Month: December 2003

RAP star Eminem is livid after secret recordings for his new album ended up for sale on the internet.
Three unfinished songs ‘ which he is still working on in a Los Angeles studio ‘ were offered on auction site eBay.
Eminem, 31, fears they were leaked by a close pal or business associate.
Bosses at eBay have cancelled bidding and record firm Interscope has launched a probe.
A source said: ‘Em knows everyone who goes in and out. All his entourage is under suspicion.’

Bully
[Intro]
Yo, check it out, it’s fucked up, and I don’t see either one of us budging
[Verse]
I’m withholding my anger
Though I’d like to be the strangler
Of this punkass little bitch’s puny neck
It’s my right to insist
That he acknowledge my existence
But he just displays complete lack of respect
That’s what he says to himself
As he uses magazines to trash me
As he sits with both feet up at his desk
Smokes a bag of his weed
And starts imagining things
And he just can’t see that he’s manically depressed
And in his jealousy and envy
It just whirls him in a frenzy
As he turns on MTV and sees my face
He don’t exist in this world
So he just twists and he twirls
Spirals and spins till he runs himself in a race
And it’s destroying him slowly
Cuz he does not even know me
Even though he sees me everywhere he goes
So he just tortures himself
He has no fortune and wealth
So he extorts someone else to get his dough
And now he’s acting like a bully
So he tries to push and pull me
But he knows that he can’t pull me so he’s mad
He has no choice but to scream
And raise his voice up at me
Cuz it annoys him to see that I ain’t scared
[Chorus]
You aint no motherfucking (bully)
And I aint bowing to no motherfucking (bully)
I won’t allow it, aint gon’ cower to no (bully)
I’ll be damned if I don’t stand up to a (bully)
Fight like a man and throw my hands up to a (bully…)
And I know it must be fucking with you emotionall(y…)
[Verse]
Now I’m not trying to make no more enemies
No more unfortunately
There’s so many motherfuckers that just are
They just keep pounding at me
Now that I’m down with 50
Suddenly now I got beef with this fucking Ja [laughter]
But his ass is such a puppet
Irv could stick his whole hand up it
And just make him say what he wants him to say
But shook-ass Irv’s on a string
And Irv’s so nervous that he
Says anything to this man to keep him at bay
So now Ja thinks that he’s so tough
And Murder Inc.’s the big bad wolf
And they go huff and puff and blow our label down
But our building’s made out of bricks
So you ain’t taking out shit
I know you just did a song with Bobby Brown
So now you try to pull a race car
And it backfires in your face hard
Cuz you know we don’t play that black and white shit
Plus this guy that you fucked
When you was ecstasied up
Was just a man who’s dressed up as a white bitch
[Chorus]
You must be taking to much (E…)
[Verse]
Now what bothers me the most
About hip-hop is we so close
To picking up where we left off with Big and Pac
We just lost Jam Master J
Big L got blasted away
Plus we lost Bugs, Slayed Son, and Freaky Ta
It’s like a never-ending cycle
That just seems to come full circle
Everyone’s gotta be so fucking hard
I’m not excluding myself
Cuz I been stupid as well
I been known to lose it when someone says something smart
But as we grow as men
We learn to let shit go, but then again
There’s only so much bullshit we can really stand
We all got reps to uphold
When someone steps on our toes
It’s no exception, it goes for every man
But if Irv really gave a fuck
About Ja like he claims he does
He’d wake him up and make his boy get off them drugs
But he just keeps feeding him pills
So if that E doesn’t kill him
Someone from G-Unit will and I ain’t buzzed
Dawg, I’m talking to you straight
If the situation escalates
Any worse, we’re gonna lose another soldier to this game
And if I get killed for this rap
I got a million in cash
That says I will get you back in Hailie’s name
[Chorus]
Irvine, get your boy off that (E…)
[Spoken]
Get at me, dawg
Holla
The song ‘ Bully ‘ will certainly get Benzino really mad. Eminem describes his impotence clearly. He also reveals Ray Scott’s hidden thoughts and intentions.
‘ Bully ‘ is a real pleasure to listen to. The attacks go along with a funny rythm. It makes Benzino look more and more ridiculous. The so-called rapper has already been defeated by the best battle MC in his ‘ Nail in the Coffin ‘, but this track is digging his grave, it is the hammer that knocks deep into him.
Benzino knows that he cannot harm Marshall verbally and he is jealous of his worldwide success. Sure, he has no fortune and wealth. He calculated in advance his effect to release Eminem’s former tape in order to destroy Eminem’s reputation, but his retaliation comes back to him like a boomerang.
His publicity stunt appears to be a complete defeat : a very recent justice decision won’t allow him to release Eminem’s former tape for the Source’s February issue. Ray Scott’s jealousy against Eminem is so big that he even invented a story (I don’t know how much he paid a 34 years old man from Detroit to say he had a sex affair with Eminem) to show ‘ Eminem ‘s true colors ‘.
I couldn’t resist to the pleasure of dissing such a fake Pacino again :
How far are you ready to go,
Benzino, can’t you see, you’re the dummie, yo
Walk on the dead
Or give Dave Mays some head
You won’t harm Shady
You battle like a lady,
Anybody knows you’re a sissy
Who would believe you’re a bully
When your words sound so silly ?

