From the New York Times:
The track is by Eminem, and it sounds like a free style, not a song. Like much of his best and best-known work, this rant castigates an untrustworthy ex-girlfriend. But in this case the ex-girlfriend is black, and the rhymes are full of crude racial taunts. "Black girls only want your money," he says more than once. And early on he lays out his conclusions in sweeping (and inept) language:
Black girls and white girls just don't mix
Because black girls are dumb and white girls are good chicks
White girls are good, I like white girls
I like white girls all over the world
White girls are fine and they blow my mind
And that's why I'm here now, telling you this rhyme
'Cause black girls, I really don't like.Even before the news conference had begun, Eminem had released a statement acknowledging that the words were his but calling them "foolishness," the sound of a spurned boyfriend venting his "anger, stupidity and frustration."
So according to this article three hip-hop fans have discovered a very old recording of Eminem doing some ranting and raving about an ex-girlfriend during which he uses some unsavory language and racial epithets. What's the big deal? In fact, I would like to know if there is a rap song that has been recorded that doesn't use a racial epithet.
Ok, ok, so Eminem is white. We all know that words like "nigger" are ok for black people to use but off limits for whites, but c'mon. Are they really trying to say that Eminem is racist? I think that'd be a hard accusation to make. I can't see how a racist would succeed as Eminem has in a market dominated by blacks.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - The Blog Hunter
Eminem a racist??????
Nigga please...
2 - Craig Lyndall
Everyone thinks racially. Anyone who says they don't think about race is lying. Most of us can keep our anger directed at individuals without qualifying them as a part of a larger group. Eminem did not do this and used the lowest blow possible to take a personal swipe at an enemy of his. Can we blow this off as childishness and immaturity? In some cases maybe. People do change, evolve and grow up. Has Eminem grown up since he sang this song? I don't know.
3 - Rob
My feeling is that the tape is a recording Eminem did as a way to vent some anger over a bad relationship. Obviously he didn't intend it to be released. While disparaging racial comments are not acceptable I think its important to put the recording in the context in which Eminem probably recorded it. He was mad, he vented and he never intended the general public to hear it.
When you combine that with who is playing the tape for the press, Mr. Scott, who has had a long-standing feud with Eminem, one can conclude that this is just a smear campaign meant to do little more than embarrass Eminem.
4 - BRICKLAYER
The most offensive thing about it is the whack ass rhyme! Sounds like he borrowed some lyrics from ICP on this!
5 - Kurt Nordstrom
I must concur with some of the above statements. I don't have much love for Eminem, nor his music, but this sounds like a cheap smear. Yeah, he was being stupid when he recorded it, but everybody's stupid at times.
6 - Mac Diva
Craig is right. (Never thought you would read that, did ya?) You don't bring up the race of the person because you are upset with something she has done. (Blacks, Asians or Chicanos didn't irk you. She did.) If you do, then you've got some racism in you. As I've said before, racism is a continuum. I would not compare the E-Man to John Derbyshire, but it seems, when he felt scorned, some years ago I gather, he reached for the wrong weapon -- racism. Does that mean Eminem should curl up and die? No. But, he should try to work through any feelings of white superiority he has if he hasn't done so.
7 - Rob
Right on Mac, well put.
8 - Sandra Smallson
Err, you do not like rap music but you like Eminem's? How does that make any sense? It's this sort of statement that makes Benzino's allegation that Eminem is only as successful as he is because he is white sound valid. If a majority of people made statements such as this, I would tend to agree with Benzino.
Regarding the actual issue, it comes as no surprise to me. Eminem is angry at the world so why not black girls? If he can rant about killing his mother or wife or the whole world, what makes black girls different? By the way, where in the lyrics does he say the song is about an ex girlfriend? He just said that after the rap was released did he not? It could easily be a convenient excuse. How can I be racist? I was dating a black girl and its actually her I was angry at and thats why I wrote this song cos I was young, frustrated and stupid? What exactly in his lyrics show that he is now old, calmer and clever? The only thing missing is the racial slurs, every thing else is the same.
