Eminem, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre have reunited on an unearthed song called “Is This Love (’09),” from Slim Shady’s newly-released compilation album Curtain Call 2.
As the title suggests, the track was originally recorded in 2009 — the same year Eminem made his post-Encore comeback with Relapse — and finds the close-knit trio connecting for a playful song about romantic and sexual infatuation.
“Girl, I’m diggin’ your whole MO/Give me a go, you’re throwin’ innuendo/Keep sendin’ me smoke signals/Everything’s movin’, spinning in slow M-O-T-I-O-N,” Em raps over bouncy production from Dr. Dre, Mark Batson and Trevor Lawrence Jr.
50 Cent, meanwhile, channels his inner Slim Shady with a rapid-fire, acronym-riddled verse full of shock value. Judging by at least one lyric, 50 recorded his rhymes much later than ’09.
“I kill a bitch with a potato peeler for the skrilla/I’m finna skin a sinner, dick robbed like Bruce Jenner,” he spits, referencing Caitlyn Jenner’s 2015 gender transition.
“Is This Love (’09)” is one of three new songs on Curtain Call 2 alongside “From the D 2 the LBC” featuring Snoop Dogg and the CeeLo Green-assisted “The King and I,” which also appears on the Elvis soundtrack.
Curtain Call 2‘s primary purpose, though, is serving as a highlight reel of Eminem’s decorated catalog since the release of his first greatest hits album, Curtain Call: The Hits, in 2005.
Spanning studio albums, collaborative projects, movie soundtracks and guest appearances, the double-disc effort includes fan-favorites such as “Rap God,” “Not Afraid” and “The Monster.” Cameos from A-listers like Lil Wayne, Rihanna and Beyoncé are littered throughout.
If its predecessor is anything to go by, Curtain Call 2 is likely to make a big dent on the Billboard charts. Featuring early-career anthems like “My Name Is,” “Stan” and “Lose Yourself,” Curtain Call topped the Billboard 200 after selling 441,000 copies in just two days.
The album was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in March, signifying at least 10 million sales in the U.S. It’s Eminem’s third album to reach the milestone after 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP and 2002’s The Eminem Show.
50 Cent Looks Back On 2-Decade Friendship With Eminem
Accompanying the release of Curtain Call 2 is an arcade-themed merch bundle featuring T-shirts, CD box sets, cassette tapes and autographed orange vinyl. The collection is available on Eminem’s website.
A Curtain Call 2 podcast hosted by Em’s longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg, also debuted on his SiriusXM channel, Shade45, earlier this week. The seven-part series “gives a look inside the making of the albums from the last 15 years of Eminem’s career,” with appearances from the likes of Royce Da 5’9, Skylar Grey and the Detroit rap icon himself.
Disappointing. Beat sounds too simple and amateurish for a Dr. Dre production and vocals are a mismatch. Crack A Bottle was solid compared to this!
You trippin. Beat is fire.
Uh No. Not hearing any of that but I did notice that 50 Cent’s verse sounded like Em wrote it.
cant tell if this hook or crack a bottle’s is worse. dunno why em didnt have 50 do the hooks.
Thus being an unreleased. Like some of you don’t read before you comment.
a greatest hits collection from his decade and a half of mediocre albums lol.
MUSICALLY, THIS IS SUCH A THING OF THE PAST. STILL, THE COLLECTOR IN ME APPRECIATES THESE TYPE OF DROPS.
NICE TO KNOW, but why are you shouting like a moron? Can’t read text which isn’t BIG? Go get your eyes checked then.
GET OFF MY DIKK KAREN ASS NICCA
Em is too rappidy rap for his own good. His voice and bar antics are luke warm at best.
“Too rappidy rap”? As someone who has been a hip hop fan and been to real rap concerts since the Fresh Fests in the 80’s that has to be one of the most ignorant comments I’ve seen in a while. Em is a real rapper, lyricist and MC. The “rap” has left the dock on many of these newer artists who call themselves “rappers” and can’t put together cohesive bars and for some fans of these new artists.
In other words you don’t like his voice (which I can understand) and want your flows, cadence and originality dumbed down and sounding all the same for your listening comprehension…These days SMH
Nah, it doesn’t mean it’s dumbed down. You’d argue eminems first 2 albums are “dumbed down” music? Cmon man. It’s just personal tastes. “OH. You think eminem used to sound amazing and didn’t after 2004? You must have a low IQ and listen to future!”. Not preferring very fast rap doesn’t mean you are any less intelligent. That’s like saying anyone who listens to hiphop all together hates musical instruments because hiphop isn’t big with live musicians compared to other genres.
Em killed with the verbal gymnastics but I was surprised at how amped 50 was on this one. The beat felt like it belonged on the Chronic, Dre smashed it. Wasn’t so keen on the hook but this is a song that definitely shouldn’t have been left in the vault.
wooooooh Em is the GOAAAAAT
Jesus christ that was bad, almost worse than Crack a Bottle, no wonder that shit got left on the shelf for nearly 15 years
How he gonna put out Curtain Call 2 and not include Drop the World, Calm Down and Forever. Also, this greatest hits cover way too many years and releases. Should’ve been Relapse, Recovery, MMLP2 and Revival (4 albums like last time) plus guest verses, rare appearances, unreleased cuts (like the song he got with Pharaoe Monch), soundtracks and some better new songs etc
All those songs you mentioned he was a feature on