eminem

eminem may be a jerk.  take, for instance, the matter with moby.  moby had spoken out against eminem's music and eminem's misogynistic lyrics (the end result, of course, is that moby was practically asking people not to buy eminem's albums).  eminem, a product of the mc battles, a man who fought (in every sense of the word) to get to where he is at, would obviously not take such a challenge lying down.  so eminem took it as an act of war.  perhaps this was over-reacting a little bit, or perhaps moby should have thought about it a little bit more before taking eminem on.

eminem's style, his rhymes, half-rhymes, and rhythms have earned props from missy elliott and from busta rhymes.  e! news live and entertainment tonight, as well as a whole slew of talk show, late night show, and music review show anchors have sung his praises, as have fans from all over the world.  many non-westerners are attracted to his lyrics, understanding his message as a commentary on america, injustice, hypocrisy, censorship, family, and on other issues.  eminem is not stupid, and for many, he is a poetic and literary genius.  dr. dre in an interview for 8 mile spoke about how eminem would agonize over words whenever he sat down to compose a song.

but does he deserve such praises?

well, he has survived quiet a childhood.  he used to be a quiet and confused kid, and the white kids would pick on him for dressing black or wanting to be black, but the black kids were just as mean to him, too.  since they were poor and moved around a lot, eminem was often teased by his classmates for his clothes.  when he finally got comfortable in a school, he would open up and become a class clown, but just when he was starting to win over some friends, his family would move and he'd be plopped down in another school.  it wasn't until his uncle ronnie introduced him to hip-hop and breakdancing that eminem found a way out.  being the white guy from the low-income housing apartments, he felt that he had something to prove, and pushed himself to go that extra mile.  he went all the way to the 1997 rap olympics and took second place.  he gave a tape to interscope, and interscope founder jimmy iovine brought it to dr. dre's attention.  dr. dre liked it, and the rest is history.

seeing the example for vanilla ice, he decided to do the exact opposite.  hence, he decided to tell his life story.  nobody had to go digging for dirt to destroy or discredit him, since he had beaten them to the punch and made it public knowledge through interview and song, even taking mtv to his old neighborhood -- masterful uses of imagery and of the english language to gain understanding, empathy, and sympathy from his growing legions of fans.  and now, even after his oscar, he still goes out on stage in jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt.  one cannot help but compare him to other rappers; eminem does not turn rap into a fashion show of gold and diamonds.

as for his misogynistic lyrics, he explains that it's just the mood of his writing, considering the relationships he has been getting into, especially since in his line of work he gets hit on by a lot of freaky women who are willing to do *anything.*  he has adamantly emphasized in several interviews that he is not generalizing that all women are "bitches and hos."

eminem is not the first white guy to get into the rap scene (remember the beastie boys).  he is, however, arguably one of the best, if not the best, and those who disagree with this find themselves increasingly discredited by his achievements.  he has earned the respect of most of the music industry, picking up a few grammy awards along the way.  and while many a high-caliber celebrity has yet to win one, eminem's got an oscar. 

his bigger goals are a bit more difficult to achieve.  having experienced racism from both whites and blacks in schools, now he faces the prejudices of both white america and the black hip-hop scene.  xxl magazine, for example, has accused him of being the "larry bird of hip-hop," a culture stealer.  for eminem, such a belief in racial segregation of hip-hop, trying to keep it black, amounts to the same kind of "bullshit" that he has been fighting against.  as for respect from the greater hip-hop community, he's also been fighting for that most of his life, and now he finally has it.

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