By the way, the fact that the black community buy his records does not mean he is not racist. I don't see how we get from black people buying his records to him not being racist. Black people watch Bernard Manning, he is the most racist white comic. White people watch Sheryl Underwood she cracks all sorts of jokes about white people. Its all "entertainment"
I do not know if Eminem is racist and quite frankly its the least of my worries. I could care less. Thats his problem. He and Benzino should get over themselves.
The only thing I have always agreed with Benzino on is when Eminem is called the best rapper. That is such a nonsense its unbelievable. This is where race comes in for me. The only reason he is called that, is BECAUSE he is white and white kids are not supposed to know how to rap. In my opinion, he raps no better than JayZ, Snoop(who even rhymes better), DMX, Mystikal or Ludacris.
Whether he hates black girls or wants to kill his mother, or lose himself or bury his wife is completely up to him. He uses his music to express himself. Sadly, for the poor sod he has gone and expressed some racist views that he might or might not hold. Who cares?! Certainly not me. Now, if I found out Bono or Enrique Iglesias expressed racist views, I might be shocked cos they don't come across angry. Why the distress over a man who has been angry since he was conceived in his mother's womb, expressing racist views? He is angry with the world at large and black girls are part of the world.
9 - Natalie Davis
Craig Lyndall: "Everyone thinks racially."
Not everyone, Craig.
Sandra: "I do not know if Eminem is racist and quite frankly its the least of my worries."
Reflects my sentiments almost exactly. Something ugly is lurking in the boy's
heart -- that was evident before this tape was released. And yeah, it probably is part of The Source's ongoing anti-Em campaign. Whatever. There are more important things about which to worry. Like Michael Jackson in handcuffs, lol.
10 - Mac Diva
Good points, Sandra and Nat.
BTW, if I recall my reading correctly Mick Jagger showed his behind in regard to black women when he was being sued for child support by the mother of his mixed-raced eldest daughter. Somehow, the mother wanted money because she had brown skin, not because she had a baby to feed, shelter and clothe. He eventually bit the bullet and stopped acting the fool. Grow and learn, I guess.
11 - Natalie Davis
"Just like a - just like a black girl should..."
I've never liked Jagger. Perhaps he did grow and learn. Hope so.
12 - Rob
Sandra,
I said I don't like rap music because I find most of it shallow. Eminem's music is about more than ho's, drugs and shooting police officers. He hits a deeper chord than that in me. I know what its like to be young and in a bad relationship. I know what its like to be screwed over by a girl. I don't know much about Eminem's real life, nor do I care. The words of his music have meaning for me, and that's all that matters.
It has nothing to do with the color of his skin. For the record, there are very few Eminem songs that I like, but I also like older rap like Run DMC, etc.
I don't choose my music based on the color of the performers skin. Your implication that I do is patently false. I may not like rap in general, but who are you to tell me that I can't like any rap artists?
Also, Eminem himself is very forthcoming about his popularity due to his skin color. He even talks about it in some of his songs. Its sad, but certainly no secret and definetely not Eminem's fault.
13 - Al Barger
Mmm, brown sugar- how come you taste so good now? Naturally this is my top Stones song. After listening to it for a couple of decades, it occurred to me what the meta-point to the song was: the rejection of white guilt. That is, Mick could joke about slavery because he is without guilt.
Diva- I'm pleased to note your reasonableness and restraint in this Eminem matter.
Just purely the fact that he never, ever planned this for any kind of release should pretty much give him immunity from prosecution. He was apparently just talking to himself. This should be considered private like a diary entry. I know that I would not like to answer for everything I've ever said muttering to myself.
Also, even a passing use of the N word does not seem to qualify as even the tenth part as objectionable as some of the mega-selling rhymes he HAS published, particularly "Kim."
14 - Sandra Smallson
Rob I did not accuse you of liking music according to the colour of skin. I said your statement gives weight to Benzino's comment that Em is that successful cos he is white. You have even given me more room to believe Benzino. You don't like rap music cos most of it is about Hos, police shootings and drugs, but Eminem's lyrics strike a chord with you because they are about murdering family, like mother or his wife, mother of his own child?? Do you think Eminem had any more of a troubled youth than the rest of these rappers? How troubled could it have been seeing as he lived with his mother till God knows when while some of these rappers you scoff were fending for themselves on the streets cos the orphanage or foster homes were not good enough? Please do not try to pass off the fact that Eminems lyrics are less violent than most rappers, thats just poppycock! If anything he is more demented because we know he feels exactly as he speaks while some of the rappers just rap that crap to endorse thier so called hardcore public image.
