Single Rating: 9.8/10
Bad Meets Evil as a duo are not known for doing the more emotional type of music that only one half of the duo, Eminem has been known for doing most of his career. Bad Meets Evil has mostly been known for making horrorcore or hardcore hip-hop, but on Lighters, they had a chance to diversify a bit. So how did they do with their new single “Lighters” which featured Bruno Mars? So was Lighters able to get some strong emotional credit? Was It able to be a great track considering that It was something different for Eminem and Royce as a duo? Only the song it’s self can answer those questions.
Lighters was one of those tracks that really rely on its own lyrical strength and presentation, so both sides of the duo, Eminem and Royce both had to pull off their usual strong lyrical efforts here, and they both had to give the right emotional and sympathetic feelings to the stories they were telling in this somewhat different track then what they are used to doing together. So given the strong and different setup here, where Eminem and Royce able to pull this track off? I mean, we all know Eminem can easily do it himself can because he was doing this for a long time, but Royce isn’t into the emotional stuff at all, while he had some potential based on some tracks he made. So based on all that information, and the song itself, it was really interesting to see both of them do something that they aren’t used to while they are both together on the same song.
“Lighters” was mainly divided into two major parts. Eminem’s verse was the first major part, and then Royce’s verse was the second major part. There was a huge difference between both verses, which was actually not normal for the duo because Bad Meets Evil are normally Eminem and Royce going at the same pace as each other and talking about the same thing, along with using a really similar flow. But here, on Lighters, they both talked about different things, and each of them used a really different flow comparing to the other, so again, it was interesting to see both Eminem and Royce both have different styles on the same track, it made the track sound like less of a completion, in a way, and it was more of both of them just trying to do really different things together and expand their skills as a duo.
The first major part was Eminem’s verse. In that verse, he mainly talked about his return to the rap world after his drug addiction. In the song he really went in depth on how he felt during that period, in contradiction with how he feels now, so basically his verse was on how he feels about his return, not to the rap world, but more of a return into his real self, all the way back, before he was addicted to drugs or had any personal issues, and as a result, his verse was really honest, emotional, and one of his best verses since he came back.
The second major part was Royce’s verse, and in this verse he goes into a more different and a more widely spread direction than Eminem’s verse. His verse was mainly about his rise to where he is now. He talked about his struggles, his way up to the point where he is now, and the fact that he deserves more credit for his talent, especially after climbing this high, and honestly, I agree with him, he does deserve a lot more recondition for his skills, plus it was nice to hear Royce do something really different compared to his older work, it may not be the best verse he recorded, but it does look like it might open up to something bigger and better.
Eminem’s flow was more of a speedy style than anything else. He got straight to the point in his verse, he just kept going and going without stopping for punchlines or anything like that, and as a result, I liked that flow. I like punchlines, but honestly Eminem somewhat overdid them in his post-Recovery features and tracks, so it was good to hear him just straight up rap on this song. So clearly, to complement the content on his verse, he had an outstanding flow and honestly, that just added to the emotional value of this track.
Royce’s verse had more of a complex flow, and honestly that was a bit of a downer on this track, because probably only hip-hop heads, like me will really enjoy his verse. I mean, it’s normally a really good thing to see someone do something different, but that was a little too much, but still though, it did shine in the content, he did give the information straight and direct, and honestly, the complex rhyming pattern just adds to the strength of the content here, because Royce used this strongly complex flow to explain a complex feeling he had.
Bruno Mars was on the hook here, and it was something really different, because again, Bad Meets Evil are not into that kind of stuff, they are more into the hardcore, more underground styled music, but it seemed like they were trying to get closer to a mainstream audience right here, as a result it worked, not only Eminem and Royce had strong verses to catch the ears of fans, and get new fans. But Bruno Mars also deserves a lot of credit for his soulful voice, and honestly, I know it and you know It, the song will not be the same strong piece of music without him.
The production on this track sounded a lot like something Bruno Mars would sing over, and honestly, that was a big highlight of the track, because honestly, out of these so many mainstream artists doing a bad job, Bruno Mars actually does a good job, and a big thing that helped him was the production of his music. In Lighters, the beat reminded me a lot of Just The Way You Are, which was good, because I wanted to hear Eminem or Royce rap over a beat like that, and they did not disappoint at all with Lighter. When it comes to the general production, it shows that there was a lot of work put into this track, a lot more work than the rest of the EP in my opinion.
Lighters will easily be known and remembered as one of the best tracks to come out this year. I don’t think it will not be remembered as a classic, I can tell you that, but it will be remembered in the next few years for sure. I mean, look at Lighters, or hear it, the production was great, Eminem and Royce both gave the song a strong emotional feeling, the flow was excellent, despite Royce being too complex, and overall, this track was the best track on Hell: The Sequel, and probably one of the best songs Eminem did after Recovery, and a usual great job for Royce.
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