“I Love You More”
[Intro]
You still love me?
Take this. [2 guns cock]
You ready? 1.. 2.. 3! [2 shots]
[Chorus]
The more you, put me through,
The more it makes me wanna come back to you,
You say you hate me, I just love you more,
You don’t want me, I just want you more,
I buy you flowers, you throw ’em at me,
I know it’s sad but it’s makin me happy,
The more that you slap me, the more that it turns me on,
Cuz you love me, and I love you more.
[Verse 1]
It’s sick, but who could ever predict,
We’d be doin’ the same shit,
We say we do it for our baby but we don’t,
We do it for us, it’s lust,
Cuz neither one of us trusts each other,
So we fuck ’til we bust,
Then we cuss each other, out,
We know what it’s about,
Shout ’til I throw you out the house,
You throw me out the house,
I throw you on the couch,
Punch you in the mouth,
Fist fight ’til we turn this mother OUT,
And apologize after,
Laughter, pain, it’s insane,
We’re back in the same chapter again,
And it’s sad but it’s true,
When I’m layin’ here with you,
There ain’t nothin’ anyone could ever say ever do.
[Chorus]
[Verse 2]
Cuz I hate you, do you hate me?
Good cuz you’re so fuckin’ beautiful when you’re angry,
It makes me wanna just take you,
And just throw you on the bed,
And fuck you like I don’t even know you,
You fuck other people, and I fuck other people,
You a slut but I’m equal, I’m a mutt,
We’re both evil in our ways,
But neither one of us would ever admit it,
Cuz one of us would have one up on the other,
So forget it,
We can make accusations, people spread rumors,
But they ain’t got proof,
‘Til they do it’s just the two of us,
It’s you and me, cuz any chick can say that she’s screwin’ me,
But you gotta believe me to a degree,
Cuz if you didn’t I wouldn’t be hittin’ it,
Yeah I would cuz the sex is too damn good,
If I ran who would I run to,
That would be this soft and warm,
So it’s off and on, usually more off than on,
But at least we know that we share this common bond,
You’re the only one I can fuck without a condom on,
I hope, the only reason that I cope,
Is cuz of that fact,
And plus I can bust in that,
And that’s why…
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
I could never understand it,
That’s why I don’t try,
From junior high until we both die,
It’s silly ho why must we try,
Is it really so rough,
That we must always call each other’s billy goat’s gruff,
Try to pull each other’s legs,
Until the other begs,
We’re liein’ to ourselves,
That’s the beauty of it yeah,
Cuz we truly love each other,
That’s why we always fight,
And all we do is shove each other,
Every other fuckin’ night,
And it’s clear it ain’t gonna change,
It’s pent up rage,
We both have,
We both feel like we’ve been upstaged by someone else,
We’ve both been,
Someone else’s someone else,
Problem is neither one wants help,
It’s an addiction and it can’t be fixed,
Our family’s mixed up,
There’s a baby sister in the mix,
And it hurts cuz the pieces to the puzzle don’t fit,
And anybody who thinks they know us doesn’t know shit,
And they’re probably just tired of hearin’ it all the time,
On every song, every lyric, and every rhyme,
All the hoopla, all of the whoopdy whoop,
What you put me through, fuckin’ whoopdy doo,
But I won’t be made a fool of,
If this is true love,
You wouldn’t do what,
You did last time,
You wouldn’t screw up,
This time,
Cuz this time girl,
I’m tellin you what,
You do it again I’m fuckin you up,
No matter what…
[Bridge]
What you say, what you do,
I’ma hunt you down ’til I find you,
No matter where you run, I’ll be right there,
Right behind you, in your nightmares,
All the flowers, and the candy,
All the times that you threw it back at me,
You say you hate me, you gon’ hate me more,
When you find out, can’t escape me whore.
[Chorus]
Among all the Eminem songs that really moved me, you can count his recent song “I love you more”. This song is very emotional, because you can see Marshall Mathers’ sensitive side exposed. His voice is very warm and full of rage at the same time. He exposes true feelings and his on and off relationship to Kim appears in a new light. Whatever negative critics may say, this is a wonderful love song. Eminem cannot live without passion. People who are used to his music know it very well. Kim is Eminem’s first love and both have been sweethearts since they were teenagers. Marshall exposes his struggles with Kim very passionately:

I buy you flowers, you throw ’em at me,
I know it’s sad but it’s makin me happy,
The more that you slap me, the more that it turns me on,
Cuz you love me, and I love you more.

