Eminem threw rap fans a curveball in 2017 when he connected with English singer Ed Sheeran for a collaborative track called “River” from his ninth studio album, Revival. While the two names appeared mismatched on paper, the song was more of a pop-leaning throwback to Eminem’s “Recovery” days, when he regularly collaborated with stars like Rihanna and Haley Williams. Now, it appears that the two artists have returned to the well for “Remember The Name,” this time drawing inspiration from the tradition of rap posse cuts with 50 Cent to recount the three artists’ respective rags-to-riches stories on Sheeran’s new EP, Collaborations No. 6.
Unlike on “River,” where Sheeran stuck to performing the song’s lilting hook, on “Remember The Name,” he dusts off his rap book to deliver some pathos-fueled bars about sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll. While he also sings the hook here, there’s a clear hip-hop bent to the delivery, as well as a distinctively Eminem-inspired flavor to the beat. Em does his usual thing here, stitching together intricate rhyme schemes to showcase both his undiminished skill with the pen and his undimmed disdain for skinny jeans, which have been a thing for like a decade and aren’t even really a preferred feature of the rappers he hates, but I guess anything under size 38 JNCOs will never be baggy enough for the 46-year-old.
50 Cent brings in the last verse with a singsong flow that finds him reeling off the designer clothes that define ostentatious luxury, bragging about his legendary status in the rap game. All in all, it’s kind of an odd patchwork of styles and concepts but that’s probably to be expected when such disparate-sounding artists collaborate. In the spirit of the EP’s overall concept, it’s kind of cool, but don’t be surprised if this one comes and goes about as quickly as Ed and Em’s last joint effort.
Collaborations No. 6 is out now via Asylum Records. Get it here.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. .
