Single Review: Bad Meets Evil- Lighters Ft. Bruno Mars

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.

EP Review: Bad Meets Evil- Hell: The Sequel

Average Rating: 9.2/10
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.