Eminem, Still a Rap God ... Just In "Mid-Woke" Process :)

Everybody ragging on my boy, Eminem, for the way he looks and "not dropping the beats like he used to, for a decade," and things he said in his youth he regretted/apologized/tried to make amends for for (but I agree, he could do more).

Of course he's matured, that's not a bad thing - but I think it's less about age and more about the fact that every poet, every writer, every musician, every artist - every good one, anyway - goes through a time of self-reflection, a "lull" period while they work it out - when they become "woke" and start to realize the world is a much bigger place than just themselves and their own little world, and what responsibility they now carry in it. 
  
When they come out of it on the other side - IF they come out out of it on the other side -  they're often better than ever.  When they become "woke" - Eminem is simply mid-process of "wokeness" :)

Eminem has lost the drugs, has focused on raising his daughter into college, starting to dabble in causes and subjects bigger than himself -  and people act like that's a bad thing lol.

What he writes is still from the heart, it's just not what little wannabe thugs want to hear anymore  - dealing with fame and the other side of life got real for him, fast, and he's dealing with it - razor-sharp wit still intact.

Actually, it's just a bit of karmic medicine for Eminem - because all those rappers, celebrities, and just everyday grownups he once made fun of?

Welcome to pushing 50, my friend -  that Karma, she's a B, isn't she, M? ;)

And all these people suddenly trying to act like his disses of people in the industry is new - lol.

No, were you born in 2010?  

That's Eminem's schtick and always has been. 

Eminem "reads" people like a straight, white Billy Porter lol. 

(And still, Eminem and Billy Porter together still aren't as mean as either Don Rickles OR Joan Rivers were, or even 1 Ricky Gervais).

I, myself, wasn't so much a fan of some of the disses -  or some of the content - but I realized it was a new way, a unique, even fantasy way of articulating thoughts and feelings through rap, rather than reality, artistic expression not to be taken literally - and thank God he rapped about something other than bitches and hos,  drugs, guns, and money?

And no, I didn't let my daughter listen to most of it, just the edited/mainstream stuff - but I support freedom of expression with artists - just filter for age-appropriateness ;)

My husband, from Detroit, grew up right on the 8-mile line in the Eastpointe area - and he's just as much of a fan as me :)

And the fact is, if so many people weren't trying to take him down all the time, like Machine Gun Kelly, he wouldn't have to shoot back.  

(However, having said that, like I said above, it is a bit of karmic medicine for Eminem, considering he gave older rappers so much sh*t early on in his career.)

I look at it this way - so many writing "diss" raps about Eminem now, trying to get famous that way (Machine Gun Kelly, I'm talking to you) - is an honor, a testament to a legend :)

(And apparently, they have nothing else to rap about?)

Eminem grew up -  so what?  

Maybe he doesn't draw first, but he still draws first blood, with those razor sharp lyrics  - it's just darker - as he works himself through it all.  Rapping is his therapy -  let him be :)

Here's my little personal story about Eminem (sort of) lol.

So in 2008, having my transcription job outsourced to India for the 3rd time, I worked for 6 months for a famous lens-making company.  

(This was the #metoo job that ended in a legendarily bad way - the real kind -  with me saying "no" and facing retaliation for having doing so -  and with me finally just walking away, despite desperately needing a job and being blacklisted later.)

Regardless, before that (or during that), after a certain number of positive feedback from customers, coworkers, and supervisors, I was given the responsibility of handling certain "VIP" lenses, making sure they got through the lens-making process safely and quickly - and one of them was Eminem's lenses for his  glasses/sunglasses :)

The lenses were surprisingly placed in understated Gucci frames, if I recall correctly - you definitely wouldn't think "Oh, these belong to Eminem" lol. 

In fact, I think these may be the ones?  :)

Well, of course, I was forbidden from saying whose glasses I had - but some people in shipping apparently got the word got around that I was in charge of Eminem's glasses - and all the girls came to my desk, wanting to see and touch them lol. 

(However, I just want to state very clearly, they were NOT obliged on the being able to physically touch Eminem's glasses, I guarantee ;)

Girls:  "Do you have Enimem's glasses? Let me see them." 

Me: "Lol, maybe.  How do you all know? All right, who's got the big  mouth in shipping? Gina, girl, quit trying to act all innocent, I know it's you lol.  Only 4 people even knew, and you're only one in shipping in charge of VIP glasses." lol. 

Gina:  "Girl, I know, but I can't help it, it's Eminem.  That sh*t doesn't happen every day.  He'll understand. He worked the line, like us, he's one of us.  I bet if he was on the line, making a car for Dre in Detroit, before he was famous, you know he'd tell everyone, too lol."

Me:  "Well, you're gonna care if his optometrist finds out a bunch of normally professional women completely lost their minds over Eminem's glasses lol. His office called specifically to keep it under wraps and make sure they were safe and monitored.  Then again, maybe he was just acting like that, but actually just called to name-drop and wanted everybody to know he was Eminem's optometrist, who knows" lol. 

Gina:   "Right, that's what I'm saying - everybody else famous, somebody calls for them and checks on them frequently, but they don't usually say who, just it's a VIP.  This dude calls up like, "Oh, shhh, don't tell anyone - but tell everyone - be careful with Eminem's lenses and frames. I'm his optometrist's office." lol

Me:  "That's true, not very subtle, were they? lol. Maybe it was a toss-up decision between arriving smashed during shipping, like everybody else's vs. being smashed by the growing girl mob forming in the warehouse lol. 

Girls:  "Can I, like ... touch them?  Just the frames, not the lenses." 

Me:  "The new lenses aren't ready yet or they'd already be out the door.  What, you think I'm just sitting here with Eminem's glasses and PO prescription locked in my desk, for no reason, like some sort of creeper? Lol. No, they're waiting on the new lenses.  I just have the frames with the old lenses.  Now, you know I can't let you touch them, either way - BUT - here, I'll give you a peek at the frames/old lenses.  Then you can tell everybody that you saw Eminem's new glasses before he did lol. Look with your eyes, not your hands, ladies lol."

Then I unlocked my desk and opened the tray box for a quick peek.

Tons of girlish squealing ensued - which I may or may not have been a part of ;)

Despite lots of squealing girliness, everyone behaved themselves -  nobody even tried to touch them (swear to G) :) 

Then - right before Gina shipped them out to West Bloomfield, Michigan, she brought the shipping box back to my desk, and all the girls - black, white, Latino - account reps and CSRs like me, assembly line, warehouse, and shipping - blew a kiss at the shipping box to bless it with luck for Eminem - AKA - Marshall Mathers :)

Still blowing kisses for luck your way, Eminem, if you'll take them, from an old-school sister :) xo

Eminem, back then ... (don't worry, I'm not putting "Kim" or "Cleaning Out My Closet/Mama" on my blog - though I have always interpreted them as fantasy, feeling expression rather than reality, anyway) ...







\






















Eminem now ...

Just an explanation of the title and cover - yes, it's Hitchcockian - but also  reference to school shootings and society killing itself, as well as rappers "killing" each other (which also oddly includes a diss/threat to other rappers -  who are now using his daughter, Hailey, as rap material to provoke him) - kind of a quadruple entendre?

\






Meh, yeah, I get it ... it's a little basic, not his best ... and I hear the industry pressure to keep the content relevant to popular themes and sound today  ... but like I said, he's working through it ... don't give up on him yet  ;)