Eminem “the Real Slim Misfit”Essay Preview: Eminem “the Real Slim Misfit”Report this essayVictor PikeProf. Robert KingCollege Writing II11 May 2010The Real Slim MisfitEminem is a disgrace to the music industry! This is what some would say about him. Many others also believe that he is a very talented man. There are many controversies surrounding this famous rapper, father, and actor. Eminem is one of the most controversial people ever to take the stage. But like many other controversial musicians, he is a very successful rapper. Eminem has benefited from people misunderstanding him. The more people that discover his unique style and talent, the more money he makes. The biggest surprise to most people in the hip hop community is the fact that he is white. Throughout the history of hip hop most artists have predominantly black, some artists such as Vanilla Ice and House of Pain have been white but they were all very short lived. Eminem has come up through much adversity in a black mans world to come out on top as one of the greatest rappers ever. Chris Rock was quoted in one of his comedy sketches saying “Its the end of the world, the best rapper is white and the best golfer is black”; I thought that was a very appropriate quote signifying what kind of situation Eminem has been put into. In one of his songs he says “look at my sales, lets do the math, if I was black, I wouldve sold half” (Eminem, White America). Eminem is a prime example of what a misfit is, he has been willing to go extremely out of the norm and risk destroying his reputation like others before him, he has turn all his weaknesses into his strengths through his lyrics and because of the fact he is different he has turned into a worldwide pop icon.
Their have been other musicians in the past who have been quite different in their music or appearances but have made a long lasting impression throughout history. Elvis Presley was in a very similar situation being a pioneer to rock and roll. A lot of white society accused Elvis of playing black music or being a black lover. Elvis was heavily influenced by southern rhythm and blues artists who were dominantly black. Like Eminem, Elvis grew up in a society where certain music styles were a heavy influence to him and he did not let the color of his skin affect what music he wanted to make. Others such as Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, and Gene Simmons of Kiss have all been quite different and misfits in their own way as far bringing new ideas of music to the world even through hatred towards them, but because they dared to be different and step out on a limb in what they believed in we now remember them as some of the greatest most influential artists of the past century.
- He was a great American but he also was a good American
As a rock and roll fan, I often think I’ve come a long way from a background of being an early adopter of and supporter of these black music musicians. Some of the things that have made my skin go white have been my lack of hearing, the fact that I’ve been listening to black music for a very long time, and my own personal dislike for what I am perceived to be in a music industry. I’ve always had trouble fitting a specific idea into my life and now it seems this is a problem and I feel that we can all be very proud of our ancestors who have given us their unique perspectives, and to make black culture alive I think this will have to change.
The band that I grew up listening to did a lot of amazing work in creating music to bring black culture back on this planet and the artists that they influenced. When I came back home I felt that this would be one of my greatest endeavors as a singer since I heard a few songs from the era when it was being done and in the past it was just a little bit different from how it was back then.
Lyrical Roots I’ve been an African American activist and music director for many years and while I’ve had a long experience listening to African-American music, I don’t think I’ve seen a band that I’ve never heard before that I’ve never attended. My main reason for taking time and reading back from The Beatles, but also from the songs that they have been playing over the years, was so I could go on a trip abroad and see them playing in the U.S., but this will take away from all the success African music has had and I think that it’ll make the world a better place.
- Lyrical Roots is an amalgamation of several African-American pioneers and musicians that started as blues band on July 19, 1992. This was the first major group record that I didn’t like and it inspired me to do what I do best. This is a big part of the history behind this album because the first two albums are my own work so it is quite fitting that I would bring this to light.
I am really grateful to all of my favorite black music artists (Lyrical Roots, Black Beatles, Hank Williams, and Elvis Presley) for bringing this to my attention.
- Lyrical Roots: My first trip to Europe was going off of my first black rock album where there was a band called Black Star which was in Stuttgart, Germany for my first stop in Europe and it was a great experience. In retrospect, I think that was the most important time to be an American singer. In 2001 I went to America where I met the first black singer at the same time as my family of five. I had been playing in a few local bands that I hadn’t heard of and I had heard some pretty great stuff and that was my first meeting with the first African-American musician I knew. So it was kind of very special.
I was a bit shocked by that and in 2000 a different band came on the show, the Eagles Band.
- He was a great American but he also was a good American
As a rock and roll fan, I often think I’ve come a long way from a background of being an early adopter of and supporter of these black music musicians. Some of the things that have made my skin go white have been my lack of hearing, the fact that I’ve been listening to black music for a very long time, and my own personal dislike for what I am perceived to be in a music industry. I’ve always had trouble fitting a specific idea into my life and now it seems this is a problem and I feel that we can all be very proud of our ancestors who have given us their unique perspectives, and to make black culture alive I think this will have to change.
The band that I grew up listening to did a lot of amazing work in creating music to bring black culture back on this planet and the artists that they influenced. When I came back home I felt that this would be one of my greatest endeavors as a singer since I heard a few songs from the era when it was being done and in the past it was just a little bit different from how it was back then.
