Eminem's Hypocrisy

The film starts with a black screen before Eminem’s white face appears. Jimmy lives on the opposite side of 8 Mile Road, which separates him from the urban blacks, and makes him a privileged suburban white. His mission in this movie to cross that literal and psychological border (8 Mile Road) and become accepted as a rapper despite his skin color. It is argued that Rabbit’s character is a tourist who ventures into black culture, and on the way, masters their art and dominates their industry (Jennings 2008). Therefore, Eminem, and the director Curtis Hutton, white people writing about an African-American dominated industry, have now commodified the culture (Jennings 2008). This translates to Eminem’s career and his success in the industry. But Eminem’s success is ultimately due to his ability to encompass the characteristics of black culture while maintaining his position as a white male: “affiliations with black masculinity provide cultural acceptance and authenticity, which fuel his entry into hip-hop culture. White masculinity provides mobility, ambivalence from white audiences, and commercial success” (Dawkins 465). Therefore by “walking” the spaces between black and white masculinity and never committing to one, he masters the industry. Somehow he uses both racial characterizations as privileges (Dawkins 464-465).

Millions of people in the world listen to music for all different reasons. Most people all over the world listen to different genres of music in order to relax, but not too many people pay attention to the actual lyrics of a song. If you listen to the lyrics of a song you will realize that many songs have important messages or themes to them. An example of this is the lyrics of the song “Changes” by Tupac Shakur. If you listen to this song, you will realize that Tupac raps about not only the problems that African Americans face from society, but also the struggles that poor people in society have to endure and overcome. Many

Rap music has become one of the most distinctive and controversial music genres of the past few decades. A major part of hip hop culture, rap, discusses the experiences and standards of living of people in different situations ranging from racial stereotyping to struggle for survival in poor, violent conditions. Rap music is a vocal protest for the people oppressed by these things. Most people know that rap is not only music to dance and party to, but a significant form of expression. It is a source of information that describes the rage of people facing growing oppression, declining opportunities for advancement, changing moods on the streets, and everyday survival. Its distinct sound, images, and attitude are notorious to people of all

While most rappers establish their credibility by boasting about their wealth and position in their lyrics, “The Way I Am” makes it clear that this rapper refuses to change his lifestyle to conform to the expectations set for rappers. Although, like most rappers, he does take an autobiographical stance in this song, he is more specific and honest in his lyrics than the majority of rappers. He reveals details about his family by claiming he often feels like his father because he “hate[s] to be bothered.” While the majority of rappers might replace a personal detail like this for one that describes their materialistic gains, Eminem ensures that his audience sees fame from an honest perspective. He provides another brief example of a personal problem he has had with fans approaching him while he’s with his family. With lines expressing these sentiments, he gives the impression that he doesn’t care about his fans’ opinions. He criticizes his fans for disturbing him, claiming that he doesn’t owe them anything. This criticism serves the purpose of establishing authority through his lack of interest. Due to the aggressive indifference his lyrics express, the interpreter will likely assume the rapper has the authority to devalue others’ opinions. The intent of the song is not to prove that he is worthy of praise, fame, or glory. On the contrary, the lyrics as a

More often than naught protest music is often associated with war and politics and a little less with the social norms of the current society and culture. The most iconic artist that did challenge and changed the social norms was Elvis, even though at the time he was not aware of doing so.

According to Mary Eberstadt, "contemporary adolescent popular music, especially the subgenres of heavy metal and hip-hop/rap, is uniquely degraded – and degrading – by the standards of previous generations." When compering music in the past and today, it is important to compere musical lyric too. Modern music is more aggressive and coarser than old music. Contemporary lyrics describe misogyny, violence, suicide, sexual exploitation, children abuse and other bad things. Mary Eberstadt explains the changes in musical lyric as a result of changes in society. Nowadays, music is not censored. In her essay "Eminem is Right," Eberstadt wrote about how Eminem is right in his songs because he understands the current family crisis that millions children

The song’s character is just a member of the majority, even if the songwriters condemn his way of thinking. The criticism of the average citizen becomes much clearer during the second section of the song.

