A bad rap?Rapper Eminem slings trash about gays (and everybody else) in his lyrics lyrics npl [of song] → paroles fpl lyrics lyric npl [of song] → Text m , But should we hate him for it? Let's play the name game. Marshall Mathers is a rapper. His stage name is Eminem. And Eminem's alter ego A doctrine used by the courts to ignore the corporate status of a group of stockholders, officers, and directors of a corporation in reference to their limited liability so that they may be held personally liable for their actions when they have acted fraudulently or unjustly or when is Slim Shady. He's three men in one, with an identity as mysterious as his beats are heavy and rhythmically complex. His rhymes are tense, witty, vicious, self-loathing, hilarious, and horrific. His brutal hip-hop hooliganism has earned unprecedented media attention--both scorn and praise. In response to his May release, The Marshall Mathers LP (Interscope), the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation defamation In law, issuance of false statements about a person that injure his reputation or that deter others from associating with him. Libel and slander are the legal subcategories of defamation. Libel is defamation in print, pictures, or any other visual symbols. objected to such lyrics as "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge / That'll stab you in the head whether you're a fag or les.... Hate fags? The answer's yes." Meanwhile, Newsweek called Eminem "arguably ar·gu·a·ble adj. 1. Open to argument: an arguable question, still unresolved. 2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law. the most compelling figure in all of pop music." Let's keep playing the name game or, rather, the name-calling game. First, who's he calling "faggot"? Is it me? You? 'N Sync? The suits at the record company? Second, who's doing the calling? Is it Eminem? Slim Shady? Marshall Mathers? All or none of the above? And does the fact that he uses the six-letter f word at all on The Marshall Mathers LP make him the enemy? Not quite. In the intro to the above-quoted song, "Criminal," Eminem states, "A lot of people think that what I say on record or what I talk about on a record ... if I say that I wanna wan·na Informal 1. Contraction of want to: You wanna go now? 2. Contraction of want a: You wanna slice of pie? kill somebody, that I'm actually gonna gon·na Informal Contraction of going to: We're gonna win today. do it or that I believe in it, well, shit. If you believe that, then I'll kill you!" At the song's end, he even adds, "Relax, guy! I like gay men!" If he has gay-bashed you or me, then it logically follows that he has also raped his own mother, killed his wife, and murdered his producer, Dr. Dre. If he's to be taken literally, then so is Britney Spears's invitation to "hit me, baby, one more time." As if anticipating the reaction to this collection of Halloween masks he hides behind, Eminem taunts, "I am whatever you say I am," on the track "The Way I Am." What, then, does Eminem want? He wants to confound con·found tr.v. con·found·ed, con·found·ing, con·founds 1. To cause to become confused or perplexed. See Synonyms at puzzle. 2. , to make good and evil switch places, to drop beats and bombs at the same time. He succeeds on all counts. White writes about film and music for Glue and ifilm.com. |
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