In ‘The Way I Am’ video, you can see Eminem bringing a rose to Kim and Kim slapping him. Love can sometimes be violent. It goes along with jealousy and pain. When you’re madly in love with a person, you are ready to do anything to conquer his or her heart, but when your beloved one doesn’t treat you right you feel like you could kill him or her. The song is divided between warm feelings and rage. Eminem has been humilated so many times by his ex wife who used to cheat on him. The incident with John Guerra is probably the worst wound that deeply hurts Marshall. But he cannot fight against his feelings for Kim that are always present and the public doesn’t understand, that’s why he adds :

And anybody who thinks they know us doesn’t know shit

I’ve seen many female Eminem fans who have insulted Kim on different forums, but they should remember that this behavior is disrespectful towards Eminem himself. Kim has been married to him and she is the mother of his child. Even if they don’t like her, they should take Marshall’s feelings into account. They don’t know Kim Mathers personally, so it sounds ridiculous to insult a woman you don’t even know in real life.
The third verse appears to be scarier than the preceding ones :

No matter what…
[Bridge]
What you say, what you do,
I’ma hunt you down ’til I find you,
No matter where you run, I’ll be right there,
Right behind you, in your nightmares,
All the flowers, and the candy,
All the times that you threw it back at me,
You say you hate me, you gon’ hate me more,
When you find out, can’t escape me whore.

But it shouldn’t be interpreted as a menace. Many people still don’t get that ‘Bonnie and Clyde 97’ and ‘Kim’ are love songs.
Marshall calls her a whore, he is conscious of the fact Kim hasn’t be true to him, but he seems to hunt her in a desparate quest of love. This song is a sweet and spicy love ballad that is really worth listening to. It is one of the tracks from Eminem’s new underground EP ‘Straight Out The Lab’.

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. ‘ Eminem’s ex-wife, Kimberly Mathers (search), has pleaded guilty to a drug charge and a driving offense as part of an agreement to resolve two drug cases, the prosecutor’s office said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106241,00.html
Mathers, who’s been the subject of some of the rapper’s songs, appeared Thursday before Circuit Court Judge Edward A. Servitto and entered the pleas to a charge of possessing 25 grams or less of cocaine and failing to give adequate space to an emergency vehicle. The charges came from a June traffic stop in St. Clair Shores.
A third charge of driving with a suspended license will be dropped and a charge of maintaining a drug house, from a Warren hotel party in September where police confiscated marijuana and Ecstasy, will be dismissed, said David Portuesi, chief of the drug crimes unit for the Macomb County prosecutor’s office.
“Probation is an outcome that’s recommended here within the state guidelines,” Portuesi told The Macomb Daily for Friday’s editions.
While the St. Clair Shores case was pending, the 28-year-old Mathers failed to appear in court. On Nov. 1, she broke or removed an electronic tether designed to monitor her whereabouts. Mathers turned herself in later that month.
Portuesi said the judge has removed the tether and house arrest as conditions of Mathers’ bond.
Defense attorney Michael Sinutko asked for Mathers to get consideration under a legal provision where offenders convicted of their first drug crime can abide by probation or other terms and get their convictions sealed or expunged. Servitto likely will rule on the request at Mathers’ Jan. 21 sentencing.

