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Guess who’s back

Eminem's four missing years were filled by grim stories of marital breakdown, condemnation by his mother and junk-food binges. But now the recluse is staging his return with a new album

YOU KNOW THE world is going crazy, the comedian Chris Rock said, when the best golfer is a black guy and the best rapper is a white guy (whatever next, a black President?). The black golfer was Tiger Woods, the richest sportsman in the world. The white rapper was Eminem. Remember him?

It is not so long ago that Eminem was being praised as a rapper of literary genius and decried as the greatest cultural menace in America. His mastery of a musical form invented by African-Americans drew comparisons with Elvis Presley and his linguistic vitality won unlikely fans such as Seamus Heaney and Zadie Smith. At the same time his lyrics, accused of glorifying misogyny, homophobia and violence, saw him branded Public Enemy Number One.

Then Eminem went “missing in action.” Devastated by the loss of his best friend, DeShaun 'Proof' Holton, shot dead outside a club two years ago, he became increasingly reclusive. The vacuum was filled by unhappy rumour and revelation. His remarriage to his ex-wife, emblazoned on the front of Hello! magazine, lasted only 11 weeks before a second divorce. His estranged mother published a memoir calling him a liar. There were still parallels with Presley, but this time in the years of Graceland decadence: he was said to be depressed, crippled by writer's block and bingeing on junk food in his Detroit mansion. With his health failing and weight ballooning, one US tabloid claimed Eminem was “starting to look like an M&M.”

Re-energised

Little wonder, then, that news of his first album for four years has electrified the ailing music industry and the rapper's persistently loyal fan base. Just when it seemed he was effectively retired, the 36-year-old is re-energised and at work in the studio. Now it is rumoured that the album, named last week as Relapse, is due to be released by Christmas.

Early word suggests that he is back at the top of his game, though of course the hype would hardly say otherwise. But there is no questioning the massive expectations generated by the second coming of the one who took rap from the ghetto to the suburbs.

A taster, 'I'm Having a Relapse,’ has already been leaked to the Internet and begins teasingly, 'Guess who's back.' It doesn't take much guessing: 'How the hell did he manage to get more felony charges?/ He's already got life in jail now what the hell is his problem/ Well to be honest, the smell of these chronic leaves make me hella demonic/ They compelled me to kill this elderly man an'/ I get these panic attacks, pop a Xanax relax ...'

What remains to be seen is whether such lines still have the power to shock. Eminem was the bete noire of America's cultural conservatives, who feared his influence over the young and were glad to see the back of him. The “culture wars,” it was said, lost their impetus after the 9/11 attacks, only for “hockey mom” and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin to prove they never quite went away. But another shift in taste has been taking place: a decline in hip-hop's popularity means that Eminem, who has sold more than 70 million records worldwide, returns to a changed musical landscape.

Long hiatus

“He's been gone for four years, which is an aeon in rap time,” said Sean Fennessey, music editor of Vibe magazine, whose readers have just voted Eminem the best rapper alive despite his long hiatus. “He's the consummate rapper, incredibly skilful and thoughtful with a tremendously compelling story to tell. He was the first rapper who transcended racial consciousness to become a pop star. He's one of the most iconic musical artists for a long time, so his comeback is going to be big.”

A decade ago rap was generally the preserve of black men from the ghetto with a short life expectancy. Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996, Biggie Smalls in similar circumstances a year later. Marshall Mathers (hence the M&M nickname), different race, similarly humble beginnings, burst on the scene in 1999 with the The Slim Shady LP, winning mainstream popularity and Grammy awards. His follow-up, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling hip-hop album in history and cemented his status as the Elvis of rap - a description he always hated.

His copious use of the words 'bitch' and 'faggot' aroused indignation on both sides of the political spectrum, threatening to put the entire rap genre in the dock.

Eminem's performing alter ego, Slim Shady, was accused of misogyny after hit singles such as 'My Name Is,' which included the line: 'Ninety-nine per cent of my life I was lied to, I just found out my mom does more dope than I do.' Debbie Mathers-Briggs, who was 15 when she gave birth to him in Kansas City (his father left after six months), has denied the portrayal.

Eminem/Slim Shady also sang about killing his wife. In real life he married Kim Scott in 1999, only for the couple to divorce two years later. She later said he had driven her to try suicide because he made her feel like a “piece of crap.” But they wed for a second time in 2006, appearing on the front of Hello! and doing nothing to remedy that magazine's fabled “curse:” this time the marriage lasted less than three months.

Flood of hits

But Eminem's career seemed unstoppable with hits such as 'The Way I Am' and 'Stan' and a cabinet full of awards. He might have been the world's most controversial rapper, but his songs were praised for their theatrical verve, dazzling rhyme schemes and visceral drama. He was interviewed admiringly by the novelist Zadie Smith, while the poet Seamus Heaney said: “He has created a sense of what is possible. He has sent a voltage around a generation. He has done this not just through his subversive attitude but also his verbal energy.”

Even his venture into film, the semi-autobiographical ‘8 Mile,’ confounded sceptics and won an Oscar for the song 'Lose Yourself.’ After its release in 2002, CNN compared him to James Dean, and The Washington Post declared: “He has the face of a bruised angel.”

His star began to wane with his last solo album, Encore, described as formulaic by critics. An alleged addiction to sleeping pills led to a spell in rehab. But it was the murder in Detroit of his sidekick, Proof, that stopped him in his tracks, as he recounts in an autobiography, ‘The Way I Am,’ to be published later this month. Andy Greene, assistant editor of Rolling Stone magazine, who has seen a preview copy, said: “He talks about Proof's death - it was just devastating. He says he took to his bed for a year and couldn't write and couldn't rhyme. He said he couldn't tour again without Proof.”

He reportedly spent four days in hospital last Christmas with pneumonia and heart problems, and also put on five stone. But recent public appearances suggest all that is behind him. Andy Greene added: “There was a lot of confusion because he was off the grid completely. But he's one of the last true superstars of the music industry. If, as is reported, Dr Dre is producing most of it [Relapse], it will be a very big deal.”

Along with Dr Dre, Eminem is reportedly working with fellow hip-hop star 50 Cent on the new album. He was recently quoted as saying: “For a while, I didn't want to go back to the studio. I went through some bad times but I'm coming out of those. It feels good... I'm writing and producing again, banging out tracks - and the music just gets better and better.”

It will have to be. Hip-hop has endured a decline in popularity since his self-imposed exile. The wider fall in CD sales, under pressure from the Internet, means it will be hard to measure Relapse against Eminem's previous albums.

Can he still sound remotely edgy, or will even his profanities now seem contrived and safe? Will it be worth the four-year wait? The music world holds its breath for the biggest comeback since the Spice Girls. It is safe to say the parallels end there.