In 2004, Eminem felt that the curtains are about to go down on his inner drama. His first three albums were named after the three main characters in it: the first was called The Marshall Mathers LP, the second The Slim Shady LP, and the third The Eminem Show. The name of the third already hints that we were witnessing a show, and his fourth album from 2004 was named Encore, bringing it to a close. While the first three albums were dominated by the hilarious sociopath Slim Shady, in this album you could sense Shady losing the cynicism and anger that drove him, and becoming a caricature of himself. In the meantime, the characters of Marshall and Eminem grow and mature: in the course of the epic battle against the shady one, they managed to overcome him, and establish themselves as confident, conscientious and moral figures. Eminem displays it in this record, decrying the beef between his protégé 50 Cent and the rapper Ja Rule, and calling for restrain. Ja Rule dissed him as well, and rather viciously, but Eminem sets a personal example and refrains from retorting, to avoid escalation (if Slim Shady was still strong, he would never let that happen). It shows a higher awareness to the dangers of these feuds and an attempt to prevent the recurrence of the 2Pac & Biggy tragedy (and other rappers who fell victim to violence, and appear in the video), and so far, it looks like the efforts bare fruit, and the current hip-hop spars do not result in violence.
But without Shady, Eminem also becomes less interesting, and he knew it. A year later, he released the album Curtain Call, a greatest hits collection. The album ends with a new recording, in which Marshall tells us how his little daughter got him to want to heal their family, and reunite with his ex-wife (yes, the same ex-wife that Slim Shady fantasized about slashing her throat, cutting her up, and some less pleasant things). And so, the show closes with a happy ending. Marshall Mathers did indeed remarry his daughter's mother, and they lived happily ever after…
Well, not quite. Life isn't a show, and does not end when the happy ending arrives. Three months after the wedding, the couple divorced again (although this time, it seems, the relationship remained cordial). Eminem himself went into hibernation, and suffered from the usual problems that plague an artist when his fountains of creativity have run dry. In 2009 he came back with a fresh album, but it's not the same. As the teens open, the naughties' most important artist is looking for a new show.
Showing posts with label eminem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eminem. Show all posts
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
63. Eminem – The Real Slim Shady (2000)
In his first album from 1999, Eminem sparked the big bang, presenting the first white star to express his teen rebellion through hip-hop (ok, there were the Beastie Boys in the eighties, but they were relatively marginal). A year later, Slim Shady assesses the situation, in his disgusting and amusing way. As he bashes other forms of white pop – boy bands, pop princesses, metal – he observes that white youth no longer flocks after them, but rather wants to imitate him. And hindsight shows that he was right: the boy bands disappeared almost completely, metal fell from grace, and even the pop princesses increasingly turned to hip-hop. But, he says, there is only one Slim Shady, and none of those imitators will ever be able to match. And here, too, he was correct: ten years later, no white rapper has achieved star status. I suppose it will happen eventually, but when Eminem enters the closing verse, firing the intricately interwoven rhymes in Vulcan speed, it's hard to imagine anyone who will ever be able to top him.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
49. Eminem - Lose Yourself (2002)
Like every other artist who revolutionized pop music, Eminem was required to bring the revolution to the cinema, and he did not let us down. The movie 8 Mile, which came out in 2002, was loosely based on his own life story, proved good enough to become a hit, and played a big part in bringing hip-hop culture to a wider audience. The character he plays in the movie, B Rabbit, a white boy trying to make it in the hip-hop world, subsequently joined the ensemble of characters in his private theater, and expanded it. This is the theme song, in which he merges B Rabbit's story with his personal story, to create a universal song about that defining moment in which you go on stage and your fate is about to be determined for fame or insignificance. Once again, his poetic and theatrical ability to dramatize the theme matches the greatest artists in history.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
16. Eminem - Without Me (2002)
One of hip-hop's starting points was what was called "playing the dozens": a popular custom in African-American culture in which two rivals would compete in swearing, each taking his turn to creatively roast his opponent, until one is left with no response. When hip-hop was born in the seventies on the streets of New York, this tradition was incorporated into it, as two rappers would compete and do the dozens to the beat. When hip-hop started being recorded and marketed commercially in the eighties, this custom still survived, and a spar between two rappers, taking turns in releasing a record that disses the other, became one of the characteristics of the genre. And when Eminem turned hip-hop into the main language of pop culture, he used this weapon to lampoon all his opponents, within hip-hop and out of it. Actually, not Eminem, but Slim Shady, his uninhibited alter-ego, was the one doing the damage, and he always did it zestfully. Many public figures came out against Eminem and his "corrupting" influence on youth, and here Slim Shady retorts in his own creative and hilarious manner.
