For Myself & Others: Eminem Strikes Back
By Bomani Jones
Eminem’s new album, ‘Encore,’ hit stores today, four days ahead of schedule due to what his Web site calls “overwhelming demand.” So 96 hours ahead of schedule, we play what’s become a biennial game of “What’s He Gonna Do Next?” ‘Encore’ is less controversial than its three predecessors, shorter on slurs against women and gays than anything else he’s done, and he definitely doesn’t say anything bad about black people. Instead, he offers the world an apology.
Last year, in the swirl of 'The Source'’s campaign to blame the sagging state of hip-hop on Eminem (Marshall Mathers) and his label, Interscope Records, the magazine came across a basement tape on which Mr. Mathers says, “black girls only want your money ’cause they’re dumb chicks.” He also said he had an aversion to girls with large behinds because “that’s some nigger s---.”
Though the tape was widely covered -- and distributed -- by The Source, it received minimal attention by the rest of the media. This was the fault of 'The Source' itself (particularly Benzino, the mag’s co-owner), who, by vindictively, aggressively, and shamelessly attacking Eminem for months before the basement tape’s discovery, exhausted all its credibility on the issue.
That does not change the reality that the tape was nauseating. Though vitriol against black women does not separate Eminem from many rappers, and hearing those things from a white man was impossible to ignore (though most of us need to ask ourselves why it’s easy to ignore it when we say such things). It also contradicted the numerous times when Em said he would never say “nigger” on a song out of respect.
Well, he did it. Whether the world was meant to hear it or not, he said it, and that was foul. To ponder and intellectualize is unnecessary -- a point that Em apparently agrees with.
On ‘Yellow Brick Road,’ Em discusses the tape and his experiences as a white fan of hip-hop. The lyrics are interesting, particularly the final verse, where he uses his confusion with rap’s Afrocentricity in the late ’80s to go into what led to the tape’s recording. After talking about listening to X-Clan (think the ‘TRL’ crowd knows anything about X-Clan?) and how he once foolishly wore African medallions, he talks about a girl he dated. She was black and dropped him for a black dude, sending Marshall to the mic to battle-rap against black women.
And as I listened and began to brace myself for excuses, Eminem spit the most shocking lyrics of his career.
“I’ve heard people say they heard the tape, and it ain’t that bad/but it was/I singled out a whole race, and for that I apologize…”
No double talk. No rationalizing. Just a straight-ahead apology.
Should this be worth mentioning? No, but if you watched Trent Lott dance a jig on BET as he tried to explain his love of Strom Thurmond’s Jim Crow antics, you know that getting someone to acknowledge a racist statement for what it is can be difficult.
When Benzino put this tape out, it barely made a ripple. The mainstream press did not cover this with the energy it deserved. 'XXL' landed an exclusive interview with Em, but it wound up being another shot in its war with 'The Source.' Hearing the tape reminded me of Guns ’N Roses’ infamously ignorant ’One in a Million’ and the legends (myths?) of Elvis Presley being racist. The latter was a slap in the face from a man whose work was almost entirely derived from black influence. For Eminem to wear a do-rag and love an art created by black people but refer to us as “niggers” stung, but it seemed like no one cared but Benzino, and he seemed to care for the wrong reasons.
Em took accountability for his words more than a year after the little bit of dust they kicked up had long settled. That doesn’t make them any better, but it is noteworthy. It’s unlikely that he hates black people -- if he did, he would have quit rhyming a long time ago -- but that tape made most black folks think twice about him. Whether you feel he’s a racist or not is on you. However, it’s rare to hear a bigot apologize for his or her words, and it’s nearly impossible for one to do so with the sincerity heard on ‘Yellow Brick Road.’
Unfortunately, he had to bring the topic back up for it to receive the attention it deserved months ago. It makes me wonder if he’s more disturbed by what he said than most observers were, leading me to believe we should be more worried about the spirit of fans and the actions of publications rather than Eminem’s heart.
Nov. 12, 2004