Eminem's Song example essay topic
MTV. com and RollingStone. com gave biographies on Eminem. Marshall Bruce Mathews was born on October 17, 1973, in Kansas City Missouri. His childhood was not stable. He traveled the country with his mother living in different relatives homes until he ended up in Detroit at the age of twelve. Marshall competed in freestyle competitions in high school during lunchtime and decided to drop out in the ninth grade. He knew from that point on he wanted to rap and become a superstar.
In 1996 he released his first album, Infinite. The album was not widely accepted and people did not know of the white kid trying to make it big in a black man's business. "Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself", Eminem recalls. "It was a growing stage.
I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up". But the poor responses did not stop him. He immediately started working on The Slim Shady EP. Slim Shady is supposed to be Marshall's shocking side that talks about his life and his troubles. "I made some shit that I wanted to hear. The Slim Shady EP, I lashed out on everybody who talked shit about me".
By representing himself as himself, Eminem's career started rising. At the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, Eminem was runner-up in the freestyle competition. Paul Rosenberg, Eminem's manager, provided a few people from Interscope Records a demo, and Eminem made his most important radio appearance on the "Wake Up Show with Sway and Tech". One song from the Slim Shady EP was titled "I Just Don't Give A Fuck". The song became an underground hit that led his future into signing with Dr. Dre at Interscope Records. His song "I Just Don't Give a Fuck" talks about using drugs, committing crime, fighting, killing, betrayal, making fun of Vanilla Ice, and foremost just not really caring about anything.
He incorporates everything that society finds rude and offensive to work for him. Eminem does not just do this on one song, but he incorporates all of these things through out all of his recent albums. The Slim Shady LP was Eminem's first album released from Interscope Records that used his harsh lyrics to make him number two on the US album chart in March 1999. "Guilty Conscious", featuring Dr. Dre, talked about different situations where normal people have the choice of doing the right or wrong thing. This is song is like the old clich'e of having a devil on one shoulder and then an angel on the other. Dr. Dre took the role as being the persuader for good, while Eminem took the role where he told people to rob a liquor store, take advantage of a drunk underage girl, and to kill a cheating wife.
Not everybody can relate to the situations he is talking about, but a lot of people like violence so they nod their heads to his flowing lyrics. One major person that Eminem draws inspiration from for his songs is his ex wife Kim. Some of his songs talk about killing her in many ways, but the song that best portrays this is on his song " '97 Bonnie and Clyde" from the Slim Shady LP. In this song he is talking to his daughter, Hailey, about killing her mother.
He uses such phrases as "Mama is taking a nap in the trunk", "It's kinda late to go swimmin', but you know you mama she's one of those type of women", and "Your mama wants to show you how far she can float". (OHHLA. com; Thigpen) Their rocky marriage ended in October of 2001 (Lynch). Eminem also uses his mother for lyrics. "So you could try to justify the way you treated me Ma? ...
And Hailie's gettin so big now; you should see her, she's beautiful But you " ll never see her - she won't even be at your funeral! ... You selfish bitch; I hope you fuckin burn in hell for this shit; Remember when Ronnie died and you said you wished it was me? Well guess what, I am dead - dead to you as can be!" (OHHLA. com) Eminem used these lyrics in his song "Clean in Out My Closet" from the album The Eminem Show, to show rage against his mother. He said these obscenities about his mother because his mother sued him twice for slander.
The vulgar things he says keep people listening because his words seem so rebellious in a society like ours. No other rappers tell people that raping, killing, drugs, beating women, and revenge are all acceptable. Even though he talks about doing all these things, he knows better than to go and commit these crimes. In the forth verse of "Stan", a song about a fan writing to Eminem, the fan tells Eminem about murdering his wife and slitting his wrists. Eminem's lyrical response is, "What's this shit you said about you like to cut your writs too, I say that shit just clowning dog c'mon that's a fucked up issue".
