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I came upon a doctor who appeared in quite poor health.
I said "There is nothing I can do for you you can't do for yourself."
He said "Oh yes you can. Just hold my hand. I think that would help."
So I sat with him a while and then I asked him how he felt.

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Bliss, I tells ya! I hadn't heard any Bright Eyes until I spent my recent 12-week stint in Hell (well, Newcastle hospital, potato potato), and my if those very lines didn't make me all warm and fuzzy inside, fill my mind's eye with all the vibrant colours of the rainbow. There I was, barely able to move a muscle, and along came Bright Eyes to move my very soul. Come on, Marquis, hold my hands and sit a while! Don't you think that that might help?

But I know, you're an indie-kid hatin', anti-populist, record store snob kinda guy, all about the hating and the labelling and the hipping and the hopping until you make all but the most "enlightened" of your clientele cry into their would-be purchases. I get it. It's kewl.

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Then, of course, there's your implications that Reasonable Doubt is a lesser album than the glossed-up Blueprint, that Kanye's lyrics are "intelligent," and that Encore is anything more than a re-hash of old ideas.

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(a) Could be that I don't have a problem with "glossy" (not that I have a problem with Reasonable Doubt either, could be my favourite rap album of '96!),

(b)

I say fuck the police, thats how I treat em
We buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom
We'll buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need em
Things we buy to cover up what's inside
Cause they make us hate ourself and love they wealth
That's why shortys hollering "where the ballas' at?"
Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack
And a white man get paid off of all of that
But I ain't even gon act holier than thou
Cause fuck it, I went to Jacob with 25 thou
Before I had a house and I'd do it again
Cause I wanna be on 106 and Park pushing a Benz
I wanna act ballerific like it's all terrific
I got a couple past due bills, I won't get specific
I got a problem with spending before I get it
We all self conscious I'm just the first to admit it

I mean, c'mon!

(c) I think Encore is a tighter and more eclectic album than either The Slim Shady LP or The Eminem Show. For the sake of argument I'll accept your assessment that it breaks no new ground per se, but I maintain that Eminem is one of the more essential rap acts out there and that Encore is one of his more essential albums. I'm sure you disagree on both counts.

I could be a genius if I just put my mind to it.