“We as Americans”

“Fuck money. I do not rap for dead presidents. I would rather see the president dead. It is never been said, but I set precedents and the standards and they can not stand it… We as Americans. Us as a citizen. We’ve got to protect ourselves…”
Those are words from a new Eminem track called ‘ We as Americans ‘. Controversial ? For sure.
Eminem is not a friend of Bush, he doesn’t want any kind of compromission with the government and expresses it clearly. What I really appreciate with Eminem, is the fact that he’s not a commercial rapper. He is used to speaking his mind , no matter how wealthy he is. He deserves some respect for his honesty.
Appearently those words are taken seriously by the American government whose secret services are now investigating on whether the lyrics should be taken seriously of not.
Secret Services Spokesman John Gill expressed on the subject and told the news :
”We are aware of the lyric and are in the process of determining what action, if any, will be taken.”
Eminem has shown his political opinion in several songs from the ‘ Eminem Show ‘ like ‘ White America ‘ and ‘ Square Dance ‘.
We all know that he’s no real friend of President Bush, but are his recents lyrics different from the former lyrics ? Should this wish to see the President dead be taken seriously ?
Those are interesting questions we may raise. As far as I am concerned, I don’t think Eminem is a serious threat for Mr Bush’s life. This statement is just made to express his opposition towards the government. Eminem wants to show the Bush administration that they cannot ‘ buy ‘ him..
If we take a look at ‘ White America ‘, the song is much more provocative than those few lines from ‘ We as Americans ‘ :
‘So to the parents of America
I am the derringer aimed at little Erica,
to attack her character
The ringleader of this circus of worthless pawns
Sent to lead the march right up to the steps of Congress
And piss on the lawns of the White House
and replace it with a Parental Advisory sticker
To spit liquor in the faces of in this democracy of hypocrisy
Fuck you Ms. Cheney! Fuck you
Tipper Gore! Fuck you with the freest
of speech this divided states of embarassment
will allow me to have, Fuck you!
I’m just kiddin’ America, you know I love you… ‘
The outro part of ‘White America’ is also very offensive in its words. Eminem points out the hypocrisy of the American government. He doesn’t want to be another puppet of Bush and also wants people to open their eyes about the American policy.
Eminem is not against America, he’s against the leaders of America and he strongly fights their policy. Impossible to take the ‘dead President’ lyrics at a first degree, knowing that Eminem has already ‘assassinated’ Dick Cheney on his ‘Without Me’ video…It has to be taken for what it actually is: a clear protest against the American policy. The talented wordsmith doesn’t ignore the power of words and syllables. As an engaged artist, Eminem wants to reach people’s consciences.
He is not the only one to have strong and shocking political messages. The group Public Enemy did it before in its video ‘By the time I get to Arizona’. Public Enemy ‘assassinated’ the deputies from Arizona who refused to make a national day of Martin Luther King’s birthday. Public Enemy didn’t dare ‘bombing’ the government either, because the group knew it was for the good cause. So does Eminem.
The engaged artist has a responsibility towards his public. He owns a great part of the media and he has the power to reach people’s mind. It’s the first step for things to change a positive way. Since the beginning of his career, Eminem has always shown his integrity. His growing wealth hasn’t changed anything: his statements are as honest as in the beginning.
Eminem has become the truthful leader of a new generation of people who are fed up with empty hypocritical political speeches. He strongly disagrees with the American Iraq war policy and shows it offenly:
‘The boogie monster of rap, yeah the man’s back
with a plan to ambush this Bush administration,
mush the Senate’s face in, push this generation
of kids to stand and fight for the right to say
something you might not like, this white hot light
that I’m under, no wonder I look so sunburnt,
oh no I won’t leave no stone unturned
Oh no I won’t leave, won’t go nowhere,
do-si-do, oh, yo, ho, hello there
oh yeah don’t think I won’t go there,
go to Beirut and do a show there
yah you laugh till your muthafuckin’ ass gets drafted,
while you’re at band camp thinkin’ the crap can’t happen
till you fuck around, get an anthrax napkin,
inside a package wrapped in saran wrap wrapping
open the plastic and then you stand back gasping,
fuckin’ assassins hijackin’ Amtracks crashin’
all this terror America demands action,
next thing you know you’ve got Uncle Sam’s ass askin’
to join the army or what you’ll do for their Navy.
You just a baby, gettin’ recruited at eighteen
You’re on a plane now,
eatin’ their food and their baked beans.
I’m twenty-eight, they’re gonna take you ‘fore they take me
Crazy insane or insane crazy?
When I say Hussein, you say Shady
My views ain’t changed, still inhumane,
wait, arraigned two days late, the date’s today, hang me! ‘
So many young lives are sacrified to satisfy Mr Bush’s world hegemony power. Every day young soldiers are dying for a useless war.
‘We as Americans’ is not different from Eminem’s former lyrics. Rather than being a physical threat towards the American President, Eminem’s ‘death wish on Mr Bush’ is rather to interpret as a symbol, it is much more a strong prayer to see somebody else lead this country. A leader that would enable concrete steps for some deep changes in America…No more empty speeches, but efficient actions.
America needs more responsible citizens like Marshall Mathers to raise their voices against a growing governemental hypocrisy.