I listen to any good music...I dont place it in a box and write "Rap" or "Rock" on the front of it. Eminem has some clever songs, but to compare him to Hendirx is just stupid.
Eminem is good.... but not that good...he is no 2Pac or Biggie... he is marketing genious/tool.... its exactly what the american society wanted... someone(white) who would come up with some talent and be excepted by the black hip hop community... todays society is so "hollywood" oriented that it wants the quick attention grab.... a "shock" not expected.... he provides all that.... though he is also talented enough to last.
This is such a "music snob" post, its not even funny. Point 1: Artist "A" is a sell out...he was so much better when he wasn't popular. Point 2: I knew of Artist "A" when he was unpopular and you didn't. Point 3: Here are some other non-popular artists that make me look cool if one hits it big because I know of them and you don't. Of course, if they hit it big, they "sell out" and are no longer cool. But I'm cool because I know they aren't cool anymore but did know them when they were cool, yet unpopular.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how he stands the test of time. Will the next generation discover his music on their own? It's not looking good. How many of todays kids go back and listen to Public Enemy or NWA? How many "classic Rap" stations are there?
I don't even listen to rap, but I know about Talib Kweli, Mos Def, and The Roots. Your point 3 is BS.
for the people here that dont like rap or hiphop that is understandable for many reasons. (i have reasons for hating country like i do). but to say its just "babbling" is wrong. for as many types of music that are out there to say this is not music is wrong. you can sit there and say that rap is spoken word over a beat at the very least. as far as eminem i dont like him that much at all. to me he is the (good charlotte, creed, puddle of mudd,) of hiphop. there is stuff out there by white guys (kno' of cunninlynguists, slug, sage francis, swollen members,) that are pretty comparable in talent. and have smarter lyrics then him. as far as someone older that grew up on rock or another type of music not liking rap. i wonder how many people that were listening to "pink floyd" when they were young and there grandparents were jamming it right along with them?
I think you just described every mainstream rapper with that. 50 Cent is more laughable day by day after being hyped up as the next great one. Well...... guess I'm going to have to get my Manny on right now on y'all b**** asses. .... Eminem is a MUSICAL genius. Not just a clever rapper. His lyrics range from sad, thought provoking at times, to just plain clowning. But all of it is great stuff. First of all, he produces mostly all of his songs, and a lot of tracks for all the other big rap stars as well. He has an incredible flow on such otherwise mellowed out "love" songs like "Lullaby" or "Cleanin out my Closet." He raps intense on incredible cuts like "Til I Collapse" which is easily my favorite Eminem song. You have the token radio friendly songs (My Name is, Real Slim Shady, Without me, Just Lose it.) Oski posted some lyrics from "My Name Is" like that was the gist of all Eminem lyrics. Not at all, that's taking the exception and applying to the whole with Eminem. Then you take a look at The Slim Shady LP, which is nothing but pure lyrical madness. Someone alluded to "Mushrooms" as eminem's best song, I'm not inclined to protest that much, it's a stupid song lyrically but the flow and the content are amazing. He is as versitile as an artist as you can see (although i was he would stop singing hooks.) Never seen a guy be able to rhyme so many words and phrases and make it all flow without a hitch. Marshall Mathers LP... incredible album. I can listen to the whole thing because it is that good. This was really his breakout album that made him the #1 rapper in the hearts of the kiddies (thanks to MTV and The Real Slim Shady, which was the song that got a white kid like me interested in hip hop.) Then it had the controversial "Stan" about an obsessed fan. I remember hearing that song and it gave me shivers thinking about the guy driving his car off the cliff with his ****ing girlfriend in the trunk. "The Way I Am" an attack at the critics and the parents, his pushy fans, groupies, pretty much anything else he came into contact with (Same with "Marshall Mathers). and of course move love for the beloved Kim. More throwback Em songs like Drug Ballad, I'm Back, and Criminal made it a complete masterpiece. The Eminem Show - Great album, I loved most of it, although he did start to lean more and more to his new side and there was less of the "Mushrooms" and "Criminal" Songs. Except "My Dad's gone Crazy" which r0x0rs. "Without Me" is probably my favorite of the token MTV singles, video was hilarious. Til I Collapse is simply the best of Eminem ever in my estimation. The beat sounds nothing like the usual eminem tracks, it's got the flow, the amazing word play and the angry energy. The rhymes penetrate the soul, the hook soaks into the mind. It's ****ing incredible. Encore is not that great, it has a few catchy songs but nothing too mind blowing. Standouts are probably - Ass like that, Crazy in love and Rainman. Top 5 Eminem Songs 1.) Til I Collapse (Eminem Show) 2.) Criminal (Marshall Mathers LP) 3.) My Fault (Mushrooms) (Slim Shady LP) 4.) Anyman (Soundbombing Mixtape or something) 5.) Sing For the Moment. BWAHAAHEWKWHA
Rappers do get worse when they hit the mainstream. It's a fact. Fabolous... the guy on the Boost Mobile commercials... he was a fantastic rapper before he signed a major label record deal. Jay-Z even admits to dumbing down his lyrics to sell records... Guys like the Roots, Kweli, Mos Def, etc... are all semi-mainstream rappers. A lot of people know about them. But, they aren't as popular as other rappers because they still try to be creative musically. Guys like Eminem... you can even compare his raps from his 1st album and his latest album. The difference in music and lyrics is incredible... His last album was horrible.
oh yeah... and everybody I listed should be well known to everyone. The Strongarm Steady Crew is Xzibit's crew... the guy from Pimp My Ride. Common Sense does Coca-Cola commercials... If I wanted to "show off" I woulda mentioned guys like MadLib or MF Doom... etc.
