Since we're talking about Eminem here, what do you think of him?

[La_Serpiente]

I don't really subscribe to his school of thought, but I do read his lyrics from time to time. Many groups like GLAAD and NOW say that he is a mysoginist and homophobic. Others say he is not, he is just misunderstood.

If any of you saw 8 mile, he did get along with the gay guy in the movie. Is he misunderstood? or is he what some civil rights groups say, homophobic and a mysoginist?

[eileen_d]

1. I try to keep Eminem on "ignore"

I have enjoyed the beat to some of his songs, but I don't consider him a fount of talent. And his lyrics don't impress me to say the least.

[Closer]

2. Better

be careful. Seems any mention of "eminem" at DU gets your post locked :freak:

Beats the hell out of me, too. :shrug:

[Skip Intro]

3. No fan of em here - I can't stand him

If he and smirk both faded into oblivion tomorrow I'd be fine.

But if little smirk loses some votes because of this, I'm fine with that too.

I just refuse to honor some punk who "sings" about taking his small daughter to a pier so he can throw her murdered mom's body into the sea.



woah - M is W upsidedown...


whatever - F' m & w

[La_Serpiente]

4. I think there are some things where he is right

but a majority of his music I believe is unethical. It really didn't help his daughter.

[private_ryan]

33. the half a billion he'll have will definitely help her

:)

[madrchsod]

5. he sucks

[ClintonTyree]

6. A punk...................

that needs the crap knocked out of him. Violence is all he knows, or writes about anyway, especially to women. His "8 Mile" pesonna is much more exageration than truth.......all in all, just another "disenfranchised youth" that uses teen angst as a way to sell CD's thus becoming the very thing he rails against. JMO.

[Paul Hood]

7. He's a brilliant satirist

pointing up the foibles of the contemporary zeitgeist.

[Dookus]

8. I'm a 42 year old gay man....

who thinks Eminem is absolutely brilliant. One of the best talents working today. I'm serious.

His music is complex, multi-layered, self-effacing, self-referential - you can't just quote a lyric and say he's a misogynist or a homophobe. There's a lot of layers there.

[RandomKoolzip]

9. Not a musician.

He's a pure media creation, through and through, and holds no musical interest whatsoever. The corporate media want everyone to pay attention to him, quite obviously. SO why would anyone do it? I wish all these non-musicians would just get off the stage and let somebody with some gift for performing music expressively have a chance at stardom. I'm tired of hearing things like "oh, he's not a great musician, but he's a real smart businessman, " or "SHe's not the best singer, but she's an excellent media manipulator," and shit like that.

on edit: Lyricists are not the same thing as musicians. Right now we have a profusion of artists clogging the airwaves whose claim to fame is the writing of a clever rythmic hook, or the coining of a phrase. This is not the same thing as making music. Just because it comes in the form of recorded sound does not legitimize it.

And as for Eminem's persona, I say: Ohhh, look at the shocking man. Oh, I'm so shocked (yawn).

[Melodybe]

10. You obviously have never even tried to lisiten to his music.

Eminem is a genious, call him a rapper, a musician, what ever, but you obviously just don't get it. Either you love him or hate him, that is your call. But this is fucking HUGE NEWS. The media does nothing but suck up to Eminem, and to have him say this is like a sneaker in the face to CNN, VHI, MTV. HE IS ON OUR SIDE, quit trying to tear him down! Eminem has gained my respect over the last few years and he deserves it.

[RandomKoolzip]

12. Yes I have.

That's why I reached those conclusions. If he's on our side, great.

[Paul Hood]

14. Do you like any rap music?

[RandomKoolzip]

15. Boots Riley, El-P, Mr. Lif, RJD2, old Public Enemy, Vadim, Cannibal ox....

I like some underground hip hop. Mainstream hip hop is more like performance art than music.

[Paul Hood]

19. Of the ones you mentioned Public Enemy is the only one

I recognize. I love P.E. but you can't deny raps influence on music. Just listen to the beat.

[DrWeird]

11. One of today's greatest working artists.

The image is getting a bit old. He may end up being a one trick pony. But then again the best artists, and he's one of the best, usually are able to reinvent themselves.

The whole misogynist/homophobe thing is just a bunch of ignorant bullshit.

It's like saying Hendrix was a misogynist and a murderer because he shot his old lady for messing around with another man.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

13. em

Eminem represents a predominantly Conservative worldview: machismo, usage/threat of force when things don't go his way, females are inferior, rich beyond dreams though trying to maintain a working class profile. The fact that he doesn't like Bush doesn't make him progressive, it just means he's lashing out like an 8th grader against authority figures.

