[thechat] re: Eminem & free speech

[Kevin Stevens]

> Well... now Eminem is an advocate for free speech.
>
> Rock on, Eminem...

OK, I didn't bite at the last reply but here's my 2 cents. What i really
dislike about Eminem is that he panders to the lowest common denominator. I
think it's actually worse that he hides behind a fictional character (Slim
Shady) to spout his hatred. When I saw him at a festival last year, his
introduction to the song "Criminal" was a discussion about how he pistol
whipped a guy for kissing his estranged wife. The crowd went wild, as if
that was the kind of macho thing they would do in the same situation, but it
appears that it is perfectly alright for him to sleep with as many groupies
as possible because he is a man and that's what men do. It's not like this
was an isolated incident, I remember one NME interview where he actually
threatened to rape the journalist.
Now I like un-PC music as much as the next person, hell, I was just
listening to Insane Clown Posse and the Bloodhound Gang, but there is a
certain cleverness about the way they do things. It's a kind of frat boy
type humour, just risqué enough without really causing real offence. I have
the greatest respect for people like Marilyn Manson and Jello Biafra who are
both very intelligent individuals, and who court controversy to actually
make people think, rather than just being controversial for the sake of
selling records which is what I feel Eminem does. He is  a brilliant
lyricist, "Stan" is one of the greatest homo-erotic songs ever written, but
so often this brilliance is used in a negative way.
As I said, my 2 cents.

Kevin Stevens
kjs at ratking.co.uk