Eminem is excellent. I don't think his lyrics are dumb, but even that is not as important as how good he makes them sound. You can't appreciate Em (or, I imagine, most rappers) just from looking at his lyrics. You gots to hear them.
Eminem without a doubt is a genius lyricist. His raps are among the few I listen to and the words actually hit. They actually mean something in many of songs as opposed to just being party pumpin' beats. Sure he's got some silly stuff going on, too, but there's no denying the guy's ability. And I'm sorry, I'm sick of people putting Notorious B.I.G. in the same league as Tupac. He wasn't. Eminem is closer to Tupac's skills than Biggie ever was. Biggie was made by P Diddy and by his death. As for all the rap haters... keep hatin'... they said rap was a fad back in the 80's. Twenty years later... it's one hell of a long running fad. Your kids will telling everyone why it sucks, too, and it'll still be selling.
his point 3 may be BS, but i swear, every single time someone wants to put down current rap and bring up the rap serious music fans listen to, they ALWAYS bring up talib kweli, mos def, and the roots. ALWAYS. occsionally you get afrika bambaataa or nas or others will get mentioned, but those 3 are always there. while i'm sure this isn't true of everyone, i get the sense a lot of people who mention them probably don't even know that much music of theirs but they know to mention them. and he did nail the first 2 points. as for eminem, he is amazing. he's been dominating rap for something like 5 years. even through "rabbit run" is my favorite song by his, i gotta agree with moes, 'til i collapse" is absolutely amazing. the beat is great, the rhymes are great (and as others have mentioned, rhymes a wider array of words than anyone), and the anger is palpable. great song.
I list those artists because people on this board may have heard of them. I didn't want to list people who are truly "underground" that noone has heard of. Kweli is on everyones list because he has an incredible flow... and his lyrics are great. He has actual meaning in his raps... actual deep content. Another person who has a good flow is Ludacris... but his raps are meaningless. Kweli never sacrificed his content to sell a record. Mos Def doesn't have quite the flow Kweli has, but hes an even better MC than Kweli. his words are meaningful. He is almost like Pac... while Pac didn't have a good flow, his words more than made up for it. The Roots are the best hip hop group musically. Black Thought is also a great rapper. They play live instruments... they DJ... Beatbox, etc. They ARE hiphop. The Roots also put on the BEST live show of any genre of music... just go to a concert and youll see. Even if you've never heard any of their songs, youll leave impressed. They tour all thru the year.. and will be in Houston on June 9th at a place called "Hush"..... go check it out!
Record sales are meaningless... Britney Spears and Nsync dominated the market for more than 5 years... but are they the best? He has a good flow... he has good wordplay, but I wish he went back to the style that made Dr. Dre sign him....... right now he's a shadow of his former self. As far as using a wider array of words cleverly... check out MF Doom...
also, the problem with eminem is that his raps are too self absorbed. he ONLY raps about himself. Guys like The Roots, Kweli, MosDef, Common... and even Nas. they all rap about life... about social problems and injustices. The same stuff that made 2Pac so great. Eminem never raps about anything except how the media rags on him... and about his wife and daughter. who wants to hear that crap?
f4p - good points, good call on Rabbit Run too, I forgot about that song, I was only thinking about Lose Yourself (which was great at first, but a little too played out after a while) off the whole 8 mile soundtrack, but that is also one of my favorites. I started out as a white kid who only heard the pop/rap like Eminem, Nelly and Outkast on the radio. My friends who were into rap liked stuff like Master P, Cash Money and all that, which I found to be pretty lame. The more Eminem I heard the more I liked, that got me into exploring everything about hip-hop. At first I really loved DMX, Ludacris, Lil Wayne, Nappy Roots, Xzibit, 2pac and Jay-Z. Now my tastes are really refined, I love Outkast, Kanye West, Nas, The Roots, Tribe Called Quest, stuff like Hieroglyphics, Jurassic 5, Jedi Mind Tricks, Blackalicious, Little Brother, Dilated Peoples, Dre. I really do like TI, Game and Young Buck though.
Wow I must call bull****. Eminem didn't go through what 2pac went through so he's not going to rap about "injustices". He went through problems of his own within his family, and that's what he raps about. God dang how do you rap about something you can't relate to yourself? You want him to rap about his 9mm or his uzi while he rides on 22s? How he faced racism and how he got beat down by the police? He's a great artist. And like some others said, he mixes in parodies (sometimes not very intelligent ones) with other more serious subject. It makes you laugh and sometimes it makes you think. It's not ONLY about himself, and even if it is, that's where his inspiration comes from so what are you going to do? p.s his last album sucked ass and i think everyone knows that, but you can't expect every album to go triple platinum.
