Political Eminem

by **katha** » Nov 5th, '10, 15:09

I think Encore's attempts at being political were lame. Like most things about Encore were lame. There were no good arguments why the administration was bad, just slogans. It was lazy and IMO ineffective.

But Eminem has made plenty of good political songs. Being political doesn't necessarily mean that you're endorsing a certain party or calling for a revolution. IMO he's always best when he ties it into his own experiences and then draws more general conclusions from these experiences.

I would call Rock Bottom "political", for example, it deals with the effects of poverty, how unfair it is and how desperate it can make you. He has many great songs bashing attempts at censorship and the fake hysteria and search for scapegoats to blame society's evils on: Criminal, Who Knew, The Way I Am, Sing For The Moment, White America. His privilege as a white rapper: White America explicitly, but it's scattered throughout his albums.

More recently, LTWYL is "political" in that same vein: Yes, it draws from personal experience but also attempts to make a more general point about the dynamics such dysfunctional relationships can have and that this reality is different from the stereotypical presentations in the media and often difficult to understand from the outside. Why do you think there was backlash that "she doesn't leave at the end!" or "they should have said in the song that this is bad!" ? The song's topic had social relevance and some people felt unfomfortable that there were no easy answers like in a PSA.

Could name quite a few more very good political tracks he did that were IMO much better and much more thought-provoking than anything he tried in Encore. Ironic that his most open and explicit attempts at that fell so flat, but that's what drugs do to you, I guess.

by **flyingmonkey10** » Nov 5th, '10, 18:18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCuOCXw1HzE
:worship:

by **DƎRDYPK** » Nov 5th, '10, 18:20

kiki wrote:
embm wrote:he alwys says shit abt current news/politics myb not 2 the xtent of mosh
listen 2 interviews arnd tat time he says y
(the draft 4 war made him worried nate mite hav 2 go 2 war)

u realize writing like dis makes u look stoopid?

yeah but when you do it you look like an assclown
when embm does it it looks cute...you fucking debbie downer :facepalm