In the song ‘Fight Music’ from D12, Eminem states :
‘ If I could capture the rage of today’s youth and bottle it
Crush the glass from my bare hands and swallow it’ ‘
Eminem understands today’s youth’s problems very well. He stands very close to young people, growing up in a fatherless home with an abusive drug addicted mom. He understands what kids may be going through with irresponsible parents who don’t take time for them and who are physically and verbally abusive towards them. He goes on in the same song:
‘ I came to save these new generations of babies
from parents who failed to raise ’em cause they’re lazy’ ‘
In his song ‘Sing for the Moment’ from the Eminem Show, Eminem travels through the thoughts of a teenager whose anger keeps growing against his stepfather. He is surrounded by violence and retaliates with violence.
“He’s a problem child, what bothers him all comes out
When he talks about his fuckin’ dad walkin out
Cos he hates him so bad that he blocks him out
But if he ever saw him again, he’d prolly knock him out
His thoughts are whacked, he’s mad so he’s talkin’ back
Talkin black, brainwashed from rock and rap
He sags his pants, 2 rags and a stocking cap
His step-father hit him so he socked him back
And broke his nose, this house is a broken home
There’s no control, he just lets his emotions go
Come on… “
Kids like him find their only solace in the music. Eminem is conscious as an entertainer to bring something positive to angry and abused children who go through hopeless situations. He says that he sings for them in particular :
“It’s why we sing for these kids that don’t have a thing
Except for a dream and a fucking rap magazine…”
Eminem’s own story teaches those kids that you can succeed despite a hard childhood.
President Bush stated several years ago that ‘ Eminem is the biggest threat to kids since polio. ‘ Does he offer any kind of therapy to those kids who will probably be hurt for life? Adults who live in their confortable lives won’t be able to understand easily the rage of ghetto kids who probably experienced more dramas than they will in their entire life. Many adult kids specialists are not close enough to them to investigate their minds.
I don’t even think psychiatrists will be able to help them to work out those problems. As far as I am concerned, music is the best way to cure negative emotions that need to escape from our soul. As long as we keep those negative emotions deep inside, we will feel sick and hurt. Being asked for himself if he needed some therapy in an MTV interview by Kurt Loder, Eminem replied :
No, I don’t. I feel like I don’t need therapy. I feel like my music is my therapy. Because once I sit down and write, I get everything off my chest. People might think that I walk around mad all day, and I’m not, you know what I’m saying? For the most part I’m happy. I get all my aggression out in the studio. When I leave the studio, I’m like, “Whew.”
The same words that cured him will also help thousands of young people to get rid of their rage.
Singing is a good way to express the rage that we feel inside and step by step, we will see it vanish. This actually happened to me.
‘Cleaning Out My Closet’ is a song that should be taken seriously as a therapy for many mishandled kids. It will certainly help to prevent from children abuse. The video is impressing : it is a travel through different life periods, the scariest vision is Eminem as an adult watching himself as a kid. It’s like watching a science fiction film. The pain is present in the whole video : at home, at church, digging Debbie’s grave. Some people accuse Eminem of being a selfish whining man who is self-obsessed and who only talks about his own problems. Even if his music seems to be self-centred at first sight, it delivers a strong message of hope to many young people. They will realize through his example that they can succeed, no matter what abusive parents did to them. A cured mind will help them to the way of success.