Every Generation Gets the Vanilla Ice They Deserve
I have to admit that I like Eminem. I don't
like his music and don't necessarily agree with whatever he's saying but he's good for the
music industry in many ways. Detroit's Marshall Mathers or Slim Shady isn't doing
anything drastically different than a prankster like Boyd Rice or Monte Cazazza did 20
years ago. He simply has a more easily digestible, world-accepted commercially viable
medium to deliver the message. What is his message? Just like Boyd, Mathers provides a
mirror on ourselves, showing how ugly we really can be - only if we actually take a step
back and think about it. Slim Shady does this by openly blasting people in his music - like
Britney Spears, N'Sync, his mother or gays, but at the end of his songs, he'll often toss in
comments about how he's sort of playing around with your mind. So thus begins the
controversy on how to interpret him - are we left to believe he means all those things? The
weak minded individuals will become blind followers - much like those Nazi boys that
show up at Death In June gigs! Mathers essentially is everything you make him out to be.
I believe him to be a downright coward, as he comes off all tough but really he only picks
on those that won't fight back, groups that don't threaten him. (I still haven't heard the
word "nigger" in any of his songs yet.) Eminem also provides a great window on how
racist the music industry and radio is, reflected simply by his popularity (and not dependent
on his lyrical content). White rap singers get the airplay on the "alternative" stations, the
"rock" stations as well as the "top 40" stations. Snow, Beastie Boys and Everlast have all
achieved multi-platinum success when black artists were ignored. When was the last time
you heard Ol' Dirty Bastard on your local commercial alterna radio outlet? Public Enemy
only crossed over the line into mainstream success because they opened for Beastie Boys,
RUN DMC crossed over because they had a hit with Aerosmith. Mathers shows us the
world is truly an ugly, racist, sexist place and it's us who make it that way.
- Written by: Staff
- Parent Category: Opinions & Editorials
- Category: Deep Thoughts
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