Unfortunately, my respect for Eminem is a big fat zero, so this latest story about him can't make it drop any lower.
Eminem may poke fun at himself in videos, but he doesn't want "Weird Al" Yankovic doing it. Eminem won't give Yankovic permission to shoot a video for his new song, "Couch Potato," a parody of Eminem's Oscar-winning tune "Lose Yourself," Yankovic said."The only reason I could glean was that making a Weird Al music video would detract from his legacy as a serious hip-hop artist," Yankovic said Thursday. "It's very disappointing. This could have been my best video ever."
Of course, Weird Al could make the video without permission, probably, but he's always been good about getting permission. But I think that Eminem's starting to take himself a little too seroiusly if he doesn't allow a Weird Al parody.
It's doubly silly because savvy musicians know that a "Weird Al" parody means that you've made it. Two anecdotes I can recall off hand on this topic are: Madonna supposedly remarked after "Like a Virgin" came out that she hoped that Weird Al would do "Like a Surgeon." The story goes that this line from Madonna eventually got to Al and he did it. And I remember from Weird Al's "Behind the Music" that Kurt Cobain was thrilled when Weird Al called him up to ask to do the parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
At any rate, 10 years from now, I'll bet Weird Al is still going strong, while at the mention of Eminem, people will be going "Emma-who?"
Article comments
1 - unknown
nope. i havent even heard of weird al. love eminem though. go rewrite this.
2 - wierd al sucks
yea man your a hater. wierd al sucks ass, eminem destroys him, i wouldnt want that dumbass making a parody of my shit either so wierd al should just give up on life
3 - hannah
i like both weird al and eminem. i love most of weird al's albums. but i also like eminem.
i don't know why eminem wouldn't allow weird al to make a parody video of his 'lose yourself' vid. to be honest i was really surprised back then about him not giving weird al the green light. it's prob because he wasn't thinking straight at that time, on drugs, etc. he talked like a punk and thought like a punk. he wasn't half coherent most of the time except when he raps. but if you ask him again today he probably would allow it. he's not quite the punk anymore like he was back then. watching his interviews today you can see he's a completely different person. he thinks before he talks and you can see he thinks pretty clearly, too. it was a shame he didn't allow weird al to make the parody video. i would've loved weird al's parody.
4 - starwarsman
I like Eminem & "Weird Al". I think Eminem not letting him parody his song is stupid. But maybe now that he's making more music and has thought things through more (or at least that's what he seems to say in his songs), I think if "Weird Al" asked Eminem to make the Couch Potato video today Eminem might let him do it without cancelling it. Sure its 7 or so years, but you know it's better late then never.
5 - Hakeem
ok some of u ppl are stupid why would eminem allow him to make a parody weird al is a dumbass Eminem can poke fun at himself but tht doesnt give this idiot permissjon to do it Eminem is the best fuck weird al and hannah,he never was a punk u idiot how about u learn some more things about him before u jump to conclusions about someone
6 - forman
You guys are retarded. someone who pokes fun at themselves can do it all the fuck they want. if you cant take it from somone else, it just means you dont mean it and only do it for the money.