''The Villain'' is the second solo studio album by American rapper

Trick Trick Christian Anthony Mathis (born June 28, 1973), better known by his stage name Trick Trick, is an American rapper and record producer from Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the large ...

. The record features guest appearances by the likes of Big Sweetz, C.A.C,

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

Esham Esham is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Esham released his debut studio album, '' Boomin' Words from Hell'', in 1989. Since then, he has gone on to release 15 studio albums in total and is best known as a representative of the hip ...

Fatt Father Shabazz Ford (born February 17, 1980), known by his stage name Fatt Father, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. He is a one fourth part of the Fat Killahz (with Marv Won, Bang Belushi and King Gordy) and one half of Twin Towers (with Mar ...

, Goon Sqwad,

Guilty Simpson Byron Dwayne “Guilty” Simpson is an American rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan whose recording career spans more than 20 years. He is signed to Stones Throw Records, and is known for being one of the late producer J Dilla’s favo ...

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

Marv Won Marvin O'Neal, professionally known by his stage name Marv Won, is an American rapper and record producer from east side Detroit, Michigan. He is a member of underground hip hop group the Fat Killahz (with Fatt Father, Bang Belushi and King Go ...

Paradime Freddie Beauregard (born November 9, 1974), professionally known by his stage name Paradime, is an American rapper and producer from Detroit, Michigan. He is a Northwood University and Detroit Catholic Central alumni. Career His first appeara ...

Royce Da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Montgomery is currently one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, and ...

, Throatslash, and his Mathis Family Choir group.

Production and promotion

The eighteen track LP was released on November 11, 2008 under the record labels of WonderBoy Entertainment, Time Entertainment LLC and

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

. Audio

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

on the album was handled by

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

Lil' Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cru ...

, and Trick Trick himself. Working on ''The Villain'', Trick Trick also worked with

on his self-titled debut solo album via Time Ent. During 2008, Fatts released two mixtapes '' You Are The Father!'' and ''Christmas With Fatt Father'' promoting both projects. The first single off the album was "Let It Fly" featured vocals from

, with audio production being handled by

Controversy

Within days of release, controversy surrounded this album, revolving especially around anti-homosexual subject matter. AllHipHop.com article published on November 11, 2008 pointed out some of the objectionable lyrics on the album, such as "...He's a fucking

faggot Faggot, faggots, or faggoting may refer to: Arts and crafts * Faggoting (metalworking), forge welding a bundle of bars of iron and steel * Faggoting (knitting), variation of lace knitting in which every stitch is a yarn over or a decrease * F ...

so I'm lettin' off my AK/Bust 'em in his forehead/He ain't worth lettin' live/A man and man shouldn’t raise another man's kids!" In discussing the album,

remarks that "Homosexuals are probably not going to like this album. But it's okay, I don't want their faggot money any goddamn way. It's just that every time that you turn on the TV, that sissy shit is on, and they act like it's fucking okay...and I address that issue. I address it hard as hell". In response to this attack on the gay community,

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

posted an article on November 13 where various gay and lesbian hip-hop musicians responded in a variety of different ways.

Track listing

Personnel

*Aaron Julson – bass *

Andre Young Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and w ...

– producer * Byron Simpson – rap vocals * Chris Mathis – executive producer, mixing, producer, rap vocals *

DeShaun Holton DeShaun Dupree Holton (October 2, 1973 – April 11, 2006), known professionally as Proof, was an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. During his career, he was a member of the groups 5 Elementz, Funky Cowboys, Promatic, Goon Sqwad, and D12. ...

– rap vocals * Esham Smith – rap vocals * Fred Beauregard – rap vocals *

Jeff Bass Jeffrey Bass ( ; born May 16, 1961) is an American music producer from Detroit, Michigan, best known as one half of the Bass Brothers and for his work with Eminem. Career At age 16, Bass, along with 4 of his childhood friends formed Detroit-b ...

– bass * Jonathan Smith – producer, back vocals *Kameel Mathis – rap vocals *

Marshall Mathers Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing Hip hop music, hip hop in Middle America (United Sta ...

– producer, rap vocals * Marvin O'Neil – rap vocals * O'Shea Jackson – rap vocals * Robert Ritchie – rap vocals * Ryan Montgomery – rap vocals *

Shabazz Ford Shabazz Ford (born February 17, 1980), known by his stage name Fatt Father, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. He is a one fourth part of the Fat Killahz (with Marv Won, Bang Belushi and King Gordy) and one half of Twin Towers (with M ...

– rap vocals *T-Money Green – bass

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villain, The 2008 albums E1 Music albums Trick-Trick albums Albums produced by Eminem Albums produced by Dr. Dre Albums produced by Lil Jon 21st-century controversies LGBT-related controversies in music Obscenity controversies in music Gangsta rap albums by American artists