RAPPER EMINEM REPEALS

EMINEM drops surprise 11th album. ''Music to be Murdered By'' has a strong anti-gun violence theme.

Guess who's back?
Rapper Eminem surprised fans this weekend by dropping a new album featuring a strong anti-gun  violence theme but also stoking the kind of controversy that brought him fame.

On the album, one track called Darkness tells the story of a loner going on a shooting spree, while another song, Unaccommodating has triggered outcry and muddled veteran singer's call for gun control.

The song references the 2017 deadly bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, Britain, which left 22 people dead.

But I'm contemplating yelling ''bombs away'' on the game like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting,'' the 47-year old artist, born Marshall Mathers, raps on the track.

The lyric was met with scorn on  social media, with some users dubbling it ''disgusting'' and ''trash''.

The new album, called Music to be Murdered By, features appearances from the late rapper Juice ERLD, along with Q-Tip. Ed Sheeran, Anderson, Paak and regular collaborator singer Skylar Grey.

Dr. Dre is credited throughout as a producer. Eminem released his last album Kamikaze in 2018 in a similar sudden fashion. It included several attacks on President Trump.

The rapper also released a video for Darkness on Friday that featured audio and footage from the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, the deadliest US gun massacre carried about by an individual in modern history.

It ends, viewers to register to vote : ''Make your voice heard and help change gun laws in America,'' the closing text reads. [AFP]