Donald Trump is adding more salt to the wound that is Rosie O’Donnell’s failed talk show on Oprah Winfrey’s cable network. Trump and O’Donnell have been embroiled in a bitter feud for several years now and on Monday morning the real estate mogul took to Twitter to fire off a new volley in their war of words.
THE RAP ON EMINEM ; DOES THE RAPPER PROMOTE VULGARITY AND VIOLENCE? OR IS IT JUST A BIG YET LUCRATIVE JOKE?
The Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY) June 7, 2000 | ANTHONY VIOLANTI Eminem may be the first music star to be sued by his mother for defamation of character.
This skinny guy just might be the baddest hardcore rapper recording today. Eminem’s formula for music success is simple: play the role of a sexist, homophobic and violent psychopath.
And it sells, especially to a teen audience.
In May, Eminem’s CD, “The Marshall Mathers LP” had the best opening sales week ever for a rap CD, and the second-best of all time for any CD, selling nearly 1.8 million copies. That’s the biggest opening week in history for a single artist and trailing only ‘N Sync’s 2.4 million. in our site defamation of character
The CD is one of the most controversial in recent years, filled with violence toward women and gays; jokes about suicide and murder, in addition to a host of sexual insults aimed at teen boy bands and female performers.
Eminem claims it’s a shocking black satire by a white rapper who just wants to yank our chains.
But it was no joke last Sunday, though, when Eminem was arrested in the parking lot of a Detroit nightclub after a fight which prosecutors say started when the rapper saw another man kissing his wife. Eminem was charged with one count of carrying a concealed weapon and one count of assault with a deadly weapon after police said he struck the man over the head with an unloaded Smith & Wesson.
The rap sheet just adds to his bad boy image.
Eminem is 26 and his real name is Marshall Mathers.
His commercial breakthrough came last year with his equally controversial album, “The Slim Shady LP” that produced the hit single, “My Name Is.” On the album, Eminem boasted about stabbing his girlfriend to death. He claimed his mother took dope, and she sued him for $10 million for defamation of character.
He got even with mom on his new album, which includes a song about raping her.
Should we laugh?
Eminem would like you to because he wants you to believe his new CD is just a tongue-in-cheek put-on.
Like Eminem says on his hit single, “The Real Slim Shady”: “I’m like a headtrip to listen to/Cause I’m only giving you things you joke about with your friends inside your living room/The only difference is…I say it in front of ya’ll/… I just make it up to make you mad.” That’s his explanation. Others would beg to differ. Examples of Eminem’s humor on the new album include:
Killing his girlfriend, the mother of his baby, for cheating on him.
Portraying teen singing star Christina Aguilera as having sex with him and other celebrities.
Cutting up women with a chainsaw.
Calling gays “fags” as in this lyric: “Hate fags? The answer’s yes.” Joking about the murder of Gianni Versace.
The list goes on and the reaction has been predictable: Outrage by adults while young people can’t get enough of Eminem.
“Too many adults get offended because they take Eminem literally; it’s not meant to be taken literally,” said Benjamin Gerald, 17, a local rapper in a group called The Fam. “It’s not like he really means it.
“I think what Eminem is saying, is that everybody has their dark side and a little bit of Slim Shady in them.” Michelle Jones, 18, of Buffalo, agrees.
“I like Eminem, he’s all right,” she said. “Why should anybody worry about a rapper when people out on the streets are shooting each other? Eminem tells the truth, and adults take it out of context and just talk about the bad things. It’s not meant to be serious.” Jones does admit that the hardcore rap fantasies about the treatment of women can be “degrading” but it’s just “a rap song.” That bothers Dave Universal, program director at WKSE-FM 98.5, the dominant contemporary hit radio station in town. Kiss plays an edited version of “The Real Slim Shady” but only after 7 p.m.
“I can’t stand Eminem; he’s a jerk and I think the album is vulgar and disgusting,” Universal said. “I’d rather not play that single, but we have an audience that wants to hear it, so we only put it on at night.” Universal admits the music backing on Eminem’s album, produced by rap legend Dr. Dre, is “great. But it’s a sad commentary on our society that Eminem is so popular.” His videos are among the most most requested on MTV and Eminem will be on a major rap tour this summer that may come to Buffalo.
But Eminem’s dark messages go beyond his family.
On one album track called “Stan,” Eminem tells the tale of one of his fans who leads a dysfunctional life. Eminem never answers the fan’s letters and near the end of the song, the fan kills himself.
“That’s a very dangerous message to send,” said Dr. Ann Marie Lenhardt, a professor of counseling and human services in the graduate school of Education at Canisius College. She has worked with at-risk children and views Eminem’s music with disdain.
“You think of younger kids, 11 to 13, listening to this and you worry, especially if they’re having problems,” Lenhardt said. “If they’re at risk and have low self-esteem, they’re looking for someone or something to connect with.
“Then they hear Eminem rapping and joking about suicide and it gives a kid who is dysfunctional something to identify with.” Every generation goes through a musical rite of passage that offends parents, but Eminem has reached a new plateau.
“You listen to these lyrics and you’re aghast that young kids are hearing and buying this music,” Lenhardt said. “We’re creating a culture that glorifies violence and profanity.” Race also plays a role in Eminem’s rise. One of the singer’s signature lyrics goes like this: “Ya’ll act like you never seen a white person before.” For years, black rappers have used offensive language but it seems to have a new context coming from Eminem. go to web site defamation of character
“He’s the ultimate white boy trying to act black,” Universal said.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with color,” countered Julius Spencer, 18, a student at Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts. “For people who really love rap, color makes no difference.
“Eminem is real. It’s just like life, you can’t take everything so seriously. We know it’s all a put-on. If you’re afraid of Eminem, then don’t let your kids on the streets. Because real life is a lot worse.” In real life, Eminem is getting rich. Dr. Dre, a member of the pioneer rap act NWA and who helped found Death Row Records, is a marketing genius and hit the lottery by taking this dysfunctional white rapper and turning him into a star.
White boys sounding black are nothing new. Sam Phillips did the same thing with Elvis back in the 1950s, when he reportedly once said: “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.” This is a new era, and instead of shaking his hips like Elvis, Eminem is shaking our basic moral tenets.
That’s why the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation issued a statement condemning Eminem’s music, saying the hatred and violence on the CD could lead to “discrimination, physical abuse and even death.” Ultimately, the responsibility for protecting children from such music belongs to parents. Unless they are willing to listen to this music and discuss it with their children, young people will be exposed to Eminem’s horrific musical fantasies.
In the meantime, Eminem and Dr. Dre just keep cashing checks and telling us not to worry.
It’s all a joke.
ANTHONY VIOLANTI
