Month: April 2004

What is the difference between rap and hip hop?
Many people confuse both concepts. ‘Rap’ refers to the music. Hip Hop refers to the culture.
I have found 3 interesting definitions of the word ‘rap’ in the Urban Dictionnary:
1)’A form of popular music developed especially in African-American urban communities and characterized by spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics with a syncopated, repetitive rhythmic accompaniment.
A composition or performance of such music. ‘
I like this music, it is “rappin`” !
2)musical application of poetry, usually associated with the hardships of life and emotional grievances. Started up as early as the Beats (i.e. Kerouac and Cassidy) began using more experimental forms of poetry, and since has transgressed into modern pop and underground culture.
“If I could show you, you would never leave it.” –Atmosphere, the most beautiful combination of music and poetry
3)The best type of music, where harsh lyrics are combined with tight beats to create the best form of music.
Some Famous Rappers Are Tupac, Bone Thugs-n-harmony, Outlawz, and Eminem that filthy white shit
Although the first corresponds more to an exact definition of rap music, I must admit that I like the second one very much. Why? Because I do think that some rap lyrics ( not only Eminem’s, but many rapper’s lyrics) are music applied to poetry. The third definition is more subjective, but I could hardly disagree with.
Rap music comes from hip hop culture. It is one of the traditional four elements of hip hop: breakdance, graffiti, turntablism and rapping.
A good definition of the word hip hop can also be found in the urban dictionnary:
HIP HOP:
A name for the 4 elements of the late 70’s New York City renaissance which includes break dancing, emceeing, (rapping) graffiti, and turntablism.
Rap is something you do Hip Hop is something you live- KRS One
So we should use the word ‘rap’ only to define the music and ‘hip hop’ to talk about ghetto culture.
The roots of rap music can be found in the New York Bronx. You get some more precision about rap history here:
http://rap.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Frhino.com%2FFeatures%2Fliners%2F72851lin.html
It goes back to the Jamaican tradition in the early 70’s as a form of protest against poverty. Dj Kool Herc, Africa Bambataa and Grandmaster Flash are the pioneers of rap music. KRS One has also been very influentialtial to rap music:
http://www.houseofnubian.com/IBS/SimpleCat/Shelf/ASP/Hierarchy/0100.html
To me a rapper is certainly not a singer and it angers me when people talk about rappers as if they were singers.
Rapping is speaking rythmically words and it cannot be confused with singing.
The culture in which rap music was born is amazing. It requires a lot of artistic qualities.
To me, graffiti is art. Because it comes from the streets, graffiti has often been demeaned by people. Maybe also because the grapher exposes his art in an unconventional way and often on forbidden places. Taggers and graphers are rebels who may shocks so many comfortable conventional people
Most of the graffitis are beautiful and so various in their colors. It is complex work that requires lots of talent.
Not everybody can claim to be an expert breakdancer. Break dance is truly an art.
You will find some info about the birth of breakdancing on this website:
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/breakdancing/
The DJ’s have made an instrument out of the turntable. The scratches helped the DJ’s to refine their sound.
DJ Babu defined turntablism in 1995 this way:
“My definition of a Turntablist is a person who uses the turntables not to play music, but to manipulate sound and create music.”
There are two major elements in turntablism:
-scratching: it is the technique during which the turntablist moves the vinyl recors back and forth against the needle in order to produce various sounds.
-beat juggling: it is the technique that consists of using two different records and arranging the different elements in order to create a new rhythmical composition.
Although many people use rap and hip hop to refer to the music, it doesn’t refer to the same concept. KRS One gave us the right definition for us to make a real distinction between both words:
‘Rap is something you do Hip Hop is something you live’

Don’t misinterpret my intentions : despite the fact I am no Kim Mathers fan, I’m not trying to demean her. I’m just questioning myself about her whereabouts.
A little 8 years old girl in Oakland county, Michigan, is missing her mom. She probably has no idea of what is going on. Hailie hasn’t been able to see her mom for months since Kim has been jailed in February 2004.
There’s a harsh problem lying on Marshall’s shoulders.
