A few weeks back, we reported that a snippet of a brand new Eminem song had been heard on the trailer for upcoming film Southpaw. The story goes, Em was actually supposed to star in the boxing film, but for one reason or another pulled out, later being replaced by Jake Gyllenhaal. The brief clip we heard of the new track indicated he was still a part of the film, although nobody was sure of the exact role.
Anyway, Eminem took to social media yesterday to announce that the new track would be available soon. True to his word, Phenomenal is now available. Listen here:
When we first heard a couple moments of this track in the film trailer, I wrote that it sounded big and aggressive. Now that we’ve heard the full version, I’m definitely echoing those sentiments. Employing melodic vocal loops akin to Eminem Show-era stuff, the verses are sharp and snappy, with typically brilliant rhymes about never giving up – and always believing in yourself. You’re phenomenal (-enomenal-enomenal-enomenallllll…)
No, it’s not Eminem’s best track, but the hook is catchy as fuck, it’s got a solid beat, and you can literally hear him spitting out the verses. If I’m being honest, I’ve been heavily revisiting his first couple albums of late – largely thanks to our 15-year-anniversary celebration of the Marshall Mathers LP- and nothing compares to that, so Phenomenal didn’t stand a chance.
It’s a feel-good track that’ll undoubtedly suit the upcoming film perfectly. It’s definitely not better than the Oscar winning-Lose Yourself, although admittedly the film sounds like it follows a pretty similar plot (except it’s about a boxer instead of a rapper, obviously,) but it’s catchy, and at least there’s no awful Rihanna chorus to ruin it. (I like Rihanna a lot, but every time she and Eminem collab, it ends in disaster IMO.)
Watch the full movie trailer here: