Grex Music3 Conference

Item 115: The EMINEM item

Entered by buddy on Wed Aug 7 00:17:02 2002:

The EMINEM item

Okay i thought that since their is such a big controversy behind EMINEM, that
their should be an item about him. I myself, at first was not a very big
EMINEM fan, but within the last year i have grown very close to his music.
I think that his latest cd is his best work yet. I'm sure that everyone out
there probably has an opinion about EMINEM, and i am interested in knowing
what that opinion is. Enter whatever your feelings may be on this subject here
whether they are good or bad.
51 responses total.

#1 of 51 by jaklumen on Wed Aug 7 10:47:39 2002:

I'm not going to begrudge his talent at all-- I've found his rhymes to 
be quite catchy.  But he is quite the cynical and angry young man, 
which, well, is nothing new in the biz.

Much to his chargrin, too, he is successfully marketed to white middle 
to lower middle class males, some looking for an excuse to rebel, and a 
few young women who think he's such a cute bad boy.  I'm sure he's 
looking for strong approval from hip-hop's core fan base, which was 
originally black and ghetto.  Maybe that's why Dr. Dre hasn't left him 
just yet.


#2 of 51 by buddy on Wed Aug 7 20:20:46 2002:

Well jack i'm happy that you don't find his music repulsive.And thanks for
responding to this item.


#3 of 51 by cyklone on Thu Aug 8 00:53:52 2002:

Re #1: If you delved into his history, I think you'd know that he has already
earned respect from the "original" black hip hop fan base. As Charles Barkley
once said "Who ever thought the best golfer would be black and the best rapper
white?"


#4 of 51 by buddy on Thu Aug 8 01:13:47 2002:

I salute you cyklone! and thanks for responding to this item.


#5 of 51 by jaklumen on Thu Aug 8 09:04:56 2002:

Charles Barkley?  Hmm, I guess I wasn't thinking of him as a 
representative..

to be honest, I don't doubt he had a strong black fan base to start, 
but I guess I'm focusing more on "does his current fame really reflect 
that-- a continuing support and respect?"  Whenever I hear Eminem on 
the street, it's not from some black ghetto dude's ride-- it's some 
white boy's car.

I might be misevaluating this, but it's a pattern.  The same thing 
happened to Vanilla Ice when he hit stardom-- the strong black fan base 
dwindled, and he went into the white middle class mainstream.  Marshall 
Mathers is actively fighting this, but the fact he talks about it seems 
to indicate it's still there.

btw, Mary, thanks for entering a contemporary item.. I don't have much 
to add on British Isle folk music elsewhere in the cf ;)


#6 of 51 by cyklone on Thu Aug 8 12:49:48 2002:

Did Vanilla Ice ever align himself with a group like D12? Eminem raps about
his role as a white boy because it's part of the reality of his music world.
He can't do anything about it. But my impression is that he has not lost any
credibility with non-whites simply because white kids like him too. I know
people associated with D12, which is, in part, how I formed that impression.
I would be careful about attempting to draw meaningful conclusions from your
observations of what you are hearing on the street. How much time do you spend
driving around in predominantly black neighborhoods?


#7 of 51 by scott on Thu Aug 8 18:25:24 2002:

The difference between Eminem and Vanilla Ice is that VI never really had any
support from or understanding of the black rap culture.  


#8 of 51 by buddy on Thu Aug 8 22:17:24 2002:

Re #5 it was no problem at all. I was happy to enter this item.


#9 of 51 by jaklumen on Fri Aug 9 06:23:53 2002:

Boy, my foot is tasting good.


#10 of 51 by buddy on Fri Aug 9 13:12:39 2002:

Well i had a good experience last night. I had my mom listen to "Hailie's
Song" on THE EMINEM SHOW hoping that it might change her opinion of EMINEM
even just a little bit. After she listened to the song, she thought he was
a good guy as a father anyways.When she heard how passionate/sensitive he was
when it came to his daughter i think it changed her mind about him a little
bit. I was really happy for that.She's still not that fond of him, except when
it comes to being a father because he seems to be really good to his daughter
because he helps her in any way that he can and would do anything for her.


