Shady Records’ new album “SHADY XV” was recently released. The album features the label’s greatest hits along with new material. This double disc album was released in honor of the label’s 15th anniversary and also being its 15th project.

The compilation features two discs, the first disc features new material from Shady Records artists such as Bad Meets Evil ,Yelawolf, D12 ,Slaughterhouse as well as the founder of Shady Records, Eminem. The second disc includes the label’s greatest hits including current and former Shady Records members.

The first disc sheds light on the up and coming artists for Shady Records. One can see the growth of many of the newer rappers and Shady Records in general. The second disc brings back all of the good times. It is basically celebrating the past 15 years, but also transitioning into a new chapter for Shady Records.

Eminem fans can not help, but notice the change that Eminem is going through. After choosing to live a sober life, his style has changed drastically. He seems to rap in a constant shout and to me it seems almost forced. His flow seems off and is trying to be his old self, but he almost has no emotion to pull from, which he confesses in his song “Guts Over Fear,”

“There’s no more emotion for me to pull from/ Just a bunch of playful songs that I made for fun/ So, to the break of dawn, here I go, recycling the same old song.”

For the most part this is what we are getting from Eminem: just a bunch of playful songs that really do not have as much emotional meaning or drive as his older music. In many cases these “playful songs” are not so playful. Eminem stirred up a lot of controversy in his song “Vegas,” in which he made many derogatory remarks towards many individuals.

This album received heavy criticism from former rappers and reviews. I find myself on their side. This album may have shed some light on the future for Shady Records, but not for Shady himself. Shady Records as a label is doing sub-par, but Eminem’s rapping career seems to be a fading image.