Eminem: Sensitive Cross-Over

[monk222]

~
"Mathers is the most prominent of the handful of white hip-hop artists who have been artistically or commercially successful," Judge Lynch wrote. "Like other white musicians who have been successful in musical genres or forms pioneered by Africans or African-Americans, from Benny Goodman to Elvis Presley to Paul Simon, Mathers has been accused of exploiting black culture; he in turn has asserted his respect for his black role models and peers, and has maintained that he comes by his hip-hop success honestly, as a young man from a poor urban background who has long been associated with African-American friends, neighbors and mentors."

-- Michael Brick for The NY Times

Unsurprisingly, Monk isn't into rap music. After Elvis, there is really only the void! However, a blogging friend got Monk to give Eminem a try, and he enjoyed it more than he expected. Monk hasn't become a collector of his music or anything, but he did enjoy the movie 8 Mile. Though, since this movie, Monk hasn't heard anything about him, except for this news item.

Before Eminem hit it big, he wrote songs that had a harder racial cast, and the song in question disparaged black women in particular. A magazine has published those lyrics in what it calls an expose of the artist. It seems that Eminem has won the legal battle to keep those lyrics out of the main media. Somewhat interesting...

Comments

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

A bit of backnote on the supposed "racist" element of Eminem's lyrics (which is doubly ridiculous when you consider that Dr. Dre would hardly take a racist dude as a protege, and that D12 would never form a band with a racist, and that virtually Eminem's ENTIRE CREW of producers, collaborators, etc. is black)... he wrote the lyrics after being dumped by a black ex-girlfriend when he was a young teen, and given his penchant for shit-disturbing, I'm not surprised that he didn't hide them away.

The whole thing is ridiculous... it's further ridiculous to anyone like myself, who actually follows Eminem's music and really spends more time than is likely necessary dissecting the meaning of it all. The "racially disparaging" lyrics are really not significantly MORE offensive than any of the other shit he comes up with (just take a spin through the Marshall Mathers LP to get an idea).

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

When it comes to pop culture, there is often a disturbing element involved - playing with mass hysteria and all the little prejudices that lurk in so many hearts. In America, whenever race is involved in any way, this is only wilder.

As for the sex and everything else, I call it freedom, and trust that things will sort themselves out when it is important. Meanwhile, everyone is just raving and making some noise - and maybe trying to have some fun.

Hopefully, we can be serious when we have to be - as this judge was.

Good to see you so passionate! Feeling up, huh...

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Eminem is a master of playing the mass hysteria: he even pokes fun of it himself, almost all the time. The whole MM LP is full of him rapping some almost horrifyingly violent and distressing rhymes (he tortures and kills his wife while his daughter is watching, etc), and then switching to the voice of the press and the conservative public.

A few of my favorites:

Kill You

They said I can't rap about bein broke no more
They ain't say I can't rap about coke no more
Slut, you think I won't choke no whore
'til the vocal cords don't work in her throat no more?!
These motherfuckers are thinkin I'm playin
Thinkin I'm sayin the shit cause I'm thinkin it just to be sayin it
Put your hands down bitch, I ain't gon' shoot you
I'ma pull YOU to this bullet, and put it through you
Shut up slut, you're causin too much chaos
Just bend over and take it like a slut, okay Ma?
"Oh, now he's raping his own mother, abusing a whore,
snorting coke, and we gave him the Rolling Stone cover?"

--and possibly one of my favorite rhymes of his, from Who Knew (http://www.eminem-planet.com/lyrics/mmlp/05.html):

"I'm sorry, there must be a mix-up
You want me to fix up lyrics while the President gets his dick sucked?
Fuck that, take drugs, rape sluts
Make fun of gay clubs, men who wear make-up
Get aware, wake up, get a sense of humor
Quit tryin to censor music, this is for your kid's amusement
But don't blame me when lil' Eric jumps off of the terrace
You shoulda been watchin him - apparently you ain't parents."

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Wow, that actually sounds like my taste! Social message at the end or not (understanding the nature of fantasy, even dark fantasy), though the social message is good - anything to strike at the hypocricy of the Right and the Family Values crowd.

And, again, you make me think that maybe I should collect his music...

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

Only if it appeals to you... personally, I find him to be a complete and utter genius. Both in his calculated moves and his passionate, uncalculated ones.

Perhaps, in some way, unbridled creativity is always disturbing. Perhaps it's always a violent process. He just translates that violence into a most visceral and easily understood fashion. As Eminem says himself in that one song... "Damn, how much damage can you do with a pen?"