Eminem
Some days I just wanna up and call it quits
I feel like I’m surrounded by a wall of bricks
Every time I go to get up I just fall in piss
My life’s like one great big ball of shit
If I could just, put it all into all I spit
Instead of always tryin to swallow it
Instead of starin at this wall and shit
While I sit writer’s block, sick of all this shit
Can’t call it, shit
All I know is I’m about to hit the wall
if I have to see another one of mom’s alcholic fits
This is it, last straw, that’s all, that’s it
I ain’t dealin with another fuckin politic
I’m like a skillet bubblin until it filters up
I’m about to kill it, I can feel it buildin up
Blow this buildin up, I’ve been sealed enough
My cup, runneth over, I done filled it up
The pen explodes and busts, ink spills my guts
You think, all I do is stand here and feel my nuts?
Well I’ma show you what, you gon’ feel my rush
You don’t feel it, then it must be too real to touch
Peal the dutch, I’m about to tear shit up
Goosebumps yea, I’ma make your hair sit up
Yea sit up, I’ma tell you who I be
I’ma make you hate me, cause you ain’t me
You wait, it ain’t too late to finally see
what you closed-minded fucks were too blind to see
Whoever finds me is gonna get a finder’s fee
out this world, ain’t no one out there mind as me
You need piece of mind? Here’s a piece of mine
All I need’s a line
But sometimes I don’t always find the words to rhyme
to express how I’m really feelin at that time
Yea sometimes sometimes sometimes
It’s just sometimes, it’s always me
How dark can these hallways be?
The clock strikes midnight, one-two, then half past three
This half-assed rhyme with this half-assed piece of paper
{*rip*} I’m desperate at my desk
If I can just get the rest of the shit off my chest again
Stuck in this slum, can’t think of nothin
Fuck I’m stumped, but wait, here comes somethin
{*crumples paper*} Nope, it’s not good enough, scribble it out
New pad, crinkle it up, and throw the shit out
I’m fizzlin now, thought I figured it out
Ball’s in my court, but I’m scared to dribble it out
I’m afraid, but why am I afraid?
Why am I a slave to this trade?
Signed out of spit to the grave
Real enough to rill you up
Want me to flip it I can rip it any style you want
I’m a switch hitter bitch, Jimmy Smits ain’t a quitter
I’ma sit until I get enough in me to finally hit a
fuckin boilin point, put some oil in your joints
Flip the coin bitch, come get destroyed
An MC’s worst dream, I make ’em tense
They hate me, see me and shake like a chainlink fence
By the looks of ’em, you would swear their jaws was comin
By the screams of ’em, you would swear I’m sawin someone
By the way they’re runnin, you would swear the law was comin
It’s now or never and tonight is all or nothin
Momma Jimmy keeps leavin on us, he said he’d be back
He pinky promised, I don’t think he’s honest
I’ll be back baby, I just gotta beat this clock
Fuck this clock, I’ma make ’em eat this watch
Don’t believe me watch, I’ma win this race
And I’ma come back and rub my shit in your face, bitch
I found my nitch, you gon’ hear my voice
‘Til you sick of it, you ain’t gonna have a choice
If I gotta scream ’til I have half a lung
If I had half a chance I’d grab it – Rabbit, run
There is even much more stress and tension in ‘ Rabbit Run ‘ from the 8 Mile soundtrack than in ‘ The Way I Am ‘ from the Marshall Mathers LP.
But the deep meaning of this tension is not the same : ‘ The Way I Am ‘ shows the rage of an exceeded man, but ‘ Rabbit Run ‘ is much more a constant struggle to survive and to achieve some important goals. The obstacles Rabbit has to face are numerous, they are referred to as a wall of bricks. Wherever Rabbit goes, he finds an obstacle on his road. Rabbit has to face his every day trouble with his alcoholic mom.
He appears to be a real perfectionist (what Eminem actually is in real life). He is never satisfied with his lyrical content.
You can feel the same poetic words aimed at his pen that you found in the ‘ Infinite song ‘.
‘ The pen explodes and busts, ink spills my guts ‘ ‘ compared to
‘ Ayo, my pen and paper cause a chain reaction’ ‘ from the Infinite song sound similar. Why ? Simply because Jimmy brings you back to that period around 1995 when Eminem had to prove his skills. If it is true that ‘ you gotta be mad to rap ‘, it is also true that you need a high level of skills to be credible. A good MC needs to be offensive. To be taken seriously, he cannot rap on flowers and bees.
The subject matter has to be aggressive, shocking, destructive as well. An Mc is a soldier and his words the weapons aimed at his enemies.
You got to battle to gain some credibility.
Dissing your enemy is not only a goal, it is also the part that helps you to spit your words. When somebody who hates you said something bad about you, the words to prove him wrong come easy. You can feel the words popping in your head like a cascade and you’re ready to shoot your enemy in no time. Among all the amateur freestyles I have written, the most offensive were the most appreciated by my friends.
So Rabbit goes on, he is determined to make ‘ your hair sit up ‘, he will make you ‘ hate him cuz you ain’t him ‘. He will battle against the world. But before he lets his rage out publicly, he battles with his pen and paper, sitting on his desk and waiting for the best inspiration, ready to destroy his words when he feels they aren’t good enough ; he’s battling against the time. His clock is a symbol of the time that is flying away from him. Between his job, his problems in his privacy and his passion of emceing. He doesn’t want to be average, he knows that he has to be excellent.
Rabbit spends his time running between two different realities.
There is an important lesson to learn from those lyrics : always dare grabbing your chance, as little as it may be. Dare trying, it is worth it .
‘ If I had half a chance I’d grab it – Rabbit, run ‘