#11 of 51 by grangerz on Tue Aug 13 00:08:19 2002:

i like eminem
i relate to eminem
if you dont like eminem then dont listen to him
theres always contreversy because people like to control other people


#12 of 51 by buddy on Tue Aug 13 00:24:00 2002:

I totally agree with sean. Thanks for responding to the item sean!


#13 of 51 by happyboy on Tue Aug 13 19:40:38 2002:

re11: hey, no way would i want to interfere with your identifying
      with M&M.  if you want to identify with a cracker-ass-nugget
      GO FOR IT!


#14 of 51 by buddy on Wed Aug 14 16:27:58 2002:

Well yesterday EMINEM'S "Cleaning out my closet" was at #1 on TRL. Hopefully
it will be again today.


#15 of 51 by buddy on Wed Aug 14 18:14:22 2002:

Yes! EMINEM's "Cleaning out my closet" was at #1 today on TRL. Way to go
EMINEM!


#16 of 51 by orinoco on Thu Aug 15 01:34:22 2002:

Liking Eminem is a bit like believing in UFO's, I think.  Everyone's got
their own opinion, and nobody's budging.  Most people who don't like him
have concrete reasons for it: he's a borderline-psychotic misogynistic
self-worshipping wanker.  (And don't try to argue with that.  In their
heart of hearts even the most avid Eminem fans, the ones who claim he's a
brilliant artist giving a voice to alienated white America, think he's a
borderline-psychotic misogynistic self-worshipping wanker.)  Most people
who do like him also have concrete reasons for it: he's a clever lyricist,
his rhythm's as good as anyone else out there, and he's a real genius at
playing around with his fame and reputation. 

And what I've found is, there's no arguing with the other side.  His
detractors are sure that hateful lyrics are the root of all evil, and his
fans are convinced that bland, sappy music is the root of all evil.
There's not much you can do about that sort of disagreement.


#17 of 51 by tpryan on Fri Aug 16 21:27:43 2002:

        But if EminEm was not there, then no one would be able to
parody EminEm.


#18 of 51 by happyboy on Sat Aug 17 20:18:04 2002:

"alienated white america"

i may cry now.  *sniffle*


#19 of 51 by jaklumen on Mon Aug 19 05:36:58 2002:

pluck that mournful tune on that banjo, man.


#20 of 51 by happyboy on Wed Aug 21 18:12:53 2002:

/pluch an alienated sounding appalachian riff


#21 of 51 by buddy on Tue Aug 27 20:11:49 2002:

Well for those who are interested, Eminem is going to be performing at the
MTV Video Music Awards on 8/29.


#22 of 51 by happyboy on Wed Aug 28 21:18:17 2002:

whoopy crap.


#23 of 51 by z0mb13 on Thu Oct 17 22:42:33 2002:

couple quick comments - 

here in the baltimore/dc area we have a number of "black" radio stations for
lack of a better word.  two of which are pretty "bad", in other words
regularly espouse reverse prejudiced comments, not that i'm saying that's a
bad thing.  it was to my utter surprise that they, along with the two other
urban stations, played ALL of eminem's songs off the last album and off the
current one, and not just the latest mtv hit but some of the lesser known
songs as well.  NOT only that but he's number one of those call in shows as
well, and i know that 90-95% of the people voting for music on those shows
are black.  so he's just as popular with the black people as with the white
ones, and rightly so since his rhyming is some of the tightest i've ever heard
white or black..

also if you get the "slim shady show" dvd, the one with the (i think it's
hilarious) cartoon show from the internet collected, one of the bonus features
is eminem at a presumably local black club freestyling for an entirely black
audience, and they are LOVING it.  i really didn't know he was that
lvoed/accepted by the black community until i saw that, it's a great thing
IMO...  (sorrry loved not lvoed)

vanilla ice lost his user/fan base simply because he really didn't have the
skills enough to keep it, i really don't hink that eminem has that problem
and of course the future will tell, but if he manages not to piss off someone
to the point he gets shot, i think he'll be around for a long time to come!
just my two cents :)


#24 of 51 by buddy on Fri Oct 18 16:42:05 2002:

Well thanks alot for responding to this item z0mb13. 


#25 of 51 by albaugh on Mon Oct 21 17:05:57 2002:

So are you going to see the new movie?


