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Eminem returned on Tuesday with his second single from The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâs), “Tobey.” This song features one big-name artist Marshall has worked with frequently and an upcoming artist from Detroit, but we'll get to that shortly.
Did this song live up to expectations, or did it let down some of the hype that had been building after the release of “Houdini,” the album's lead single that called back to classics such as “Without Me” and the nostalgia of the Slim Shady era? Let's find out.
Excellent wordplay throughout
This song has incredible wordplay from beginning to end. All three artists do their thing, but Eminem leads the pack with his flashy rhyme schemes and creative bars. BabyTron demonstrated quality lyricism, but the young rapper needs to work on sticking to one topic for more than a few lines at a time.
Big Sean's wordplay is above average, and it sounds like he is trying harder than he does on his own songs. That being said, the best thing that Sean brings to this track is energy. He starts out his flow verse mirroring Tron’s flow, but quickly kicks it up into high gear about halfway through and delivers the second half of his verse with the type of energy you want when listening to a pregame or workout song.
The Star Wars wordplay is a throwback, and the theme is revisited throughout the song (“My city Leia and I'm Obi-Wan, got a mission to pass, I just might be the hope” in the chorus and “If he Obi-Wan, then I gotta be Yoda,” in Big Sean’s verse).
Sounds like an Eminem feature rather than his song
One of my complaints about this song is that it doesn't genuinely feel like an Eminem song. Rather, Marshall feels like a featured artist on his own song. Maybe it's because he only has one verse, maybe it's because another artist is doing the chorus or maybe it's because Eminem's verse doesn't come until the very end of the song. Perhaps it's a combination of all three of those things.
For whatever reason, though, Eminem just doesn't feel like the center of attention in this song.
Now, if this were a deeper album cut, it might not be as big of a deal. That being said, though, “Tobey” is the second single released from Eminem's first album in 4 years, which just makes the stakes feel a little bit higher.
Maybe that's not quite fair, to judge a song harsher and hold it to a different standard because it's a single rather than just another song on the album.
Regardless, though, “Tobey” was meant to help drum up additional excitement leading up to the album's release date. This timing makes the stakes even higher.
When “Houdini” was released, fans didn't have much information about the album itself. “Tobey” was announced around the same time as the album's release date, which made the album more real for fans.
Maybe that's the real problem: “Tobey” came at a time when fans were expecting Marshall to increase the intensity and give listeners a sneak peek at what they could expect from the upcoming project.
Babytron can distinguish his voice better
Let me preface this by saying that BabyTron is an incredibly talented young artist, and it's exciting to see him with a spot on what will likely be the biggest and most commercially successful rap album of the year. The young Detroit rhymer deserves this moment, which could introduce him to massive new audiences and turbocharged his career.
Tron delivered a quality chorus along with an equally strong verse. The only issue is that the chorus and verse are both very similar to each other. If he only had one part in the song and delivered a verse or a chorus, his performance would be much more memorable. The best thing he could have done would have been to do a better job of differentiating his chorus from his verse. Right now, it just feels like one really long verse with nothing to differentiate it from the chorus.
Excellent energy from Big Sean
Big Sean seems to have developed a track record of stepping up to the plate in delivering his best performances when he jumps on tracks with Em. Maybe it's his competitiveness, or he just understands that he has an opportunity to reach a larger audience. Maybe it's how his flow and lyrics match perfectly with Marshalls.
Regardless of the reasoning, it's always a treat to hear Sean Don and the Fire Marshall on a beat together. Let's hope the duo links up again on Sean's next album.
Should you listen to “Tobey”?
It seems clear that Eminem had bigger goals in mind than Breaking streaming records with this song. he didn't care about the biggest features, but what he wanted to do more than anything was put his city on the map and Shine the spotlight on some of the current and upcoming stars of the Detroit rap scene.
This is a decent offering from the three Detroit artists, but it doesn’t have the same replay value as Houdini, and it sounds too much like a song featuring Eminem rather than an Eminem song to serve as a single.
Grade: B+