(OHHLA. com) Eminem is smarter than what he is credited for. The use of the word smarter is appropriate because he knows that he can not commit these crimes, but if he shows his violent rebel side then he will make his albums go platinum and thus he will make more money. Teens are attracted to rebellious and violent ways. "We have to look at the age range Eminem is targeting. His primary audience is young adults. They " re not necessarily old enough to understand the real issues and ramifications of this language", quotes Romaine Patterson from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
Most kids are told to never swear, but they always seem to start at one point or another. Eminem is a superb choice for violent ways because he may use more vulgar language in twenty minutes that some people use in a few months. For instance, on Eminem's second solo album The Eminem Show, in the song "My Dad's Gone Crazy", Eminem swears a total of twenty-two times in four minutes (OHHLA. com). All of these obscenities attract a younger population, thus selling albums to those who will scrape up what little money they have to purchase an album. Eminem has a tendency to start feuds with other artists. He shows no fear in calling out someone.
He uses his fame to state his opinion and people who listen to his music are influenced by it. Eminem has a tendency to talk about pop artists such as Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, N Sync, and the Backstreet Boys because he does not like the pop genre. Eminem belongs to a rap group called D 12, and in their song "Ain't Nuttin' But Music" many famous artists are called out, "Whoops I did it again, didn't I, my shit's harder to figure out than what Britney's tit size is, I probably pissed you off again didn't I bitch, you and Christina G aguilera kiss my grits, you know how many shits I give? I wish I did... Just give me one more chance, Britney hit me one more time Let me know what's on your mind, Whitney give me one more line to sniff... ".
(OHHLA. com) In our society today people find it appealing to talk about celebrities, but when you have a celebrity making fun of other celebrities it makes for more controversy and keeps Eminem in the spotlight. Eminem uses his rising fame very well to work in his favor. Fame gives Eminem the power to slander other artists publicly without the fear of being looked down upon. He has become a national icon in the minds of many teenagers because his controversial lyrics have influenced many. Eminem's lyrics of vulgarity not only took him to the top, but also gave him more opportunities to stay in the spotlight. On Friday November 8, 2002, Eminem released his first movie 8 Mile.
Reviews from James Rocchi of NETFLIX says, "Rapper Eminem's film debut is far better than you'd think -- and a pure demonstration of the power of charisma". And Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said, "Qualifies as a cinematic event by tapping into the roots of Eminem and the fury and feeling that inform his rap". Eminem could never have possibly reached this point without being in the spotlight from using controversial and foul words. The words he uses in his songs about drugs, killing, and sex have all brought him fame.
Once again, Eminem is attracting younger people because of his reputation. The population is attracted to his type of work, so in turn, they will forfeit the eight dollars to make the trip to the movie theatre to see the entertainer that has swept the country by storm. Eminem is in the spotlight because he finally found out the artistic style that works for him. His artistic style includes rapping about drugs, rape, and even killing his ex-wife.
Eminem has sold millions of records and has released his first movie because his artistic style took him that far. Eminem's song "Lose Yourself" from the 8 Mile soundtrack describes the point of where he is in his life right now, "You better - lose yourself in the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go, you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime". (OHHLA. com) His artistic style is unique and no other artists have been able to copy his style. If he continues to give his fans the obscenities and controversy that they want, then he will remain in the celebrity eye.
Dural de, Alonso. "The Trouble With Eminem". The Advocate. 27 February 2001.17 November 2002. web "Eminem Biography". MTV. com.
11 November 2002. web "Eminem Biography". RollingStone. com 2002.11 November 2002. web Lynch, Jason. "Boy Next Door: Critics call Eminem obscene, sexist and homophobic. But hey, his neighbors like him". Time Weekly. 2002.11 November 2002. web "OHHLA. com Favorite Artists: Eminem".
OHHLA. com 2002.11 November 2002. web Rocchi, James. "8 Mile (2002)". Netflix. 11 November 2002. web Thigpen, David E. "Raps in Blue". Time. 5 April 1999.17 November 2002. web Travers, Peter.
"8 Mile" RollingStone. com 14 November 2002.10 November 2002. web.