I’m going to start this article by assuming that everyone knows who Eminem is, but for those who somehow do not, just do a quick google search. Just as sure as everyone knows who he is, everyone must also know the kind of “controversy” that he incites, be it his intention or a consequence of people’s reaction to him and the inevitable media blitz that follows. But I’m not interested in talking about any of that. I don’t give a damn that in one or more songs he talked about killing his ex-wife. I honestly don’t care that he liberally uses the words “bitch” and “faggot”. I don’t care what magazine CEO or midget rapper has a problem with him this week or the next.
The first thing that strikes me about Eminem – as it should – is his wordplay. The kind of verses he puts together are impressive. Whether or not you like him, you really have no choice but to acknowledge his skill in putting rhymes together, and that his vocabulary is considerably more diverse than most other mainstream rappers. But even that is not the crux of my argument. Beyond being an excellent wordsmith, Eminem has a certain impact on the music industry that cannot be denied. I am not talking about his penchant for stirring up negative attention from conservative media groups or politicians, or his ability to sell millions upon millions of records. I am talking about something that Eminem himself cannot help but mention at least once on every one of his CDs – the fact that he’s a white man excelling in an area that is mostly dominated by African-Americans.
There are people like Ray Scott (otherwise known as Benzino) who complain about how Eminem’s race is the main reason that he is successful, and how he is taking sales away from up and coming black artists. There is no question that Eminem being white is a factor; it is something he has said himself in several songs. “Let’s do the math – if I was black, I would’ve sold half”, he says in the song “White America”. More blatantly he says “I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley, to do black music so selfishly, and use it to get myself wealthy” in his song “Without Me”. Now there’s an interesting parallel. Elvis was also known for drawing inspiration from black R&B musicians of the time. He too was criticized of “co-opting” black culture, yet as even some of the most militant individuals will attest, Elvis – like Eminem – created a racial fusion through music. At the same time, Eminem has no misconceptions about the role his race plays in his success. In acknowledging it, he downplays the role of his considerable talent.
I will even myself acknowledge that part of the reason I like Eminem as much as I do is because he is white – but it’s probably not what you expect. Eminem being white illustrates a number of things that I think are very important. In the same way that Tiger Woods proved that golf is not a “white man’s game”, and Jimi Hendrix was a Rock n’ Roll pioneer despite white dominance in the genre, Eminem parodoxically shows how little race actually matters. In that there have been other white rappers in the past – most of which failed miserably – Eminem, like Tiger and Jimi, proves that it is a matter of talent.
“Spoke to a generation of angry teenagers, whom if it wasn’t for rap to bridge the gap, maybe raised to be racist”, Eminem says in the song “Encore/Curtains Down” on his latest CD. This is another significant consequence of Eminem being white. If rap is “black music”, then it gives people an excuse to dismiss it as not worth their time, as a corollary of a fundamentally racist worldview. But all of a sudden this bleach-blonde blue eyed white guy comes on the scene, using the same medium to express the same kind of messages, causing those same closed-minds to open. Of course they may find some other way to justify it, perhaps finding some way to “relate” to him apart from their common ethnicity. This brings up another important point.
Some people criticize Eminem for “acting black”; I’ve even heard people say that he “co-opts black culture”. I despise comments like these, because they are ignorant and racist, even though the people who make them often swear they are not racist.
In my essay on misrepresentation I wrote:
Undoubtedly, you’ve all heard the word “wigger”, either from someone’s mouth, or second-hand. I’ve often heard teenagers say “I hate wiggers”. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the roots of the word, and so those same teenagers might as well be saying that they hate “niggers” by association. A wigger is a “white person who dresses, acts, or talks the way black people (or rather, “niggers”) supposedly act.” Of course all black people act the same, right?
Is it in the way Eminem talks and raps, using slang that is incorrectly associated with black people that he is seen as “acting black”? If Eminem wore tight jeans and had slick hair, a nose ring, and a swastika tattoo, would he then be “acting white”? What people need to realize is that these “ways of acting” are rooted in culture, and in class, NOT race. Race and behavior are mutually exclusive concepts. Eminem is not “co-opting” anything. That which is wrongfully classified as “black culture”, is actually an extension of socioeconomic status, NOT RACE.
NOT RACE.
Eminem grew up under piss-poor conditions in Detroit, where the majority of people he engaged with just so happened to be black. The language, points of view, and anything else people may use to classify him are representative of that environment, NOT his race. That much should be obvious in the fact that both black people and white people (e.g. Eminem) from that environment exhibit similar behavior. So, Eminem is not “acting black”, since there is no behavior specific to black people, nor is he co-opting any culture. He, like anyone else, is in part a product of a certain environment, that environment defined by socioeconomic status. Rap is often said to portray the hardships of people in urban environments such as poverty or the prevalence of violence and drugs. Can these conditions be claimed by any one race? Absolutely not. Within these contexts there are race-specific experiences, such as the burden of racial discrimination, but Eminem is not talking about them, because they are not his experiences. So what exactly is he co-opting? Nothing.
There are at least two other reasons why I not only like Eminem as a performer, but respect him as a person. Despite his many proclamations of his own talents – which in my opinion are well-justified – Eminem does not hesitate to mention the influence of rap pioneers. In the song “Till I Collapse”, he shows his respect for a number of artists, even to the point of deferring to them. He says “I got a list here’s the order of my list that it’s in. It goes, Reggie, Jay-Z, Tupac and Biggie, Andre from Outcast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas and then me.” This shows humility and acknowledgement of others’ talents.
One of the very first things he did as soon as he made it big, was to turn back and use his resources to help those around him succeed as well. Every person who would dare say something about Eminem “taking sales” away from black artists should consider the fact that he helped produce D12, Obie Trice, and the now immensely successful 50 Cent – all of whom are black.
Perhaps if you are moralistic or overly self-righteous, you’ll choose to dwell on his “controversial” subject matter or explicit lyrics, and completely overlook his many good qualities and unique impact. If you fit into this category, be sure to ask yourself why you care so much. Is it the words themselves or is it who you fear may now be listening? In the song “White America”, Eminem says “…surely hip-hop was never a problem in Harlem, only in Boston, after it bothered the fathers of daughters starting to blossom…”. Before him it was easy to dismiss rap as “angry black music”, and who cares about what may negatively impact black people anyway, right?
For those of us who were actually paying attention, rather than harping on the “bad words” highlighted by countless media texts, we’ve seen how Eminem has matured as a performer. While he has relied heavily on objectionable material, there have been an increasing number of songs where he has also had something important to say. As I already mentioned he discusses the impact of race on his career and in turn his own impact on racial barriers in this country. He sometimes has a political message – such as his blatant denunciation of President Bush or his emphasis on the importance of citizen participation in the recent song “Mosh”. Whether or not you like Eminem, and whatever your reasons, you will be hard pressed not to acknowledge the impact he has had on not only the music industry, but on American culture.
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