15 - Rob
Sandra,
I never said his lyrics were less violent, only more meaningful to me. I'm not discounting other rapper's music, but it shouldn't be surprising that I would identify more with a kid who grew up pissed off at his mom and his girlfriend and had to deal with being a father at an early age then with some gang-banger from L.A. who raps about selling crack.
I don't take the stuff about him murdering his family to heart, but I do understand the rage that would make him say such things.
16 - Craig Lyndall
Natalie, I respect your opinion and your commitment to what's right and good. I envy your attitude. That being said, I feel like even in NOT thinking racially, you are making a conscious effort and subsequently thinking about race. It is an impossibility to turn that off. If you have eyes, you can see what someone's race is. If you think you aren't making any judgements, I think you are possibly underestimating the power of your brain. Even if you were able to turn all that off, the way people of other races react to us in every-day life, makes it IMPOSSIBLE to not think about race.
In telling people that you don't think racially, you are thinking about race. I believe that you don't make judgements based on race, but to say you don't think racially seems impossible.
Again, Nat, I say this with all the respect in the world.
17 - Natalie Davis
"you have eyes, you can see what someone's race is."
No you can't. Not always. To assign someone a "race" (again, I don't even believe in the concept of it) is to make a judgment. I don't and can't do that.
18 - Eric Olsen
I think Natalie is an exceptionally rare instance of someone who really doesn't, but I also think what Craig says is generally true.
19 - Taloran
Eminem's music seems quite hateful to me. If he is both a homophobe and a misogynist, as his music indicates, is it that big a stretch to postulate that this hatred might also extend to the color of one's skin?
20 - Mark Saleski
maybe not a stretch...but isn't it also possible that he's writing stuff from viewpoint of these other characters?
this kind of thing has been done a lot in, say, country music...songs from the viewpoint of the villain (Folsom Prison Blues, for example).
i'm not trying to apologize for Eminem...don't really like him (though i thought "Lose Yourself" was cool)
21 - Taloran
It is indeed possible that he is writing from another's viewpoint. I'd say that was more likely if hatred was a theme that popped up now and again. But it tends to dominate his lyrics, which makes me think that it probably matches his personal viewpoint.
22 - Mark Saleski
yep, that's why i don't really like him...a lot of the writing is pretty one-dimensional.
i just brought up the other idea because it is possible.
23 - JR
"...to say you don't think racially seems impossible."
Why should it be impossible? Do you find yourself irresistably thinking about hair color or eye color when you talk to people? Just because you can SEE something, doesn't mean you'll find the information useful.
The only reason one would be compelled to think about skin color would be if it told you something about them. Where race is tied to culture, that often turns out to be the case. But there are places where race is not tied to culture, or where cultures are so intermixed that you can't draw any useful conclusion about someone from their skin color. For example in any truly cosmopolitan city. In Washington, D.C., you can't tell from someone's race whether they are a gang member, cop, janitor, IT engineer, senator, page, or leader of another country. You'd do better asking them what their sign is, if only because when they answer they might have an accent that will tell you something useful about them.
There ARE people who don't make judgements based race; not through some supreme effort of self control, but because it simply stops making sense to do so.
24 - Taloran
My wife and I are doing our best to raise our children to be completely colorblind. My older boy's first innocent romance was with a girl of color, and we took no notice of it whatsoever. His best friend has alapucia totalis (complete hair loss), another of his best friends is "golden skinned" (as his Bangladeshi dad puts it), and another has MS and is in a wheelchair. Makes no difference to us. A good person is a good person is a good person. And a piece of garbage is a piece of garbage.
25 - Craig Lyndall
That's noble, but stereotypes and racist people are so pervasive in this society that you guys seem a little idealistic for me.
You are how the world judges you to at least a certain extent. Until the rest of the world stops judging people as a whole, a lot of these ideas are utopian.
Sitcoms make references, movies discuss it at length and comedians still have entire bits based on race. You can't escape it. It's good to do the things necessary to put the process forward, but to think you can magically make a change within yourself is ridiculous because none of us live in a vacuum.