Eminem, Same-Sex Marriage and Same-Old Homophobia
Memo to Eminem: the year 2000 called. It wants its lyrics back.
In advance of the release of his next album, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2,” Eminem has put out a single called “Rap God,” a six-minute tribute to himself and a host of rappers who have inspired him. Likely waxing nostalgic about the success of the first “Marshall Mathers LP,” the rapper resorts to the same tired, violently homophobic lyrics that will remind many of the song “Criminal” from that album, ranging from Em’s ability to “break a motherf—–’s table over the back of a couple f-ggots and crack it in half” in the first verse to this ridiculous tirade in the second:
Little gay-looking boy / So gay I can barely say it with a straight face-looking boy / You witnessing massacre like you watching a church gathering taking place-looking boy / ‘Oy vey, that boy’s gay,’ that’s all they say looking-boy / You take a thumbs up, pat on the back, the way you go from your label every day-looking boy.”
By now, we know the drill, and so does Eminem. He’s aiming for a comeback in a world of hip-hop which has now embraced artists like singer-songwriter Frank Ocean, who has sung about falling in love with another man. Macklemore‘s single “Same Love,” about as forceful a defense of gay marriage ever committed to verse, is one of the most popular songs on his wildly successful album. So what better way for Eminem to stir up controversy than to hark back to the repulsive homophobic lyrics that garnered so much attention at the start of his career?
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Perhaps worse than this cynical ploy are all the media outlets falling all over themselves to praise the rapper’s flow, all while ignoring the content. Time called the single “divine.” Rolling Stone chimed in about the song’s influences without commenting once on its content. MTV News refers to the track’s “expertly laid verses.” Is the song impressive? Absolutely (here’s what Speakeasy wrote about it). It would be even more so without the needlessly offensive parts.
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http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/10/17/eminem-same-sex-marriage-and-same-old-homophobia/?google_editors_picks=true