But the record contains a lot more. Slim Shady, from his anti-social stance, never hesitated to take a jibe at Eminem as well. Here he exposes the hypocrisy and fraud behind the "battle" between Eminem and the dominant culture, and shows that everyone gains from it and is secretly hoping it will continue, and the "rebellious" Eminem is pretty much only doing what is expected of him. Through this prism, he also provides an ironic view of the relationship between pop culture and the dominant culture, and shows that there's actually nothing new under the Sun. The virtuosity by which he manages to cram all that into a five minutes pop record is utterly breathtaking.
The video, a brilliant piece of pop-art, is also very revealing. The superhero that Eminem is portraying is not based on Batman, but rather on Robin, his clownish sidekick. That is the nature of Eminem's art: he is a descendant of a long line of clowns, who simultaneously entertain the public and perturb it, placing a mirror in front of it to expose all that is ridiculous about contemporary human existence. Unlike artists who express a clear political stance, enabling the public to categorize them in preexisting draws, the slippery nature of this art is much more dangerous and seditious. Eminem's rap, slithering like a ring snake in several directions at once, is hard to get a hold of, and even harder to categorize.
Who is Batman here? Batman is Dr. Dre, the black producer behind the music, and he is indeed the one conducting the real battle. Pop culture is the clown, entertaining the public and seemingly taking no political stance. But through pop, many elements that have no outlets in the dominant culture get the chance to invade the public domain, thus changing society. While Eminem mocks and dismantles dominant culture, Dre infuses it with black aesthetics, and shifts the balance towards the black side. Shady can ridicule Eminem for being just another link in a long chain of white artists who exploited black music, but the mirror that Eminem puts in front of us raises the question: who used who?
But the record contains a lot more. Slim Shady, from his anti-social stance, never hesitated to take a jibe at Eminem as well. Here he exposes the hypocrisy and fraud behind the "battle" between Eminem and the dominant culture, and shows that everyone gains from it and is secretly hoping it will continue, and the "rebellious" Eminem is pretty much only doing what is expected of him. Through this prism, he also provides an ironic view of the relationship between pop culture and the dominant culture, and shows that there's actually nothing new under the Sun. The virtuosity by which he manages to cram all that into a five minutes pop record is utterly breathtaking.
The video, a brilliant piece of pop-art, is also very revealing. The superhero that Eminem is portraying is not based on Batman, but rather on Robin, his clownish sidekick. That is the nature of Eminem's art: he is a descendant of a long line of clowns, who simultaneously entertain the public and perturb it, placing a mirror in front of it to expose all that is ridiculous about contemporary human existence. Unlike artists who express a clear political stance, enabling the public to categorize them in preexisting draws, the slippery nature of this art is much more dangerous and seditious. Eminem's rap, slithering like a ring snake in several directions at once, is hard to get a hold of, and even harder to categorize.