The feud between Eminem and ICP goes back to 1995.
It started like this :
Eminem was having a little party in Detroit and he wanted to be recognized. So he used a flyer when he put ‘ ALSO AN APPEARENCE BY ICP…maybe ‘. Violent G, one of te ICP members , saw the flyer and told Eminem to ‘ fuckoff ‘.
Eminem retaliated in a funny way. He told everybody that ICP didn’t attend to his party, because he chased them with paintball guns. Appearently that actually happened when Eminem and his fellows from the D12 group saw ICP coming out of a club one nignt. He and his D12 members chased them and shot at their van with a paintball gun. Of course, ICP denied those facts, because it made them look like real cowards in front of the whole world.
But the beef between them increased in 1998 when Eminem made an appearence at the Howard Stern Show where he was asked about his opinion on locals Detroit stars. He made ICP look ridiculous by answering : ‘Who ? Them, oh yeah, we used to beat their asses all the time back in the day. ‘
ICP were invited the following day on the same show. Violent J, who was offended by Eminem’s statements (you bet !) replied : ‘ We don’t even know that bitch ! ‘
ICP released two diss tracks against Eminem ‘ Slim Anus ‘ and ‘ Nothing but a bitch thing. ‘. Slim Shady wasn’t late in responding. In the ‘ Marshall Mathers Lp ‘, he says about his rival group : ‘ “Slim Anus,” you damn right, Slim Anus
I don’t get fucked in mine like you two little flaming faggots! ‘.
The answer to the ‘ Slim Anus ‘ diss makes ICP look more ridiculous than ever. A battle thant ICP seems to take very seriously but that amuses Eminem who doesn’t take them seriously as real artists.
He enjoys making fun of them (who wouldn’t ?).
‘ There’s a difference between realness and an act, and they’re an act, and they know they’re an act, and they even say they’re an act, they even say they’re cornballs, they admit it.
I don’t think I take the beef as seriously as they do, because I don’t consider them artists. They look at me as an artist. I think they get more uptight about it. I can look at them and laugh. They can’t do anything to me. What can they do to me? They have no credibility, no respect, no talent, they have nothing. All they can do is diss me vocally, they can’t diss me lyrically. There’s nothing they can do to me as far as the music goes. I don’t take it as seriously as they do and I think that frustrates them. I think it’s funny. ‘
(Eminem)
One of Eminem’s qualities is to use even dramatic events in his life to humor himself and to make people laugh. During his ‘ Up In Smoke Tour ‘, Eminem was using an ICP puppet to make fun of the group, just after the incident with Douglas Dail ICP member. The puppet was supposed to give him a blowjob , confirming that ‘ it was all good between ICP and him. ‘
The ICP group has also been dissed in the Ken Kaniff skit from the Marshall Mathers LP where Shaggy to Dope and Violent J are sucking Ken Kaniff’s dick.
The lastest ICP disses appear in the song ‘ Business ‘ from the Eminem Show :
‘Lets get down to business.
I don’t got no time to play around what is this
Must be a circus in town,
lets shut the shit down on these clowns.
Can I get a witness? HELL YEAH! ”
‘Nothin’ but clowns down here
but we ain’t fuckin around round here, yo Dre. . .
What up? Can I get a Hell? Hell Yeah!/ Now… ‘
There is also an allusion to ICP’s ‘ dark carnival ‘ : ‘ I’d like to welcome you to Marshall and Andre’s carnival. ‘
Besides the fact ICP don’t like Eminem, we may doubt that thay can be taken seriously as artists, their disguises make them look ridiculous and their lyrics appear to be rather weak. They cannot even pretend to be in competition with the talented rapper.

