily hold on each other for an entire EP with nothing but there chemistry, given that there were barely any guest appearances. Despite the EP not being completely up to their potential, the EP was generally strong enough to touch at least almost reach it. Overall I think that this is an excellent reunion for the duo, the way Slim Shady should have returned instead of releasing the forgettable and mediocre “Relapse” album, and based on the music here on the EP, I think Eminem and Royce should make a full length album together as soon as possible.
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