"I'm just Marshall Mathers, just a regular guy, I dunno why all the fuss about me. . ."
Does anyone have a sense of humour
anymore? Or is it that I've a sick mind, just as
critics are saying about Marshall
Mathers III, a.k.a. EMINEM and Slim Shady.
His lyrics are at best being called misogynistic, homophobic, violent...the list is
endless. And what's this doing for the selling of his albums? Of course it's helped make
his latest “The Marshall Mathers LP” the biggest selling Rap album of all time, all
this and he's white to boot.
But what about the other side to his lyrics, what I would describe as humorous, tongue
in cheek, heart felt, truthful, disturbing, sure, but also extremely observant and brilliant.
He's rapping about life as he sees it, as he's experienced it. He's not doing
anything different to what other great performers who write their own material are doing.
In fact, in my opinion he's bettering them by not glazing over his opinions with ones that
pleases the general population.
So it might be wrong in your eyes that he's
written a song about killing his mother, Debbie Mathers-Briggs
“Bitch, I'm-a kill you! Like a murder weapon I'm-a conceal you
In a closet with mildew, sheets, pillows & film you”
– Kill you – The Marshall Mathers LP
or estranged wife Kim,
“Mama's too sweepy to hear you screamin in her ear (ma-maa!)
That's why you can't get her to wake, but don't worry
Da-da made a nice bed for mommy at the bottom of the lake”
– 97 Bonnie and Clyde – The Slim Shady LP
but if you listen closely to these songs and a big percent of the other songs on his albums
you'll hear the man saying what I think more people should be taking notice of. That he
says things in his songs just to make people mad. Violent, sure, misogynistic, homophobic,
maybe, but he's getting a rise out of the public and making millions while he’s at it. Don’t get me wrong, he means the
things that he says, in some strange “I’ve had a bitch of a life” kind of way. But all he’s
trying to do, apart from let you see things through his eyes, it not take life so seriously,
take everything with a grain of salt and for god's sake, relax!His newest album
"The Marshall Mathers LP" has sold over 7.3 million copies in the US alone and spent 7 weeks
at number one on the Billboard pop albums chart. His latest single release "Stan" which is
about an obsessed fan who after writing to EMINEM for months with no reply, takes a cocktail
of drugs and alcohol, puts his girlfriend in the trunk of his car and drives them off a bridge. And it’s
set too to top the charts just as his previous singles "My name is" (this years most requested
song on MTV) and "The way I am", EMINEM's personal favourite, and most vicious attack on
the mainstream media, on the album.
It all goes back to the media
and how they've chosen to portray him. If he hadn’t been getting all this attention from them
in the first place who would even know or care. He obviously doesn’t offend the people that are buying
his albums, so why publicise all that he’s saying just so they can put shit on it.
It’s the same old story “my son killed himself ‘cos he was listening to an Ozzy record”
“teenagers shoot up a school ‘cos they’re obsessed with Marilyn Manson and wearing black”.
What about the fact that that fucked up teenager that decided to take his life is being beaten
by his father and ignored by his pill popping mother, or those fucked up teenagers are being
bullied day in and day out by fellow classmates. Don’t get my wrong, I DO think it’s a cop
out to blame such things on abusive parents etc. but what I don’t think is wrong is EMINEM
raping about things he’s never personally going to do, but has seen happen around him. Singing
about killing his wife and mother beats the hell out of actually taking a knife to their throat
and doing it, right? He’s obviously a very angry person, but he’s also a human being with feelings
and surely some of us would be hypocrites if we said we’d never thought about becoming violent towards
someone who’s hurt us badly. That’s all he’s doing, and rapping about it on his album is
just his way of getting it out.
If you’re interested in free speech, love rap or even just have a liking for music with
extreme passion, even if it is sometimes a violent passion, go out and listen to EMINEM’s
latest offering. His eye for real life situations, feelings and experiences are portrayed
brilliantly and humorously, if you know how to not take him, and yourself, too seriously.
Andrea J. Fisher,
a.k.a Mishka