Ann Powers said:
“Don’t censor the music and artistic expression.
Eminem’s music, in particular the songs “Kim” and “Stan,” is a continuation of a tradition in music and American art in general: the Gothic murder ballad, which has been with us ever since the blues or Appalachian folk music. “Stan” is just like an Edgar Allan Poe tale, if you think about it. Johnny Cash shot a man just to watch him die. This is something that’s had a very solid, longstanding role in culture.
Self-styled moralists are getting up in arms about something that has always been part of the literature of development. If you’re a kid, you have to learn about violence, about hate, about death, about fear. That’s part of becoming an adult. And if it’s not fed to you by Eminem, you’re going to get it from your own nightmares. The illusion that kids need to be protected from that is connected to a kind of fetishizing of innocence, which is unrealistic.”
Ann Powers
Music critic, the New York Times
We live in a society where we are taught to hide our true feelings and emotions. When I look back at the way I have been educated at school and and home, I now know how hypocritical it was. Teachers and parents tried to hide some reality.We were pictured a safe world with nice people. Religion ( particularly the way it was taught) increased that wrong impression.
Eminem’s work appears to be progressive for conservative people. But the same conservative people would also have rejected Baudelaire or any other controversial poet or writer centuries before. Conservatism is a form of intolerance in general.
I have felt insecure a great part of my life and I didn’t know how to act the right way with people, being too much afraid to speak my mind.
There is something I will probably never get: why are references to suicide so taboo in people’s mind? Many people also blamed Goethe for his work ‘Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers’ (‘The Sorrows of Young Werther’) because a lot of young people committed suicide after reading his book. Not Goethe is to blame, but rather those young people’s decision…but do we really need somebody to blame? Anybody has the right to end his life if he feels like his pain is unbearable. My cousin committed suicicide when I was 15. I was shocked, but I don’t judge her for that. It was her decision to stop her immense sorrow.
MTV also censors notions that have to do with suicide.
The ‘Tatu’ video ‘Not Gonna Get Us’ was considered as shocking and would be censored not because it pictured two lesbian girls, but because they seem to commit suicide at the end of the video.
I was very surprised to discover that the word ‘die’ in the sentence
‘I’m so sick and tired of bein admired/
that I wish that I would just die or get fired ‘ from Eminem’s song ‘ The Way I Am ‘. How is that possible ? How could MTV censor a word like ‘ die ‘ as if death didn’t belong to our every day reality ?
They allow sentences such as ‘ People killin’, people dyin’/Children hurt and you hear them cryin” from sugar sweet songs such as ‘ Where is the love ? ‘ from Black Eyed Peas and they dare censoring ‘ die ‘ in ‘ The Way I Am ‘ video ?
How far should we push hypocrisy ?
So many writers and poets such as Fran’ois Villon in the 15th century in France have been considered as shocking for their use of vulgar language. Many people want to do as if vulgar and popular language didn’t exist (I’m sure the same people use it in their privacy as well). Popular and vulgar words are part of our culture too, there is no reason to ignore it.
Why should we censor notions such as suicide, murder and death that are present in the music when our kids already play violent games on their playstation and watch ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Scary Movie’ on Tv? A little bit of violence helps kids to get rid of their own agressivity and shouldn’t be viewed as necessarly dangerous and negative.
The best way to protect our kids is not to hide reality. The closer they are to reality, the better they are armed to face real battles in life.

