I haven’t been a big fan of Eminem’s drops from the upcoming Revival. “Walk on Water” was weak, even with the Beyonce assist (in fact, Beyonce was pretty much the best part of the song). The track listing seems weak and on some Recovery shit in its pop-catering sensibilities. With that said, I thought that the “white guy/Black guy” perspective song “Untouchable” would be different. I mean, I wasn’t a huge fan of the structure of Em’s Trump freestyle–but it was okay in its message. However, “Untouchable” pretty much falls in the same category as that freestyle for me.

It feels like a more-aggressive version of Joyner Lucas’ “I’m Not Racist” in some ways–which is good and bad. I mean, I liked “I’m Not Racist” but thought that parts of it were unbearable to listen to (because, while the intent was commendable, the execution, when it was off, was way off the mark). Additionally, the entire production of the track feels dated. Now, the second part of the track is better than the “rap-rock,” Rick Rubin-esque intro. But the first part of the song was ear-gratingly off (for me, at least; if you liked it, that’s good for you).

All in all, the whole track left me with a big “meh” look on my face. I want mature Em, I do. Em’s pushing 50. There’re only so many “I wanna kill everyone and I hate my mom” bars I can stand at this point. But, I want mature Em to still be good Em–not Em that comes off a bit corny in his approach. The message is cool, and the bars are okay. The execution as a whole, though, is flawed as hell. Now will I still give Revival a listen when it drops? Hell, yeah. But, my expectations have been severely tempered by these releases thus far.