Kim has gone AWOL. Again :
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13866,00.html?tnews
His baby’s mom is in danger and finds no way out of drug addiction. She doesn’t manage to get rid of drugs. Or maybe she doesn’t want to.
But Kim shouldn’t consider her interest first. She should think about her daughters Hailie and Whitney.
It is scary to see that Eminem’s ex wife acts in such a selfish and irresponsible way. She doesn’t seem to learn from her former mistakes.
Last time Kim had disappeared, she wanted to commit suicide. Marshall has rescued her from making such a mistake, because life is always worth living to the end.
While Marshall was busy appearing on German TV and making a concert in London with his D12 crew, Kim suddenly disappered, adding to Marshall’s numerous problems. Like he sings it in Hailie’s song:
‘ Now look, I love my daughter more than life in itself,
But I got a wife that’s determined to make my life livin’hell
But I handle it well, given the circumstances I’m dealt’ ‘
Marshall has invested so much in his relationship with Kim. He has also made some mistakes. He has admitted them. He has kept forgiving his ex wife and always expressed his unconditional love for her.
It seems like he’s got very little in return from Kim.
Even if Kim doesn’t want to take into account how much her ex husband has sacrificed (even financially) for her, she should at least face her responsibilities as a mom of two kids. If I was drug addicted, and the jugje would tell me : ‘ If you don’t quit drugs, you won’t see your kids again ‘, I wouldn’t hesitate one second making the right choice.
Kim has had a harsh childhood. She’s been kicked out an alcoholic home. She grew up at Marshall’s home since she was 12. She had to deal with Marshall’s fame, which is not that easy. She had to face her ex husband with the rest of the world. Her private life has been exposed in the media.
Kim’s recent whereabout are a strong SOS call. She needs some medical care. Don’t be so fast in judging her. Remember that anybody is facing dark periods in one’s life.

U.S. rapper Eminem made an appearance on German television on Tuesday and gave millions of viewers the chance to see a whole new side of him as he laid himself bare. He even attempted some rud(e)imentary German.
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_1164699_1_A,00.html
It was asking for trouble: Take one American rapper with a penchant for scandal and offensive language and add one German television show which actively encourages such behavior as a form of entertainment. The result? German viewers being treated to the sight of U.S. star Eminem dropping his trousers and cursing, much to the delight of TV Total presenter Stefan Raab.
It all started so innocently, well, as innocently as it could possibly be when it comes to an appearance from the controversial rapper as his crew D12. After performing their latest single on the ProSieben entertainment show, Eminem turned his back to the cameras and nonchalantly dropped his baggy jeans, exposing his behind to an audience of millions. Sensing the chance to grab a slice of scandal for itself, TV Total producers lingered on the rapper’s backside for a good few seconds before it was safely encased once more in denim.
Not content with one example of Mr. Mathers’ mooning skills, presenter Raab then asked young Marshall back to repeat the feat. Happy to oblige, Eminem returned once more and repeated the airing of his nether regions for the German public. This time however, obviously aware that a bit of a flash is nowhere near his usual standard of shocking behavior, the rapper accompanied his second performance with a tirade of abuse in the German tongue.
Reveling in the freedom that German television had afforded him in comparison to the restraint of TV in his home country, the American star later commented, “We love your country!”

Warrant issued for Mathers after failing to return to treatment facility
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw95800_20040407.htm
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An arrest warrant was issued for rapper Eminem’s ex-wife on Wednesday, a day after she failed to return to a court-ordered drug treatment program, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections said.
Kimberley Mathers didn’t return to a Macomb County treatment facility on Tuesday, corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said. After being taken to a doctor’s appointment that day, she was supposed to attend a nearby Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meeting and then return to the facility, he said.
Macomb County Circuit Judge Edward Servitto signed an arrest warrant for her Wednesday afternoon, Marlan said.
Marlan said authorities contacted members of Mathers’ family, but they said they didn’t know where she was.
Tuesday marked at least the second time Mathers dropped out of a court-ordered drug treatment program. She served some jail time after leaving the program late last month.
Servitto on Feb. 12 ordered Mathers to serve 30 days in the county jail and then be transferred to an inpatient substance abuse treatment program for an additional 90 days.
