Eminem is always at his best when pushing rap's boundaries. It's difficult to imagine that anyone can forget Stan, for example, and although Mockingbird doesn't touch those heights, it's still head and shoulders above Mr Mathers' contemporaries.
Accompanied by a piano and a subtle backbeat, here Eminem addresses his rap to both his daughter Hailie and his niece Laney. There's a soft lullaby of a chorus and intelligent, poignant lyrics describing Eminem's issues as a father. He can't resist slipping into his Slim Shady persona at the end though: "If that mockingbird don't sing and that ring don't shine / I'm a break that birdies neck."
He gets a lot of stick, sometimes with good reason, but give me this over the macho posturing of 50 Cent and the like any day.
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