The Bottom Line
Aside from the fact that "Shake That" is an offensive, throwaway single, it is even more frustrating that it comes in the wake of "When I'm Gone," one of Eminem's most powerful and poignant singles. Em and Nate Dogg do little more than revel in the use of women as sexual servants and wrap themselves in standard issue party music.
Listen to "Shake That."
Pros
- Catchy, infectious party beats
Cons
- Lazy, offensive lyrics
Description
- Straightforward rap/dance music
- Majority of vocals by Nate Dogg
- Sexually explicit lyrics veering into misogynistic territory
Guide Review - Eminem featuring Nate Dogg - Shake That (Aftermath)
Put Eminem's 2 most recent singles "Shake That" and "When I'm Gone" side by side and you have much of what makes Eminem such a maddening artist. He is fully capable of crafting clever, idiosyncratic, and brutally honest portraits of real life while frequently settling for lazy throwaway material that veers into misogyny, racism, homophobia or all three. "Shake That" is one of the latter.
Unfortunately, pop radio has embraced this latest single from Eminem and is propelling it toward the pop top 10. An edited version of the song is garnering the airplay, but the scrubbing does little to mask the depiction of women present solely to follow sexual orders given by their man. After hearing "Shake That," wash up and wait for the next artistic triumph by Eminem. It is highly predictable that there is both more moving artistry and more ridiculous and offensive boasting on the way.