The 28-year-old had been sentenced on Jan. 21 to two years’ probation after pleading guilty to charges of possessing 25 grams or less of cocaine and failing to give adequate space to an emergency vehicle. The charges stemmed from a June traffic stop in St. Clair Shores.
Mathers and Eminem, whose legal name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, have a daug

So many family members or Eminem insiders are trying to get money out of the talented rapper’s pockets. Some of them, like J. R Watkins, write books hoping that the scandals and private info contained in their books will help to sell their material better.
Some others are dropping lawsuits. It looks like everbody wants a part of the cake. Those people are pityful and Eminem lovers should be very cautious not to give them any penny nor any cent.
Todd Nelson has found out an easier way than his sister Debbie to make money on Eminem’s back. He also seems to be in a desparate quest of dollars.
He is displaying a lot of personal and private info about his nephew in magazines like the ‘ Star magazine ‘ and gets paid for it. But he doesn’t seem to get enough money from it. Or maybe his appetite for money has grown. So he is selling things that used to belong to Marshall, like his former drawing. He even sold the house in Timken where Eminem has spent some time with him on ebay because of ‘ his financial problems ‘ :
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/794707/posts
But Eminem’s former home didn’t sell, despite higher bids :
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=17214&cf=6395
The man would sell his dignity as well if he could.
I would be ashamed in his place to expose my nephew’s sex life for money :
http://www.the-blue-pages.com/gossip/gossip00176.html
I think I couldn’t look at myself into the mirror if I had acted this way. It seems like Eminem’s uncle Todd has no dignity and no sense of loyalty. I guess that deep inside he m

In an article from Star Magazine, Eminem talks about the attraction of kids towards cursewords. He’s so right about it. Kids like it.
He remembers Nathan enjoying cursing when he was a little 3 years old boy:
“Of course you don’t want your kids walking around in public going [in a robotic voice], ‘Fuck.’ ‘Shit.’ ‘Cunt.’ ‘Ass.’ ‘Bitch.’ But remember how fun it was to cuss when you were in the first grade? Just to be like, ‘Fuck.’ ‘Shit.’ My little brother was 3 years old, running around the house saying, ‘Shit.’ ‘Shittty-shit.’ ‘Butterfly-firebutt.’ It’s like you can’t stop it.”
On chiprowe.com, I found this interesting comment:
‘ Language Hitlers say anyone who swears doesn’t have sufficient mastery of the language. Bullshit. Invoke Shakespeare when someone cuts you off in traffic and see how fast you get through town. ‘
You can read the full article here :
http://www.chiprowe.com/articles/swear.html
I totally agree with the author of this comment. People confuse everything: they confuse the mastery of a language and the use of cusswords, which is totally different. How many times have I been mocked by people for claiming that Eminem is a lyrical genius. Those people used to tell me:
‘If he uses so many cusswords in his songs, he cannot be a lyrical genius.’
Little did they know about the use and abuse of words’ power.
Eminem’s songs may be full of cusswords, but the way he handles them inside of a text makes them totally much with the text, rythm and melody.
‘The Way I Am’ lyrics are an example of Eminem’s ingenius use of cusswords inside of his lyrics. Those lyrics are particularly interesting, because Eminem also plays with the word curse in the third line:
‘I sit back with the pack of zig zags and this bag of this weed it gives me
the shit needed to be the most meanest MC
On this earth and sence birth I’ve been cursed with this curse to just curse
and just blirk it’s bazerk and bizare shit that works
And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve all this tension despensin me
sentence is gettin the stress that’s been eatin me recently off of this
chest and I rest again peacefully
But at least have the decency in you to leave me alone when you freaks see
me out in the street when I’m eatin or feedin my daughter to not come and
speak to me
I don’t know you and no i don’t owe you a mutha’ fuckin 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
No patience is in me and if you offend me I’m lifting you ten feet
In the air I don’t care who was there and who saw me destroy you I’ll call
you a lawyer file you a law suite I’ll smile in the court room and buy you a
wardsrobe I’m tired of arguin’
I don’t mean to be mean but that’s all I can be it’s just me…’
The lyrics of ‘Remember Me’ are also fullfilled with cusswords. The following exerpt of ‘Remember Me’ is particularly interesting, because Eminem jokes about the use of cusswords from the critics’ point of view. It is so well made and hilarious at the same time:
‘When I go out, I’ma go out shootin
I don’t mean when I die, I mean when I go out to the club, stupid
I’m tryin to clear up my fuckin’ image,
so I promised the fuckin critics
I wouldn’t say “fuckin” for six minutes
(*click* Six minutes, Slim Shady, you’re on)
My baby’s mom, bitch made me an angry blonde
So I made me a song, killed her and put Hailie on
I may be wrong, I keep thinkin these crazy thoughts
in my cranium, but I’m stuck with a crazy mom
(“Is she really on as much dope as you say she’s on?”)
