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Rapper's violent persona proves 'real slim'

THEN IN a couple of minutes that bottle of Guiness is finally finished. You now officially have the right to slap bi**hes. You have the right to remain violent and cause riling. Get in a fight with the guy who kept eyeing you. Drive over the island and start a 42 car pile up."

I guess that's why they call him Slim Shady. No explanation can really justify these lyrics off Eminem's latest album. You can say Eminem has the right to free speech like anyone else, that people are too sensitive, or that he's just doing it for publicity and should be ignored. But you should not be too offended by Eminem because his lyrics are scandalous simply because they can be. They are a front for the fact that Eminem is out to establish himself as a rapper and defy white stereotypes of musicians.

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    Hiding behind his bodyguard Free Speech, Eminem always will be protected against the barrage of criticism hurled his way. So rather than agonizing over his harsh lyrics, we should consider the motivation behind them. Eminem is a brilliant rapper, but he definitely tries too hard to say the uncouth. He spits out venomous lyrics about drugs, alcohol, rape, misogyny, murder and assault just like a lot of rappers. And like his '80s gangster rap predecessors, he is pushing the envelope a little further, forcing a Congressional committee to put his lyrics on an easel and ask senators to say each line slowly and deliberately on C-Span.

    "B*#*h, I'm going to kill you," pronounced Senator John McCain in a recent Senate committee hearing. "What is going on here?"

    But Eminem is also very different from his rap predecessors - let's be honest. Eminem is white. Despite his performance this summer with the "Up In Smoke" tour featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Warren G, Eminem always is reminded that he is not black. And although he travels with a well-established entourage and is embraced by rap geniuses like Dr. Dre, he must always cope with his position as the first in what may be a long line of white rappers like him.

    This doesn't justify what Eminem says, but thinking about him within this racial context explains a lot. He slanders white celebrities more than black ones, particularly the pop culture redundancy of Britney, Christina and N'Sync. He's determined to remove himself from the mainstream MTV media. This is fine - music lately has become too generic and empty. But the irony of Eminem is that no matter how hard he tries to detach himself, he still is grouped with the same white people he makes fun of.

    This month, Eminem was featured on the cover of Teen People magazine, a publication that targets 13-year-old girls and usually has Backstreet Boys pull-out posters. He appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards followed by a herd of white T-shirt and blue jean wearing clones. He then won the awards for Best Male Video, Best Rap Video and Video of the Year.

    Eminem's need to identify himself as an edgy rapper, not a cheesy pop musician, makes him speak of the unspeakable. From threatening to beat Christopher Reeves with his own legs to making fun of the Columbine shootings, there is no need for Eminem to say some of the things he says. Even the fans who defend him can't help but cringe at his lyrics. That's the point. By systematically alienating himself from the media, fans and critics, Eminem can instead assert himself on his own terms as a hip-hop artist and push aside the mainstream that labels him white.

    We overestimate Slim Shady and think everything he does is to make people mad. Instead, we should consider how his decisions help him in a personal and career-oriented way as well. Eminem doesn't want to go down in history as the first white rapper to appear on the scene, yet he is always forced into that corner. You don't see Snoop on the cover of Teen Beat magazine, because there is a clear understanding of who he is. Similarly, until Eminem can define this space for himself, he will keep describing scenes that make any listener wince - from a drunk man driving into a river with his pregnant wife in the trunk to Tommy Lee abusing Pamela.

    As college-age listeners, where does our responsibility lie? This music is definitely harmful to younger kids, but does that mean we have to forgo listening to Eminem if we want to? In some ways, no, because every decision we make does not have to take into account the general masses. We should be able to do what we want to and listen to what we want to without constantly worrying about how it effects all of society. In other ways though, when Eminem keeps begging us to get mad, it makes it a little discouraging to want to listen to him. I'll listen to Eminem because I think he's a good lyricist and has fresh beats. I won't however, get mad when he discusses killing his mother because like most kids our age, I can discern between identity and insecurity.

    (Diya Gullapalli is a Cavalier Daily associate editor.)

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