He still sounds good though.

[Melodybe]

16. Eminem is in NO way conservative!

So what, if he doesn't act morally appropriate all the time? Who the fuck does? He is just honest about it and that drives people up the roof. You are trying to label him, stop it! Yes, his rage can seem childish but it is always REAL. We live in a time when everything is a freaking product: our music, our news, our tv, our movies, our celebrities. The people like Eminem or Howard Dean who do somehow manage to remain rough around the edges remind us that we are all unique. They remind us that we are not cogs in a big machine. Eminem in his way is "raging against the dying of the light" and he deserves our respect and support for it.

[dolgoruky]

17. Grow Up!

Eminem is shite. I defy anyone to show me anything profound in his lyrics. The fact that he can talk fast and has a good memory clearly impresses some of the inadequates who sing his praises. He is symbolic of the utter bankruptcy of 99% of manufactured culture: lots of noise, lots of bright lights, but ultimately there is fuck all behind it. I suppose if you are a 12 year old from a strictly religious family and you want to piss them off, then maybe eminem seems dangerous. But show me the danger, cos I can't find an ounce of it in his lyrics or music.

Someone should tell him that he is no longer a teenager, he's an adult, and he should stop behaving like a 13 year old whose parents have just told him he can't have a new skateboard.

[private_ryan]

34. I can tell you

but it's a waste of time. You just don't like him.

[maggrwaggr]

18. he needs a good ass kicking

He's a punk and an asshole and seriously needs to get his fucking face beaten in.

Gee, that's all I can think of to say. I can't believe he hasn't had his ass kicked yet. Publicly. He deserves humiliation

[Melodybe]

20. As I said YOU DON"T GET IT!

Living a shitty life, especially one as shitty as his, damages you. His music is cathartic for him, OK. He is purging his demons, not for me, not to sell CDS, but because he has something that he feels VERY passionately about. How would you feel if your own mother told you she wished that you were dead? At his best friend's funeral his mother, said that she wished it were him. She told him that he was wasting his time and that he would amount to nothing! How would you feel if your wife gave you an STD that she got from someone else? His music is based on REAL pain and REAL anger. I'm sorry you don't get it, you are missing out. I have a feeling that their are not too many that could kick his ass, though. He is a tough guy. Living the way he has makes you that way. He will be a prophet in the new world order, maybe a bit more Malcolm X than MLK, but he will be remembered and god bless him.

Good night, its late,
Melodybe

[rjbcar27]

21. Used to hate him, now I think he's quite brilliant.

I used to have the visceral reaction to him like some on this thread but I was baked one night flicking through the satellite channels and happened across 'Cleaning out my Closet' and was just blown away. Ever since then I've been a fan.

They way he constructs his lyrics is awesome AFAIC.

[dolgoruky]

22. Show me...

Anyone who likes Eminem leads either a very sheltered life, is unable to face reality, or is 12 years old. What the fuck is dangerous or new about his music? Kindly show me a line of his music that has something to say about anything. He's about as radical as Kylie Minogue.

[Melodybe]

23. Damn it I need to get sleep, but you asked for it...

Eminem's lyrics to Cleaning out my Closet

Have you ever been hated or discriminated against? I have, I've been protested and demonstrated against. / Picket signs for my wicked rhymes. Look at the times. Sick is the mind of the motha fuckin' kid that's behind / all this commotion. Emotions run deep as ocean's explodin.' Tempers flaring from parents, just blow 'em off and keep goin.' / Not takin' nothin' from no one, give 'em hell long as I'm breathin.' Keep kickin' ass in the mornin,' an' takin' names in the evening. / Leavem with a taste as sour as vinegar in they mouth. See, they can trigger me but they never figure me out. / Look at me now, I bet ya probably sick of me now. Ain't you mama, I'ma make you look so ridiculous now.

Chorus 2X
I'm sorry, Mama. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry, but tonight I'm cleanin' out my closet.

Verse 2
I got some skeletons in my closet and I don't know if no one knows it. So before they thrown me inside my coffin and close it, / I'ma expose it. I'll take you back to 73 before I ever had a multi-platinum sellin' CD. / I was a baby, maybe I was just a couple of months. My faggot father must have had his panties up in a bunch, / cuz he split. I wonder if he even kissed me goodbye. No, I don't on second thought, I just fuckin' wished he would die. / I look at Hailie and I couldn't picture leavin' her side. Even if I hated Kim, I grit my teeth and I'd try / to make it work with her at least for Hailie's sake. I maybe made some mistakes but I'm only human. But I'm man enough to face them today. / What I did was stupid, no doubt it was dumb, but the smartest shit I did was take them bullets out of that gun. / Cuz id'a killed 'em, shit I would have shot Kim an' him both. It's my life, I'd like to welcome y'all to The Eminem Show.