Came home, and somebody musta broke in the back window
and stole two loaded machine guns and both of my trenchcoats
Sick sick dreams of picnic scenes, two kids, sixteen
with M-16’s and ten clips each
And them shits reach through six kids each
And Slim gets blamed in Bill Clint’s speech to fix these streets?
FUCK THAT! PBBT! Tou faggots can vanish to volcanic ash
and re-appear in hell with a can of gas, AND a match
Aftermath, Dre, grab the gat, show ’em where it’s at
(What the fuck you starin at, nigga?)’
So many people are shocked (or maybe do as if) by cusswords, but they often use them in their privacy. I wish some of them could stop being such hypocrits. Who hasn’t used at least one of them in a lifetime?
Cusswords help to express some rage under specific circumstances. When somebody gets on my nerves, I don’t feel ashamed to use them. It is even a relief for me to use them when I’m confronted to narrow minded and stupid people.
Being a foreign languages lover, I also know that one of the best ways to learn a foreign languages is to curse.
I remember how much I loved to curse in German as a little kid since I had caught my grandfather cursing.
And- by the way- to be perfectly honest, I enjoy the many cusswords in Eminem’s lyrics. I enjoy reading them, singing them along with him and also playing with them in my allday life. Eminem’s words including his cusswords have empowered my use of the English language.
And if you don’t like it, ‘fuck you punkbitchassmotherfucker’!
I’m just playing. You know I don’t mean it

You selfish bitch, I hope you fucking burn in hell for this shit

(Eminem, ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’)
Is Debbie Mathers one of the most hated women in Detroit? If you ask me, I’d say ‘pretty much’. A lot of people dislike Debbie because of the picture Marshall is portraying of her in his songs. She pretends that her son had to live up an image and that the content of his songs are just ‘artistic expression’. She pretends her son to be lying, but she doesn’t want to call him a ‘fake’…
The facts tend to dement Debbie’s version. So many people, including her ex husbands and boyfriends have testified against her. Even Nathan, her second son described her as ‘nuts’. One thing is sure: Marshall’s childhood has been more than traumatic and has left deep wounds inside of him.
We may ask: how was Debbie’s own childhood? Can her instable behavior be explained? Maybe yes.
Debbie Nelson is Bob Nelson and Betty Kresin’s first child. She was born in 1955. Appearently, Betty and Bob’s marriage just didn’t work out. Betty Kresin pretends that her ex husband was verbally abusive. She left him:
“I hate to say it, but Debbie had a very hard life. I left Mr. Nelson, married on the rebound and had two more children.”
About the way she raised Marshall, Betty says :
‘ She done the best she could do. Sometimes we get in a pattern and her husband did her about like Bob Nelson done me.”
The situation worsened when Betty married Ron Gilpin, who was physically violent and alcoholic. He used to beat his wife. He left his family in 1968:
“I was real lucky to live. Can you imagine what that done to Debbie? She was about 12 years old.”
Debbie used to grow up in an instable home and was surrounded by violence and this my partly explain why she made Marshall live a traumatic childhood. Debbie Mathers seems to have an irrational and instable character. It is also well known that she had a lot of men in her life. Betty remembers the boyfriend who devastated her appartment:
‘Debbie had a lot of men in and out of her life, including one memorable boyfriend called Charlie. He went home and destroyed their duplex – even cutting up their king-sized waterbed. She called me crying, asking me to help clean up the flood.’