Many contradicting views surround rap music’s controversial subjects and use of language. While some consider it highly offensive, there is some validity to the rhetoric applied in political rap. In the 1990’s racial inequality is rampant with uprisings and segregated neighborhoods that condemn minorities and lower socioeconomic classes to inhumane living conditions. Specifically, Tupac Shakur’s posthumous song “I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto” combines an emancipatory lyric with a hopeful and upbeat instrumental to assess the racial inequality in society and the possibility of a better future.

This song implies that individual’s are violating the norms and values of society. They start the song with a verse that expresses

In his article, Brooks strongly focuses on how protesting work with music based on moral, physical and perceptual. A song is written not only to sell, it is also composed depend on individials’ speeches that about peace, avoiding violence and war. Brooks expresses people against themselves when they protest because they would be arrested by violence, so people should not protest and ask themselves why they have to protest. However, actually, people need to protest because it is also their benefits that they must protect. Protesting and avoiding against themselves, it seems to be impossible, but it is not. Protest music can make impossible to possible. Brooks analyses how majority, chorus, and footnote impact to a protest music. In addition,

He speaks with such emphasis when delivering these raps, leaving no doubt as to the purpose or meaning of his lyrics. Throughout both verses, Mos Def pulls no punches while speaking about pertinent issues in modern urban society. Things such as drug use, police behavior, and government spending are critiqued with an almost confrontational vocal tone, as if his experiences and opinions have formed and anger about the current direction our society is headed in. Mos Def’s rapping about socioeconomic problems are very controversial, because some people have not been exposed to the things that he raps about and thus may not understand (Perry). However, he raps them so confidently and with such stress that no one can deny how strongly he feels about the subject matter. Similar to the beat of “Mathematics”, Mos Def’s lyrics also bring about a sense of conflict. His flow is certainly not structured perfectly- as the pace speeds up and his words become more serious and pronounced as the song progresses. This was done intentionally to give the piece its harsh tone and send a clear challenge to its listeners- to stop sending society in the wrong

When faced with the decision of which pop song really stood out to me during my youth and adolescent years, the song “Lose Yourself” by Eminem immediately came across my mind. From listening to this song during soccer game warm ups, to quietly being indulged in my own headphones while studying for high school exams, this song was like no other in my ITunes library. On top of its amazing use of musical elements, I especially love this song because of its connection to certain socio historical factors and the pure raw meaning behind its lyrics. Although the reaction to this song was quite mixed, and stirred a lot controversy, it was the most defining rap song of the early 2000s. While sitting at my seat pondering about this piece, it brought

Groups of anti Eminem protestors are trying to have him band from television and radio. They are also trying to get his record company, Interscope records, to stop him from producing any more records. Eminem isn’t really bothered by this. In an interview with Channel V he said “I’m not alone in the way I feel, I believe that a lot of people can relate to my stuff, whether white, black, it doesn’t matter. Everybody has been through some stuff, whether drastic or not drastic. This is how I

Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, is recognized for his work as a rap artist who is able to connect with his audience through humor and rhythmically dicey lyrics. Eminem’s “My Name Is” music video is able signify whiteness and rearticulate race with the use intertextual editing techniques that parody common representations of whiteness. Eminem is using his “My Name Is” video as an approach to solidify his style of rapping and thus create new political and cultural authenticities that entice questions of race representation in the 1990’s and beyond. (Kajikawa).

Marshall Mathers, widely known as Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor, who is recognized as one of the most controversial and best-selling artists of the early 21st century (“Eminem”). Marshall writes most of his lyrics through his personal life experiences while adding a comical “I don’t give a S***” vibe to them. He struggled through a rough and lonely childhood, had relationship issues, became a father at a young age, and worked hard with dedication and persistence to get where he is today.