Chuck D, leader of Public Enemy, has frequently spoken of him as an example of a white musician who stands up to “Elvisism,” the phenomenon of adopting others’ music without acknowledging its originators and even being openly racist towards them. Many Black rap figures, however, have argued that Eminem’s case is radically different from that of Elvis Presley. But the discussion about whether the Missouri artist is an example of cultural appropriation continues even today. And in the song “Without Me,” composed together with Jeffrey Bass and famous for its bass riff, surely one of the best known in history, Eminem directly addressed his parallels with Elvis Presley, another icon who also went down in history for succeeding in a genre developed by the Black population.Įminem was far from the first white rapper to be famous–in fact, on the cover of his 2018 album Kamikaze, he paid tribute to the Beastie Boys, a white group that succeeded in hip-hop long before him. “Surely hip-hop was never a problem in Harlem, only in Boston,” he quipped. In the song “White America,” for example, he pointed out the hypocrisy around the great concern that his lyrics had caused–greater, in his opinion, than that caused by Black rappers, because he was listened to by white youth. In The Eminem Show, the artist also delved into the theme of his status as a white rap star, which he also addressed in the film 8 Mile. In 2020, rumors that Mariah Carey would talk about Eminem in her biography worried the rapper, according to sources from US Weekly, because “she was always his Achilles’ heel, and they had a very toxic relationship.” Eminem was not mentioned in the book, although Mariah Carey parodied him last year by appearing dressed as him on TikTok. The controversy would enter an impasse years later, when Eminem threatened in another song (”The Warning”) to publish intimate photos of the New York artist. She would later dedicate the song “Obsessed? to him.
The singer of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” denied the allegation. The song “Superman” marked the beginning of the rapper’s long controversy with Mariah Carey, with whom the rapper claimed to have had a tumultuous relationship. The Eminem Show, despite its intentions, also contained its own catalog of invectives–some more subtle than others–against its peers on the charts. The rapper would later be investigated by the Secret Service as a result of his lyrics’ possible threats towards the White House’s tenant, an achievement that he would repeat under the presidency of Donald Trump. The lyrics also openly criticized the administration of then-President George W. Other songs, like “‘Till I Collapse,” “White America” and “Sing for the Moment,” with its recognizable sample from Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” gave the album a confessional quality. “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” itself, in fact, was a settling of accounts with the rapper’s own mother, who had previously denounced him for attacks in other songs including “My Name Is” or “Marshall Mathers.”
I wanted to show that I’m a solid artist and that I’m here to stay,” the rapper said in an interview at the time with Spin magazine. “One of the most frustrating things for me was people saying I needed to swear to sell records. Its lyrics now took aim more at his own dirty laundry than that of the star system. The song titles, like “ Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” reflect the album’s self-referential character. The rapper even declared that his album “was written by Jim Carrey,” the protagonist of the drama in which a normal man unknowingly lives in a reality television program watched by millions.
#Devour up troubles lyrics movie
The album’s title could be read as a counterpart to The Slim Shady Show, but it was primarily inspired by the movie The Truman Show (1998). Satirizing his own fame and his character, Eminem conceived of The Eminem Show, which was leaked to the public at the end of May 2002 and is now turning 20.
With the upcoming release of his own semi-biographical film, the critical and commercial hit 8 Mile (2002), the rapper decided to make a public spectacle of his circumstances. After insulting pop stars like Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys in his songs, the character–who even had his own cartoon series, The Slim Shady Show–now threatened to devour its creators.Įminem later reflected that his life at that time had turned into a circus. The Slim Shady character was a loudmouth, satirical version, and it got Mathers into constant trouble, bringing him significant public notoriety. The musician, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, had followed his first EP, The Slim Shady EP (1997) with the album The Slim Shady LP (1999) as a way to counter criticism of the serious, dramatic tone of his debut album, Infinite (1996). The rapper’s alter ego was taking him down the wrong path. By 2002, Eminem needed to get rid of Slim Shady.
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