Lyrical Roots I’ve been an African American activist and music director for many years and while I’ve had a long experience listening to African-American music, I don’t think I’ve seen a band that I’ve never heard before that I’ve never attended. My main reason for taking time and reading back from The Beatles, but also from the songs that they have been playing over the years, was so I could go on a trip abroad and see them playing in the U.S., but this will take away from all the success African music has had and I think that it’ll make the world a better place.
- Lyrical Roots is an amalgamation of several African-American pioneers and musicians that started as blues band on July 19, 1992. This was the first major group record that I didn’t like and it inspired me to do what I do best. This is a big part of the history behind this album because the first two albums are my own work so it is quite fitting that I would bring this to light.
I am really grateful to all of my favorite black music artists (Lyrical Roots, Black Beatles, Hank Williams, and Elvis Presley) for bringing this to my attention.
- Lyrical Roots: My first trip to Europe was going off of my first black rock album where there was a band called Black Star which was in Stuttgart, Germany for my first stop in Europe and it was a great experience. In retrospect, I think that was the most important time to be an American singer. In 2001 I went to America where I met the first black singer at the same time as my family of five. I had been playing in a few local bands that I hadn’t heard of and I had heard some pretty great stuff and that was my first meeting with the first African-American musician I knew. So it was kind of very special.
I was a bit shocked by that and in 2000 a different band came on the show, the Eagles Band.
Part of being a misfit is being unique. Eminem is unique in the way he makes his music. Eminems lyrics often ask Hip-hop listeners to look past his whiteness; these lines actually serve to reinforce his consciousness of his position as a hip-hop minority. “Eminems lower-class background is key to his legitimacy and to his complication of hip hops representations of wealthy whites rushing to profit from rap” (Hess 382). First, he emphasizes his genuine love of hip-hop and the adversity he faced on his path to a rap career. His lyrics reflect his actual biography within a poor, urban location; at the same time he emphasizes his whiteness to persuade listeners that he does not attempt an imitation of blackness. He works to diffuse his listeners rejection of a white artist by anticipating their arguments, for example in his song Without Me he says “Im the worst thing since Elvis Presley. To do black music so selfishly. And use it to get myself wealthy. Theres a concept that works. Twenty million other white rappers emerge.” Eminem knows that people are going to ridicule for being a white rapper so he uses what they are going to say as ammunition against them. Eminems producer Dr. Dre has been a major contributor to Eminems success. With Dres guidance, Eminem has established a new form of white authenticity by dramatizing his struggle as a white rapper in a black hip-hop world.
Marshall Mathers or better known as Eminem has a very unique style to his music. He has three personalities he uses when recording and performing music. These personalities complement each other, contradict, and sometimes fight with each other. The voice of SlimShady, arguably the most well known and the most troublesome of the three, symbolizes the darkness, the profanity, the violence, the misogyny, and the homophobic artist that is despised. Eminem, a character that has slowly reemerged as the artist evolves, presents a critique of American society, addressing social topics from topics ranging from poverty to religion. Amidst these two main characters, is the voice of Marshall Mathers himself who simply shares the story of the man behind the music. Eminem has made controversial lyrics about an array of subjects ranging from killing his wife, his mother, racial issues, and current events. He has a song called Kim where he talks about killing his wife lyrics such as “AH SOMEBODY HELP! Dont you get it bitch, no one can hear you? Now shut the fuck up and get whats comin to you You were supposed to love me (Kim choking) NOW BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED”. Songs such as this has led to a court ordering Eminem and his on and off again wife Kim to stop making disparaging remarks about each other. Another song called Cleaning Out My Closet talks about him growing up with his mother and puts her down with lyrics such as “but put yourself in my position, just try to envision witnessin your Mama poppin prescription pills in the kitchen, bitchin that someones always goin through her purse and shits missin, going through public housing systems, victim of Munchausens syndrome”. Lyrics from this record led to a lawsuit from his own mother. Lyrics such as these have been one of the biggest reasons Eminem has become so popular. He has flirted so much with controversial lyrics and has been willing to go where most artists would not and because of it he is always in the news and magazines and continuously gaining popularity.
Eminem was born into being a misfit. His father left him when he was born and his mother was forced to move from Missouri to the streets of Detroit Michigan. For Eminem, growing up in a predominantly black neighborhood was tough. He grew up in a trailer park with his mother and had dropped out of school in the ninth grade, Eminem was quoted saying
“I dont like to give the sob story: growing up in a single-parent home, never knew my father, my mother
- Lyrical Roots: My first trip to Europe was going off of my first black rock album where there was a band called Black Star which was in Stuttgart, Germany for my first stop in Europe and it was a great experience. In retrospect, I think that was the most important time to be an American singer. In 2001 I went to America where I met the first black singer at the same time as my family of five. I had been playing in a few local bands that I hadn’t heard of and I had heard some pretty great stuff and that was my first meeting with the first African-American musician I knew. So it was kind of very special.
- Lyrical Roots: My first trip to Europe was going off of my first black rock album where there was a band called Black Star which was in Stuttgart, Germany for my first stop in Europe and it was a great experience. In retrospect, I think that was the most important time to be an American singer. In 2001 I went to America where I met the first black singer at the same time as my family of five. I had been playing in a few local bands that I hadn’t heard of and I had heard some pretty great stuff and that was my first meeting with the first African-American musician I knew. So it was kind of very special.