Whatever..
Dre, just let it run
Aiyyo turn the beat up a little bit
Aiyyo.. this song is for anyone.. fuck it
Just shut up and listen, aiyyo..
I sit back with this pack of Zig Zags and this bag
of this weed it gives me the shit needed to be
the most meanest MC on this — on this Earth
And since birth I’ve been cursed with this curse to just curse
And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works
And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve
all this tension dispensin these sentences
Gettin this stress that’s been eatin me recently off of this chest
and I rest again peacefully (peacefully)..
but at least have the decency in you
to leave me alone, when you freaks see me out
in the streets when I’m eatin or feedin my daughter
to not come and speak to me (speak to me)..
I don’t know you and no,
I don’t owe you a mo-therfuck-in thing
I’m not Mr. N’Sync, I’m not what your friends think
I’m not Mr. Friendly, I can be a prick
if you tempt me my tank is on empty (is on empty)..
No patience is in me and if you offend me
I’m liftin you 10 feet (liftin you 10 feet).. in the air
I don’t care who is there and who saw me destroy you
Go call you a lawyer, file you a lawsuit
I’ll smile in the courtroom and buy you a wardrobe
I’m tired of all you (of all you)..
I don’t mean to be mean but that’s all I can be is just me
Chorus: Eminem
And I am, whatever you say I am
If I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?
In the paper, the news everyday I am
Radio won’t even play my jam
Cause I am, whatever you say I am
If I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?
In the paper, the news everyday I am
I don’t know it’s just the way I am
[Eminem]
Sometimes I just feel like my father, I hate to be bothered
with all of this nonsense it’s constant
And, “Oh, it’s his lyrical content –
– the song ‘Guilty Conscience’ has gotten such rotten responses”
And all of this controversy circles me
and it seems like the media immediately
points a finger at me (finger at me)..
So I point one back at ’em, but not the index or pinkie
or the ring or the thumb, it’s the one you put up
when you don’t give a fuck, when you won’t just put up
with the bullshit they pull, cause they full of shit too
When a dude’s gettin bullied and shoots up his school
and they blame it on Marilyn (on Marilyn).. and the heroin
Where were the parents at? And look where it’s at
Middle America, now it’s a tragedy
Now it’s so sad to see, an upper class ci-ty
havin this happenin (this happenin)..
then attack Eminem cause I rap this way (rap this way)..
But I’m glad cause they feed me the fuel that I need for the fire
to burn and it’s burnin and I have returned
Chorus
[Eminem]
I’m so sick and tired of bein admired
that I wish that I would just die or get fired
and dropped from my label and stop with the fables
I’m not gonna be able to top on “My Name is..”
And pigeon-holed into some pop-py sensation
to cop me rotation at rock’n’roll stations
And I just do not got the patience (got the patience)..
to deal with these cocky caucasians who think
I’m some wigger who just tries to be black cause I talk
with an accent, and grab on my balls, so they always keep askin
the same fuckin questions (fuckin questions)..
What school did I go to, what hood I grew up in
The why, the who what when, the where, and the how
’til I’m grabbin my hair and I’m tearin it out
cause they drivin me crazy (drivin me crazy).. I can’t take it
I’m racin, I’m pacin, I stand and I sit
And I’m thankful for ev-ery fan that I get
But I can’t take a SHIT, in the bathroom
without someone standin by it
No I won’t sign your autograph
You can call me an asshole I’m glad
“The Way I Am ‘ could have been called ‘ Eminem Against The World ‘ as well.
You can see an exceeded MC who is just fed up with everyone. At this time, Eminem had to face with so many pressures from his label, from the media, and even some fans who just didn’t respect his privacy.You can feel the anger coming out of the rapper’s chest. The song sounds authentic, because Eminem refers to real feelings, as usual. He lets his frustrations and all the negative emotions out. When we feel bad, when we feel that the pressure’s too high, we need to slacken it the same way a pressure cooker does’and the healthiest way is to let our anger, rage and frustrations out.
That is exactly what Eminem does. The repetition of the /u/ and /e/ sounds at the beginning of the song accentuates the pressure. Eminem appears to be a real word and sound technician. He anticipates the effect created by each word. While listening to the song, you can feel that rage. Most of you probably know that Eminem’s ascension to the top is rather uncommon. As I expressed it before, he came from the bottom to stardom and the pressures put on him at the beginning of his career were very high. All of a sudden, he couldn’t eat peacefully outside without being recognized by fans who wouldn’t leave him alone. His privacy was exposed and it was difficult to face with his new gained stardom.The media constantly targetted Eminem about his lyrical content. He was accused of being a bad example for the youth. Acts like Eminem and Marilyn Manson have always been easy targets for the media. They ave easy culprits from teenagers suicidal behavior or for any kind of foolishness. But Eminem brings the parents back to their responsibility : they should watch their kids. He’s not responsible for every kid’s drug addiction. As Paul Rosenberg replied sarcastically to Benzino on the phone, Eminem is ‘ whatever you say he is.’
Eminem is somebody you cannot buy. He won’t rap just to please your ears. He doesn’t rap to get cash. He is used to speaking his mind and he doesn’t care if people agree with him or not. Another thing that really angered Eminem was to be confused him with a ‘ wigga ‘.
What is exactly a ‘ wigga ‘?
A ‘ wigga ‘ is a term that means ‘ white nigga ‘ and that the black community uses for white men who are trying to imitate black men by talking ‘ ebonics ‘ and who wear the same clothes just to imitate the black community. For obvious reasons, Eminem cannot be classified as a ‘ wigga ‘. Eminem grew up in the black hood of Detroit, his accent is natural for a white man who grew up among Blacks. Eminem embraced the hip hop community, hip hop is part of his life. You cannot reproach a foreigner who was born in America to act like an American, that would be silly. It’s the same for Marshall Mathers. He is white, but his culture is hip hop, who would deny it? Eminem is fed up to have to reply to the same silly questions, he is fed up to be confused with a superficial pop icon and he just lets his rage out against all those white speakers and journalists who don’t get him. All his life, he has been annoyed about his skin color, he can’t stand such questions and shows it offenly. Marshall points out sarcastically :”I try not to look at it that way. Being white. I don’t wake up every day and look in the mirror, ‘Oh. I’m white’.
At the beginning of his career and before Benzino was trying to create an issue out of Eminem’s skin color, ‘ white ‘ magazines used to question him more about his skin color :”At this point, I’m like “Come up with something new.” I hate the same old questions. But it seems like “white” magazines such as Spin and Rolling Stone focus on my “whiteness” more than Black magazines.”
When Eminem wrote ‘ The Way I Am ‘, many people were convinced he was disrespecting his fans. Honestly, I don’t think so. I think that he was exceeded by some fans’ behavior. The kind of fans who don’t respect his privacy and who would stalk him for hours. He wanted them to understand that even if he’s a public person, he’s got a private life too.
Moments with Hailie, for instance, only belong to his private sphere. A respectful fan will get the message.’ The Way I Am ‘ are the feelings of a moment. The feelings of a man who is tired of all of us. So won’t you just leave him alone until he feels better?