#26 of 51 by z0mb13 on Mon Oct 21 17:21:15 2002:

yeah actually, the new movie looks pretty interesting, and i'm pretty sure
 eminem will have a big future in acting (if he wants to pursue it).  however
i won't pay 8 bucks to see it, i can wait to video.  i'll sve my 8 bucks for..
JACKASS!  hahahaha


#27 of 51 by buddy on Mon Oct 21 17:58:25 2002:

re #25: yeah i do plan on going to see the movie. i don't know if i'll see
it opening weekend or if i'll just wait for the movie scene to cool down some
so i won't have to wait in line over an hour for a ticket.


#28 of 51 by mynxcat on Mon Oct 21 19:13:58 2002:

This response has been erased.



#29 of 51 by orinoco on Tue Oct 22 03:13:59 2002:

Indeed.  This is hardly Star Wars.

I'm also definitely interested in seeing the movie at some point.  I'm not
such a big Eminem fan, but I'm intrigued by the way his career's gone so far,
and curious how it'll turn out.


#30 of 51 by buddy on Sun Oct 27 03:53:43 2002:

Re #29: True this is hardly Star Wars. But their are alot of EMINEM fans out
there. We will just have to wait and see.


#31 of 51 by mynxcat on Mon Oct 28 15:29:00 2002:

This response has been erased.



#32 of 51 by buddy on Mon Oct 28 17:07:42 2002:

Re #31: In the movie, the little girl is Eminem's character's sister.


#33 of 51 by mynxcat on Mon Oct 28 17:12:53 2002:

This response has been erased.



#34 of 51 by albaugh on Mon Oct 28 19:56:00 2002:

Is the title "8 Mile" in any way a reference to the road in metro Detroit?


#35 of 51 by buddy on Mon Oct 28 20:01:00 2002:

Re #34: I'm not sure. Good question though.


#36 of 51 by orinoco on Mon Oct 28 21:41:30 2002:

Yes.


#37 of 51 by buddy on Tue Oct 29 17:44:18 2002:

Well here's an update for all you Eminem fans out there. I guess that Eminem
is going to be a special guest on MTV's TRL on friday 11/1/02 @ 3:30. 


#38 of 51 by buddy on Tue Oct 29 23:04:45 2002:

Sorry to all those who read the above entry. Eminem will be on TRL a week from
friday.


#39 of 51 by buddy on Sun Nov 10 01:30:53 2002:

Well Eminem's movie 8 mile came out yesterday and i guess i was right in
saying that i was going to wait a couple of weeks to go and see the movie
because the lines are probably going to be really long to get a ticket. Well
i was right in that assumption, because someone that my mom works with went
and saw the movie last night and told me that the lines were really long.


#40 of 51 by krj on Sun Nov 10 06:48:50 2002:

I would guess lines would be less of an issue during the week.

"8 Mile" took in an estimated $20 million on Friday; it will 
probably make $50 million for the whole weekend, is my guess.


#41 of 51 by mynxcat on Mon Nov 11 14:38:57 2002:

This response has been erased.



#42 of 51 by gandalf on Mon Nov 11 16:04:06 2002:

The film 8 mile is very anti detroit.  But it shows Eminem can be a star and
have a number one movie.
Which is good cause it gets him money


#43 of 51 by otaking on Mon Nov 11 23:44:12 2002:

"8 Mile" made $54.5 million on its opening weekend. Wow.


#44 of 51 by mynxcat on Tue Nov 12 19:51:56 2002:

This response has been erased.



#45 of 51 by buddy on Mon Dec 2 15:21:41 2002:

Well i'm not quiet sure on this rumor, but i've heard that Eminem has gone
back to his wife. If he has, i can't imagine why except maybe for the sake
of his daughter. 


#46 of 51 by mynxcat on Mon Dec 2 16:29:42 2002:

This response has been erased.



#47 of 51 by buddy on Mon Dec 2 16:37:35 2002:

Because it wasn't working out.


#48 of 51 by mynxcat on Mon Dec 2 18:53:54 2002:

This response has been erased.



#49 of 51 by jaklumen on Thu Dec 12 05:37:54 2002:

Yes.  Details?


#50 of 51 by happyboy on Thu Jan 2 08:40:48 2003:

please, no.


#51 of 51 by jaklumen on Fri Jan 3 05:15:09 2003:

oh, sometimes loving the dirt is a guilty pleasure.


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