Who is Batman here? Batman is Dr. Dre, the black producer behind the music, and he is indeed the one conducting the real battle. Pop culture is the clown, entertaining the public and seemingly taking no political stance. But through pop, many elements that have no outlets in the dominant culture get the chance to invade the public domain, thus changing society. While Eminem mocks and dismantles dominant culture, Dre infuses it with black aesthetics, and shifts the balance towards the black side. Shady can ridicule Eminem for being just another link in a long chain of white artists who exploited black music, but the mirror that Eminem puts in front of us raises the question: who used who?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
7. Dr. Dre feat. Eminem - Forgot About Dre (2000)
Dr. Dre was the original gangster. In the late eighties, along with his NWA mates, he burst the bubble of the rich, satiated, self-satisfied Reaganist America with a chain of rap records from hell. Throughout the eighties, America preferred to ignore the problem of the black ghettos and pretend they do not exist, and the kids who grew there without hope created a world with its own rules, rules of crime, violence and machoism. On the other hand, this world also reflected Reaganist America, because it too believed that the highest value is to make as much money as possible, by any means necessary. The gangsta-rappers created records that reflected this world, a world filled with danger, desperation and ugliness, and threw them in the face of society. On the other hand, they were also the heroic gangster from the movies, who fights society with its own weapons and beats it, because their records sold millions. After the demise of NWA, Dre embarked on a solo career, and in 1992 he devises the perfect crime, with the album The Chronic, which focused on the hedonist side of the gangsta lifestyle, with the dope, the hookers, the money and the hot guns. The major coup was the production, that managed to combine hip-hop with the sensual funk of the seventies, to form a new style termed G-funk (G for gangster), a style that dominated the mid-nineties. Dre became a hugely successful record producer, made loads of dough, and gained the ability to leave the ghetto and provide a comfortable life for his family.
But here there was a snag, and Dre was forced to deal with the consequences of his past actions. He thought that with his success he fulfilled the dream, but discovered that many don't see it that way. The romantic aura that he and his homies created around the gangsta lifestyle influenced many kids to prefer it, rather than try to leave the ghetto. When Dre preached to them that this was not the point, they accused him of selling-out to the white world. It took Dre time to formulate his answer, and in this record he finally gives it, reminding everyone that what he already forgot they are yet to learn, and presenting his success as the goal they should aspire to. That alone might not have been enough, even with the cracking production, but Dre also had a joker up his sleeve, and he throws this joker on the table midway into the record, to strike the winning blow. Eminem, Dre's white rapper protege, brings it on with another dazzling rap, reminding everyone what Dre is all about. With Eminam at his side, Dre was now ready to take hip-hop to new heights, and to the final occupation of the pop world. No one can ever claim again that there is no point in trying to make it in society, and it is better to remain in the ghetto and try to make it as a gangster - Dr. Dre proved that even if you were born in the ghetto, the sky is the limit.
But here there was a snag, and Dre was forced to deal with the consequences of his past actions. He thought that with his success he fulfilled the dream, but discovered that many don't see it that way. The romantic aura that he and his homies created around the gangsta lifestyle influenced many kids to prefer it, rather than try to leave the ghetto. When Dre preached to them that this was not the point, they accused him of selling-out to the white world. It took Dre time to formulate his answer, and in this record he finally gives it, reminding everyone that what he already forgot they are yet to learn, and presenting his success as the goal they should aspire to. That alone might not have been enough, even with the cracking production, but Dre also had a joker up his sleeve, and he throws this joker on the table midway into the record, to strike the winning blow. Eminem, Dre's white rapper protege, brings it on with another dazzling rap, reminding everyone what Dre is all about. With Eminam at his side, Dre was now ready to take hip-hop to new heights, and to the final occupation of the pop world. No one can ever claim again that there is no point in trying to make it in society, and it is better to remain in the ghetto and try to make it as a gangster - Dr. Dre proved that even if you were born in the ghetto, the sky is the limit.
1. Eminem - Stan (2000)
It was a regular day in a brand new millennium, and I was driving my car on some daily routine, when a new song came out of the radio. It started with a female singer who affected a melancholic atmosphere, but just as I turned into the highway, she was revealed as a sample, and the record changed into rap. I immediately recognized Eminem, and it didn't take me long to realize what it is I'm hearing. I already heard that Eminem has a track on his new album that is about an obsessive fan who takes his adulation to him too far, and I heard it is something special, but I didn't know the exact details. I kept on listening, and the drama kept pouring out of the radio and creeping slowly up my spine, penetrating like million ants under my skin, suffocating my breath. I was on the highway, but I had to take the right lane and keep to a 70KMH speed until the record ended - I was almost paralyzed. And to this day, when I hear this record, I get the shivers.
