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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 !

EMINEM saved his ex-wife KIM MATHERS from committing suicide in Mexico last month (NOV03), according to the hip-hop star’s uncle.
Eminem’s uncle, TODD MARSHALL, says Mathers fled to sun-soaked resort Cancun during the two weeks she disappeared, missing court appearances on drug charges in her home state of Michigan.
Two arrest warrants were issued before she reappeared in two courts on 18 November (03).
Nelson, a Michigan-based paralegal, tells America’s STAR magazine, “I heard she had planned to kill herself down in Cancun, a place she’s always loved, and where she wanted to die.”
After Kim failed to appear in court on 4 November (03), Eminem was granted full temporary custody of the couple’s seven-year-old daughter HAILIE.
Nelson says Eminem, real name MARSHALL MATHERS III, persuaded Kim to turn herself in and posted her $50,000 (GBP29,411) bail.
He also claims Kim is upset about having to receive in-house drug treatment in January (04), noting, “She’s threatening suicide again.”

As you all know by now, Benzino (who is NOT a co-founder of the Source, as is often reported) has released tapes of a much younger Eminem using the N word and bad-mouthing Black women in a rambling, amateurish freestyle.
But what Benzino’s not telling you is that he himself was once affiliated with a white emcee, and that white emcee used the N word on the track they made together. In fact, it appears that Benzino told his white emcee to use the N word.
The emcee in question is named Bawston Strangla, and his connection to Benzino is detailed on his web page here, where you can also download the song he and Benzino worked on together in 2000, “Shamrocks and Glocks”. About 35 seconds into the song you will hear Strangla drop the proverbial “N” bomb, in a passage that sounds very random and out of place alongside his other lyrics.
Through some rudimentary googling I got in contact with a representative of the Bawston Strangla today. He indicated that Strangla is no longer associated with Benzino, and explained that while recording Shamrocks and Glocks, “during the session benzino told him to use the N word in the song”.
Benzino told him to use the N word.
This does nothing to minimize the offensiveness of Eminem’s newly unearthed lyrics, but it certainly places Benzino’s righteous indignation in a different light. Just in case anyone was starting to take him seriously.
Edit: Dru Garrity of Commonwealth Rcords hit me off with a little more info on what Bawston Strangla is up to now: “Bawston Strangla is finishing up his next LP “BEDLHAM IN BOSTON 1998-2004” which will feature the Benzino track as well as tracks produced by D-Tension, Dickie Skinz, RayBoy, Irish Devil.. We also just shot a video for the lead single “Got To Do”..

Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

Those few lines from the Eminem song ‘Lose Yourself’ started resonating into my head like a strong call. How many of us have missed opportunities in our lives? How many of us didn’t even pay attention to them?
It is never too late to do things the right way. We just have to take attention and not to miss the right moment. Everybody is given the chance to ‘capture’. Of course, it will require main qualities like inner strength and a strong willpower. But if we go to the end, we will be rewarded.
‘Lose Yourself’ is an introspective and an optimistic song. There are so many good lessons and encouragements to learn from it.
‘You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
you own it…’
You need to use your instinct to find the right moment. You need to act now, if you keep waiting it may be too late for you.
When you feel deep inside that it’s your time to shine, you just have to run…the moment is yours, you own it…so capture it right now!
Follow the song’s words:
‘…you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo…’
Like Jimmy, we sometimes have to go through difficult situations. We will have to prove our inner capacity, our strength. We will certainly have to fight a lot of doubts and anxiousness before we reach our goal. No matter what kind of circumstances we are going through, we may reach the point where we feel that we have no right to give up and feel the way Jimmy feels:
“He’s so mad, but he won’t give up that
Is he? No
He won’t have it , he knows his whole back city’s ropes
It don’t matter, he’s dope
He knows that, but he’s broke
He’s so stacked that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, that’s when it’s
Back to the lab again yo
This whole rap shit
He better go capture this moment and hope it don’t pass him…”
We are ready now to conquer the world. We must have enough rage inside to fight and not to accept failure, come to the point where you will say with Jimmy:
‘Success is my only mothafuckin option…’
We must refuse the idea to be failing in our mind, always try until we reach our final success.
Then we will be able to claim with Eminem:
‘ You can do anything you set your mind to, man.’
A sentence that has become even more than my daily life philosophy, it is my motto and I’m very proud to apply to it. It actually works!

To Marshall a cute tribute
I was like in the desert lost
But you brought me something bright
I think it was some light
One day you will know
How much you helped me to grow
So much in my mind was forbidden
And many talents were hidden
But now thanks to you
I understand that words are made to be written
You gave me the courage
To express my rage
And your discourse
Was there to enforce
My hidden force
My truth needed to be said
In every new thread
You gave me the courage to change
My self destructive behavior
To me being like a savior
And things to rearrange
And thanks to you I know
Because you helped me to grow
That I can do anything I set my mind to
Thanks to you I realize that it’s really true.

Eminem is once again making headlines for his controversial songs, but this time it was the Secret Service that had their eyes on the Detroit rap star, Local 4 reported.
In the lyrics to an unpublished song, “We As Americans,” Eminem apparently threatened the president of the United States.
The song had reportedly been passed around the Internet and was causing a stir for the following lyric:
“I don’t rap for dead presidents. I’d rather see presidents dead.”
The Secret Service released a statement saying, “We are aware of the lyrics and are in the process of determining what action, if any, will be taken.”
John Gill, a spokesman, later announced that the Secret Service would not conduct a formal investigation, but cautioned that such lyrics can have unintended consequences on others.
Representatives of the Detroit rapper could not be reached Monday night for comment. Eminem’s spokesman told CNN recently the song was “unfinished” and that “there was no determination where, when, how or if it was going to be used.”
Gill said the Secret Service must balance its duties of investigating such communications with its respect for the constitutional right of freedom of speech.
He added, however, that it was necessary for the Secret Service to look into communications that could be considered threatening to the president.
“The Secret Service takes every potential threat against the president seriously,” Gill said. “We don’t have the luxury to do otherwise. ”
The song does not appear to make any direct mention to President George W.