In one of his freestyles from his movie ‘ 8 Mile ‘, Eminem claims :
‘ Your style is generic/Mine is authentic made… ‘
Eminem’s rhymes and music are so particular that you could recognize him easily among thousand other rappers. This is not due to his skin color, but to the authenticity and creativity of his rhymes.
In my point of view, Eminem gets a lot of appreciation from people because of his great rhyming ability, but also because the songs he wrote refer to authentic feelings that come out of his chest. It is well known that Eminem spends hours studying words in his dictionnary in order to find new words to rhyme.
When the inspiration comes to him, he needs to write them down, no matter where. That’s how he used to do as a kid :
I like to throw my ideas just scattered on to paper. When I was busing tables, I’d write ’em on my hands or on receipts. I wrote rhymes on the wall in my old house right above my bed. I did it in pencil but one time when I went to wipe it off, I wiped off the paint. My mom fuckin’ flipped.
People also appreciate the fact that the talented rapper uses the words to speaking his mind. All the tragic events and emotions he went through are used in a creative way. All kind dramas, emotions and thoughts are canalized in Eminem’s music. Eminem’s rhymes are much more than just a couple of beats and cusswords. He has brought hip hop lyrics to a high level of poetry.
Even if some listeners are less sensitive to Eminem’s high level of skills, Eminem manages to convince them through his originality. He doesn’t rap about big cars and jewels, he raps about himself, he lets true emotions out, he raises real social issues. Eminem sounds convincing, because he keeps it real. He never tries to manipulate his public nor to fake himself. He has the sincerity to expose his own mistakes publicly.
He may be the most wanted rapper on the planet, but he always keeps simple.
His simplicity makes the greatness of the man, because Marshall Mathers is a genuine per