Eminem is chiefly responsible for one of the major revolutions in pop history. Up to him, hip-hop was black music, which dealt with things from an African-American perspective. Once Eminem showed up, hip-hop usurped rock and became the center of the pop world, the premier language of youngsters all over the globe. This also compelled hip-hop to develop a more elaborate language, and Eminem led the change, turning every record into a drama where several voices talk with one another. He had the amazing theatrical and poetic ability to make it convincing, and still make it all sound like a regular pop record. He divided himself into three main entities: Marshall Mathers, the identity with which he was born in a Detroit slum, suffered a hard childhood and continues to live a problematic existence; Eminem, his pop persona, who strives to represent hip-hop with pride; and Slim Shady, a devilish prankster who is also the representation of his dark side. Employing these three characters, Eminem dealt with all the contradictions in his position: a white man who has to contend in a black world, and on the other hand represents the white world in which the blacks have to contend; a musician who has a lot of love and respect for his genre, but on the other hand takes part in its incorporation by the mainstream; and a street rapper who must maintain his tough image, and on the other hand a person with a conscience who realizes the immorality and futility prevalent in street culture. In that way, and with his extraordinary poetic ability, Eminem managed to penetrate the masking and phoniness of political-correctness, and expose the hypocrisy in the values of "enlightened" society; to take the violent, homophobic and chauvinistic language of the streets and turn it back on itself; to discuss the problems arising from hip-hop's new position; and all that time to deal frankly with what was going on in his own life and spirit. For a while, he was the most moral and humanistic voice in America.
Many people did not appreciate the mirror he put in front of their faces, and wrote studious and moronic articles about his corrupting effect on the youth. But there was nothing in these articles which Eminem did not discuss himself, and in a much more intelligent and compelling manner. And this record is the perfect showcase, exposing Marshall Mathers' fear that a day will come when the words splattered by Slim Shady will come back to haunt him and his conscience. This is a fear which every artist that explores the darker sides of the human soul has to deal with, but no one, in any art form, has ever expressed it so powerfully.
Eminem is chiefly responsible for one of the major revolutions in pop history. Up to him, hip-hop was black music, which dealt with things from an African-American perspective. Once Eminem showed up, hip-hop usurped rock and became the center of the pop world, the premier language of youngsters all over the globe. This also compelled hip-hop to develop a more elaborate language, and Eminem led the change, turning every record into a drama where several voices talk with one another. He had the amazing theatrical and poetic ability to make it convincing, and still make it all sound like a regular pop record. He divided himself into three main entities: Marshall Mathers, the identity with which he was born in a Detroit slum, suffered a hard childhood and continues to live a problematic existence; Eminem, his pop persona, who strives to represent hip-hop with pride; and Slim Shady, a devilish prankster who is also the representation of his dark side. Employing these three characters, Eminem dealt with all the contradictions in his position: a white man who has to contend in a black world, and on the other hand represents the white world in which the blacks have to contend; a musician who has a lot of love and respect for his genre, but on the other hand takes part in its incorporation by the mainstream; and a street rapper who must maintain his tough image, and on the other hand a person with a conscience who realizes the immorality and futility prevalent in street culture. In that way, and with his extraordinary poetic ability, Eminem managed to penetrate the masking and phoniness of political-correctness, and expose the hypocrisy in the values of "enlightened" society; to take the violent, homophobic and chauvinistic language of the streets and turn it back on itself; to discuss the problems arising from hip-hop's new position; and all that time to deal frankly with what was going on in his own life and spirit. For a while, he was the most moral and humanistic voice in America.
Many people did not appreciate the mirror he put in front of their faces, and wrote studious and moronic articles about his corrupting effect on the youth. But there was nothing in these articles which Eminem did not discuss himself, and in a much more intelligent and compelling manner. And this record is the perfect showcase, exposing Marshall Mathers' fear that a day will come when the words splattered by Slim Shady will come back to haunt him and his conscience. This is a fear which every artist that explores the darker sides of the human soul has to deal with, but no one, in any art form, has ever expressed it so powerfully.
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