Kim confirms what we already know: Debbie used to constantly kick Marshall out of her house:
“It was rough, to say the least. She kicked us out every other day, threw temper tantrums, threw (things) at us.”
The situation with Debbie was so unbearable that Marshall had to move to friends’ home when he was 20.
DJ Rec recalls: ‘”It was basically that his mom was screwed up and he didn’t want to be around it, Marshall didn’t do any drugs or drink. He was just dating Kim off and on and doing the music thing, that’s about it. He moved in with us because he didn’t have nowhere else to go.”
Of course, Debbie Mathers gives us another version of the facts. She manages to present herself like a victim: a victim of her protective behavior towards Marshall, a victim of Kim’s jealousy, a victim of the records labels wishes for Eminem’s lyrics etc… In fact, Debbie never questions herself about the mistakes she could have made in the past.
You can read her statements here:
http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=debbie+mathers%27+childhood&ei=UTF-8&cop=mss&b=21&u=archive.salon.com/people/conv/2001/02/21/debbie_mathers/print.html&w=debbie+mathers+childhood&d=17BCDB3854&c=483&yc=20888&icp=1
She even manages to justify her 12 Million dollars lawsuit against her son. Then she claims to love him. The same sick song again and again.
As Eminem points it out (Betty Kresin said nearly the same about her own daughter’s love for lawsuits):
“My mother never worked, so her income was lawsuits. My mother was in K-Mart and my brother hit her with a toy, and she said a rack fell on her and sued K-Mart’ ‘
Men used to be another income ressource for Debbie:
‘ My mother would move them in, now able to laugh at the memory, and then she would kick them out and keep their stuff.” (Eminem)
But the worst was Debbie’s sickness (Munchausen’s syndrome) :
“My mother said I was a hyper kid and I wasn’t. She put me on Ritalin.”
Nobody would take Debbie seriously when so many people testify against her. Her own son Nathan wouldn’t describe her as nuts if she had a normal behavior.
In fact, Marshall can be lucky to have overcome his horrible past. He can be proud to be where he is now, as he told it to Howard Stern:
‘I look back on where I came from and I’m kind of proud.’
The only person who really sticks up for her is Todd Nelson who seems to have the same financial interest than her sister. Todd Nelson’s attitude is a shame.
He is trying to make money out of any little document from Marshall and he spreads as many rumors in different magazines. Money is his only motivation. In my opinion, this man is a pityful loser. He even dared stating in his tape ‘The Man Behind the Mask’ that he taught Marshall how to rap. Can you picture Todd Nelson standing in front of the camera with a guitar and pointing out ridiculous statements such as those? Who is going to believe him?
Uncle Todd also wants his nephew to look like a lier in front of the world.
He totally denies that Debbie abused her son and is trying to explain Marshall’s anger through the absence of his dad:
“Marshall was always very resentful over not having a father figure in his life. Growing up, he felt like he missed out on a lot.
“But all this stuff about him being abused as a child, is so far from the truth, it’s just laughable.
“Debbie did everything she could for him when he was growing up. She bought him his first car – a Lincoln Continental – and ran around after him so he didn’t have to take responsibility for anything. She’s done the same thing with her youngest, Nathan, and he’s growing up to be an equally spoiled brat.”
Nelson is very eager to make money out of Marshall’s name. He has even built his own website using the rappers name. Of course, (you guessed it) you got to pay to access to the family pictures and other former documents.
Todd pretends that the way Marshall portrays his mom in 8 Mile is a total lie. He says that Debbie received a consequent amont of money from Universal Pictures to keep silent for three years:
“Debbie told me Universal Pictures were going to pay her ‘50,000 over three years in return for her silence.
“They didn’t want her doing any interviews or making any comment on the film because they wanted cinemagoers to believe it was Eminem’s life story they were seeing up there on the screen.
“But Debbie knew the truth. It’s not something she did for the money, despite what people might think.
“She did it for Marshall because that’s what he wanted and she’s desperate to be reconciled with him.”
