Hes white. So what ?
The best M.C on the planet is white.
All his life, Eminem had to suffer and to be annoyed by people because of his skin color. I agree with him when he says :
“Unless you want to fuck me, why do you care what I look like?”
Why should his skin color be an issue when we all know that he raps so well ?
If you look back at Americas history, Black people used to suffer a lot because of their skin color and they still do. Segregation and discrimination is familiar to them.
Usually nobody focuses on your skin color when youre white. People look at you as an individual, but never as a « white man » or a « white woman » if you live in a society dominated by white people
unless you live in a black hood and youre white.
Marshall Mathers exactly knows what racial segregation and discrimination means. He has fully experienced it in Detroit-from the black side.
Marshall used to get bullied by a black boy who was two years older than him, DAngelo Bailey. Bailey sent him into coma for nine days.
Being integrated among black people was far from easy in a period of high racial tensions in Detroit.
But Marshall had something strong that linked him to black people and their history : his passion for hip hop.
His passion for rap music and his love for black people made him become part of the landscape of a culture that is also his.
Marshalls fight was a double fight : to be accepted in the black landscape and to get recognition as a white rapper in a main black audience, which has been far from easy.
Marshall recalls the time he was living near 7 Mile Road with Kim : (Interview given to Spin Magazine, 1999)
« About three or so years ago, not that long after my daughter [Hailie Jade Scott] was born. I was staying in this house on 7 Mile Road, and little kids used to walk down the street going, “Look at the white baby!”
Everything was “white this, white that.”
We’d be sitting on our porch, and if you were real quiet, you’d hear, “Mumble, mumble, white, mumble, mumble, white.”
Marshall perfectly knows what the word « racism » means, because he has experienced it so many times. When he was 16, hes been shot at by black men.
To real hip hop lovers, skin color cant be an issue : only talent matters. Chuck D. from Public Enemy intelligently made us think about racial issue from a blind mans perspective Skin color wouldnt matter to a blind man. He would only rate an artists talent and his lyrical skills.
Unfortunately racists and closed minded people like Benzino and Dave Mays (who dont know even know Eminem personally) made an issue of his skin color. The Source magazine that first praised Eminem as the next best thing suddenly turns against him to serve an (untalented) rappers -Benzino huge ambitions. Benzino who is one of the weakest rappers I ever listened to, wanted people to notice him thanks to his perverted attacks against the illest MC.
Benzino may be half black. Matter of fact : he cant rap.
Benzinos anti Eminem campaign is much more than a personal vendetta. It is a defamatory campaign. Kim Osorio, the editor in chief of the Source magazine disinforms the public by transforming some informations for the only interest of her magazine. The Source has become more and more unprofessional.
Eminems former tape containing some racist statements for which Eminem has apologized for has become the Sources main scandal.
It is just a big publicity stunt. A little objectivity helps us to clear things up :
-Eminem is sorry for the content of this tape. When he made this tape (probably between 1988 and 1989), he was actually dating a black girl for about 3 weeks (at a time of high racial tensions in Detroit City). When he broke up with her, Marshall went mad and retaliated with this amateur tape.
-We should take into account that Marshall was a teenager and that he sad something stupid, like many teenagers do.
-Another proof that the tape is an amateur freestyle. There is no written text for this tape.
-Chaos Kid and Uncle Cracker enlighten the context in which they were recording those tapes. Most of those kids used to record tapes because they wanted to learn how to rap. Among them, Eminem.
Chaos Kid also explains that the freestyles that were created were called « suckering rhymes » and were supposed to be some stupid jokes. Some of them were parodies of racism white MCs were experiencing from the black audience.
-Eminem was recording most of his tapes at Mike Rubys ( a former school mate from High School) basement.
Since he was a teenager, Eminem has always been a great hip hop fan. He used to like LL Cool J and NWA, for instance :
« When I was 9 years old, my uncle put me on to the Breakin’ soundtrack. The first rap song I ever heard was Ice-T, ‘Reckless.’ From L.L. to the Fat Boys, and all that shit, I was fascinated. When L.L. first came out with I’m Bad, I wanted to do it, to rhyme. Standing in front of the mirror, I wanted to be like L.L. »
He also used to wear black glasses and to look into the mirror. He used to imitate Ice Cubes lipsinking.
A racist man wouldnt imitate Blacks and identify himself to them.
Can you imagine how tiresome it must be for Eminem always to deal with his race, even now that hes at the top ?
Thats what he expressed a few years ago :
“All my life I’ve been dealing with my race because of where I grew up [Detroit] and being in the rap game. I’m at a boiling point…Anybody who pulls the race card is getting it right back in their face.” –
“I get offended when people say, `So, being a white rapper…and growing up white…after being born white…’ It’s all I ever hear!”
Eminem has never considered race as an issue. He used to live among Blacks and he totally integrated their culture. But he doesnt use black music selfishly (although he makes a sarcastic statement about it in « Without Me » to make people who compare him with Elvis Presley look totally ridiculous.)
« I know what I do is Black music. I know how it started, I know where it came from. But instead of solely trying to capitalize off it, Ive been able to get in a poition where Im able to help other people. » (Eminem)
Hip hop is Eminems culture. A culture that he is totally dedicated to. A culture that he loves. A culture hes been an enrichment to.
The best rapper is W-H-I-T-E . Get over it. His talent is really all that should matter.
Will Benzino and Dave Mays also deny hip hop to white MCs from Detroit such as Backstab The Kingpin ? Will they also call Jin, the Asian rapper, a culture stealer ?
It is high time people realized that music is universal. As long as an artist has talent and skills, why shouldnt he contribute to a specific cultures enrichment ?
Quoting Eminem on this issue :
« Dave Mays and Benzino are spitting in the face of what hip hop and rap music have done to promote racial unity. »
Unlike the Sources racist and old fashioned views, hip hop needs to go forward and to give any person her chance, no matter where she comes from- as long as she has talent.