Chorus 2X

Verse 3
Now I would never dis my own mama just to get recognition. Take a second to listen for you think this record is dissin,' / But put yourself in my position. Just try to envision witnessin' your Mama poppin' prescription pills in the kitchen, / bitchin' that someone's always goin' throuh her purse and shits missin.' Going through public housing systems, victim of Munchausen's syndrome. My whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn't 'til I grew up, now I blew up. It makes you sick to ya stomach, / doesn't it? Wasn't it the reason you made that CD for me, Ma? So you could try to justify the way you treated me, Ma? / But guess what, yer gettin' older now and it's cold when your lonely. An' Nathan's getting' up so quick, he's gonna know that your phoney. / And Hailie's getting' so big now, you should see her, she's beautiful. But you'll never see her, she won't even be at your funeral. / See what hurts me the most is you won't admit you was wrong. Bitch, do ya song. Keep tellin' yourself that you was a mom. / But how dare you try to take what you didn't help me to get. You selfish bitch, I hope you fuckin' burn in hell for this shit. / Remember when Ronnie died and you said you wished it was me? Well, guess what, I am dead. Dead to you as can be.

Chorus 4X

VS

I can't get you outta my head 200X

KM is such a stupid cunt, I can not believe you would compare her to Eminem. Eminem didn't fuck Dr. Dre to get his record made. Yuck!

Please, he may be vulgar but he IS saying something. Just the last few lines of the song are fucking COLD, and that is some tramatizing stuff to live through. You may not like what he has to say but really don't deny his voice. H has been dirt poor and he is seeing what * and co. are doing to this country, he is giving our anger a voice and I love him for it.

[dolgoruky]

26. Bollocks

Hmmm... It sounds more than a bit self indulgent to me. Can you tell me what's so brilliant about the line:

"You selfish bitch, I hope you fuckin' burn in hell for this shit."

This incoherent rant goes absolutely fuckin nowhere. It's not even a rant, it's a fuckin whine. They are not the words of someone who's trying to overcome a difficult upbringing (or lack of it) with dignity. They are the words of someone who's wallowing in self-pity. It sounds like the transcript of a conversation he's had with his therapist.

In short, it's a load of old bollocks.

[rjbcar27]

25. My, what a broad brush you have.

Because I like Eminem I'm either sheltered, unable to face reality or 12?

Well sorry to disappoint you, but I'm none of those things.

The fact that you don't like him is of no consequence to me.

[Loonman]

24. Well if GLAAD and NOW say it, it must be true

If you think MM is a mysogenist and homophobe, that's your opinion and you're probably right.

But becaue GLAAD and NOW say it doesn't necessarily make it true.

[private_ryan]

35. you must be a homophobe and a male chauvinist pig

we live by the NOW and GLAAD commandments.

[SideshowScott]

27. Since he dissed the Beastie Boys in 8 Mile, i pretty much hate him

Even though his songs can be quite good..I can take the Moby diss..But the Beastie Boys diss was the last straw..If it was not for the Beasties there would be no would be no Eminem. Im %100 sure of that..I really think hes too talented a rap artist to use put downs and the new thing that i dont agree with at all to sell albums..But now hes not on my radar anymore

[johnnie]

28. I didnt even know he was still around..

But reading the "lyrics" to the "Cleaning out my closet" thingy...just sounds like another Springer show to me. But hey..there is room around for all types of music. He doesn't bother me, just never saw him as any more than another money machine pop star.

[arwalden]

29. Plain or Peanut?

[CatWoman]

38. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Allen -- you rule!!!!

[commander bunnypants]

30. not much

eom

DDQM

[Mixxster]

31. Since we're talking about Eminem here, what do you think of him?

Big whiner.

[vi5]

32. I dont' hate him because of his lyrics....

I can separate art from reality and I like plenty of things that could be construed (accurately or inaccurately) as offensive or not politically correct.

That being said I don't get the hubub over his rapping or his talent. I just don't. I like rap and hip hop but I just think his lyrics and his rhymes are not as great as they are made out to be.

[Corgigal]

36. White America

for some reason, to this middle aged white mother , rings true to me. He's right on lots of issues in this song. I added a link if you want to judge for yourself.

http://www.guerrillanews.com/white_america/qt_hi.html

[grannylib]

37. I don't care for rap much at all, and I find him distasteful...I really

don't get off on anyone who thinks it's cool to be angry, pissed off, and thuglike...