Who would believe Todd’s story? Marshall is rich enough, he doesn’t need to fake the truth.
According to the latest news on Debbie, she is gravely ill. She is battling with breast cancer and she would love to reconcile with her son.
Of course, she has been through a lot since Marshall is famous as her brother points it out:
‘Debbie can’t go out anywhere in Detroit without being recognised. And normally it ends up with her being abused or attacked.
“She’s had everything from eggs thrown at her to cigarette butts flicked at her. She got so fed up with people cursing or staring at her that she’ll only do her shopping in the middle of the night.
“It’s a terrible way to live and nobody deserves what she’s been through.”
There is no excuse for Eminem fans acting like this. I could never picture myself insulting Debbie in real life. After all, she remains Marshall’s mom. And even for giving birth to the most talented rapper, she deserves respect.
Knowing his mom is facing terminal cancer and that she feels lost and hopeless, maybe it would be high time for mom and son to forget about the past and to reconcile for each of them to live peacefully.

Eminem makes black music. He’s been accused so many times of appropriating black music for its commercialization. Some publisher even told me: ‘Eminem himself admits stealing black music for his own benefit. In my opinion, he took Eminem a little bit too literally when he listened to ‘Without Me’:
‘I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley
do black music so selfishly
and used it to get myself wealthy…’
In fact, Eminem’s statements in ‘Without Me’ are nothing else but sarcasm. Eminem shows that he is sick to be compared with Elvis Presley who was actually using black music selfishly. People who know Eminem perfectly know that when he gets accused of something, he adds to it and exaggerates it. This is exactly how Eminem reacted in his song ‘Criminal’ against the accusations of homophobia.
Why do people always have to take the talented MC so literally? Probably because they lack a real sense of humor.
When Eminem goes on in ‘Without Me’, he points out that this concept of using black music works for a lot of white rappers. It’ s a matter of fact here are more and more Whites on the rap scene.But most of those many Whites probably lack talent and originality. Deep inside the listener understands that Eminem is different:
‘Here’s a concept that works
Twenty million other white rappers emerge
But no matter how many fish in the sea
It’ll be so empty, without me…’
As far as I am concerned, he is definitely not a culture stealer. Eminem reminds me of some young white boy I had seen on TV. This boy had grown up in Ivory Coast. His accent was the accent of a black man, and frankly, a blind man would not have been able to make any difference between him and one of his black fellows. His whole behavior and body language could be linked to black people.
The opinion I want to express about Eminem isn’t conditioned by the media’s praise nor negative comments. Being myself a white woman who has spent a lot of time with black people and who has been influenced a lot by black music and black culture, I have always been very critical towards white people and other ethnic groups trying to make black music. I have been a blues, soul, funky music lover long before being a rap lover. When my son tried to introduce me into Eminem, he had to insist for me to listen to him. Eminem totally convinced me as a rapper. His talent, his well written lyrics, his imagination are undeniable.
Eminem is a white man who stands closer to black culture and music than he will ever stand to white culture in America.
In ‘White America’, he claims: ‘White America, I could be one of your kids’.
Of course, he is addressing to white kids. But his voice comes from the black hood. Eminem isn’t a ‘black wannabe’, he doesn’t talk ‘ebonics’ to look good in front of his public. He’s a white man with ‘chocolate on the inside’. His skin may be white, but his heart is entirely dedicated to the black community. Eminem’s lyrics sound like a strong message for white kids to look up at black history and to become conscious of the problems the black community is experiencing.
When I recently had an occasion to teach about hip hop in 9th grade, I have explored ghetto life and hip hop culture with my pupils. My pupils had a lot to learn about black culture. But one of them really surprised me when I have asked about Eminem: ‘Rap is supposed to be black music. How do you explain Eminem’s acceptance in the black community?’
He answered: ‘This man respects Blacks. He also speaks like them.’
Both elements are right. Eminem has always shown respect and love towards black people and black culture. A culture that is also his. He hasn’t stolen it. : he has grown up in hip hop culture.
His whole fight was about the recognition of a talented MC in a black man’s wor