I think Eminem has a perfect right to say whatever he wants.
No democracy should censor art or pop, however shocking or disgusting it may be. Eminem is the enema for the stale, saccharine platitudes and pieties that kids are force-fed these days by their PC teachers and counselors. It’s clear from his huge popularity that Eminem has tapped into a rising tide of rebellion among middle-class white kids who are sick and tired of the canned, humanitarian schmaltz of their antiseptic, namby-pamby, culture-starved schools.

Camille Paglia, Professor of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia
It is always encouraging to see that teachers support Eminem’s freedom of speech. Being myself a teacher, I think that we should introduce more tolerance into school subjects. Kids are sick and tired of being lied to. Many educators hide reality for so called ethical reasons.
Of course, I’m not sure Eminem would be perfect for 10 years old kids, but I think teachers could use his lyrics at a higher level, because I’m deeply convinced his texts are poetry. Eminem is a poet of modern times, his words are related to reality and I’m sure pupils would focus a real interest on their English lesson if it had to do with a contemporary artist instead of real boring topics.
Unfortunately schools are overcrowded by old fashioned teachers who would be shocked by such lyrics.
If pupils could also have the possiblility to sing along with Eminem, that would probably help them to improve their fluency as well as their level of English. I myself have learnt a lot from Eminem’s texts and certainly improved my level of English skills thanks to them. I have also learnt from him how to do freestyles for my own pleasure. Playing with words has become a real pleasure for me and I owe it to Marshall Mathers. Arguments that usually stop teachers are : too vulgar, too many references to drugs, sex and violence. Maybe. But we all know that clean versions of Eminem’s albums do exist. I think that we should not try to overprotect kids. Sooner or later, they will use cusswords anyway, they certainly also will know about sex and drugs. Eminem jokes about it in his song ‘ The Real Slim Shady ‘ :

And that’s the message that we deliver to little kids
And expect them not to know what a woman’s clitoris is
Of course they gonna know what intercourse is
By the time they hit fourth grade
They got the Discovery Channel don’t they?

He is so right about it : it’s obvious .
Another argument in favor of teaching Eminem’s lyrics as a school subject would be to avoid the usual stereotypes and misunderstandings. A better understanding of the use of his words would certainly help some kids not to misinterpret Eminem and avoid some foolish behavior outside. A clear interpretation of Eminem’s song would certainly have avoided lots of problems to Manchester school. There is a related story of pupils who slashed their wrists to ‘ imitate ‘ Eminem. :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1437026.stm
In fact, their behavior shows a clear misinterpretation of the verses of song ‘ Stan ‘
‘ Sometimes I cut myself to see how much it bleeds/
it’s like adrenaline, my pain is such a sudden rush for me’ ‘
The head teacher said : ‘ It has all been investigated by this idiot Eminem. ‘
In fact, he is the real dummy in the whole affair. First of all, Eminem didn’t investigate the whole affair. He never told the kids to slash their wrists. On the contrary, ‘ Stan ‘ was written to warn the fans against a crazy behaviors. The words of the lyrics are very clear on the subject.
If this dumb teacher would have taken time to examine Stan’s video deeper instead of calling Eminem an idiot, it would have been helpful for everybody. Stan’s character is a bad example not to follow, but this teacher would be suprised how much he could learn from Eminem.

Some arrogant people probably think they have the right to spread anything on the Internet, just to make fun of people.
Sometimes they really go to far.
Just because they don’t like Eminem ( I do respect their point of view, nobody forces them to like Eminem as an artist, not even as a person), they think they have the right to attack his family. I don’t know how Jenny Cide http://kimjohnston.com/archive/2003_12_07_archive.html#107109922793347614
found out about Nathan Mathers’ homepage, but she posted some comment about his website, saying ‘ Eminem’s lil brother has a shockingly awful website. ‘
Since then, a lot of people started coming to his website just to trash his guestbook and his website has been disabled. Come on, this is a real childish behavior. If you don’t like Eminem, leave his brother alone !
Nathan is 17 years old, his website is not supposed to be something very professional and even if you despise it, can’t you take into account that other people may like it ?
I am really shocked that people think they have the right to make fun of Nathan just because he is Eminem’s brother.
In fact, those people have no life and their attitude proves that they are unsatisfied with their own lives. If it wasn’t the case, they would not waste their time on Nate. I usually don’t waste my time on people I despise, my time is too precious for that. Take my advice, bunch of losers : get a damn life !