“Always down for the catchweight like Pacquiao…”
If you’re an emcee on a major label, there’s a 99.9% chance you will be including at least one synth-heavy ballad on your album. Despite that sound probably making your ears bleed at this point, it’s a proven money-maker that will be standard procedure for the time being. Most artists we grudgingly understand doing it since they don’t have the power to completely dictate the direction of their work. That’s not the case with Enimem, which makes it all the more head-scratching that he and Royce da 5’9 would take this route on their Bruno Mars-assisted single “Lighters.”
Bruno Mars does what’s expected on a track like this; Eminem tries to “upgrade” the beat with the power of his flow. However, nothing to overcome the woeful genericness of the beat. If you enjoyed most of the production on Recovery, your tolerance for this sound may be a lot higher. This is new territory for Royce. Nonetheless, he shows his emcee chops and sounds natural along with adding engaging personal content. Most memorable is his hope to become successful enough to allow his father, who is ailed by a bad back, the ability to retire.
For longtime fans, this is the last way you’d expect a Bad Meets Evil project to sound. Hopefully, this will be just a one-shot deal for the radio and not be an indicator we have another Lasers type album on deck.
EMINEM & ROYCE DA 5’9 FT. BRUNO MARS “LIGHTERS”
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 