EMINEM Vinilo y CD

Review: Around 2005 when the first edition of Curtain Call came out, we were reflecting on Eminem's meteoric ascendance to the premier league of hip-hop. Back then, all his beats were either produced by himself or with Dr. Dre, and there was a definitive arc to his sound. Moving on, there have been lengthy pauses, sideways swerves and surprise turns as Marshall Mathers follows his own path, and as such it's a fine time for a second greatest hits compilation to cast a glance back over some of the best Eminem joints of the past 17 years. There are plenty of dazzling guest spots from Beyonce and Rihanna to Snoop Dogg and Kehlani, but the best is when you can hear Em himself in full flow, doing what he does best.

Review: Finding out that 8 Mile is two decades old is astounding. Take it in, breathe, then decide what to do with that information. Rewind back to 2003, and life was very, very different - not least as Eminem was still considered a young upstart who needed to prove some stuff to the hip hop establishment, with the movie in question going some way to retelling his own story about going up against haters and coming out on top.
Of course, he was already one of the biggest rap artists on the planet by this point, but still fell in line for criticism over the juvenile nature of many tracks. Amalgamating some of the most respected MCs on one track list - all of who evidently give a seal of approval by contributing to this soundtrack - is certainly one way to prove legitimacy. Nas, 50 Cent, Rakim, Gang Starr, and Jay-Z help make this one of the genre's finest scores of all time.