Eric Raps on Rap

Eric Norlin's latest TDCRC gives some interesting insight into superstar rapper Eminem, born Marshall Mathers. Interesting to me was Eric's description of Eminem's purposeful personas (up to 3), and what he is trying to achieve in his music through their interplay. That the media has focused its attention only on one of those personas--the most abnoxious--is perhaps predictable, but also interesting. It's something I hadn't thought about before.

As Eminem goes, I wasn't quite aligned with Lynn Cheney (Dick's babe), who has labeled Eminem's music "the most extreme example of rock lyrics used to demean women, rock lyrics used to advocate violence against women." I was more in the, "Great, another white boy rapper getting over by pandering to the Kid Rock crowd" camp. Has Eminem gotten a bad rap as a debaser of women? Lover of violence? Lyrical imposter? I'm thinking maybe.

Given Eric's passion for Eminem, I'm going to give him real listen before I decide. That Eric compares Eminem to RageBoy, alone, makes this TDCRC worth the price of admission.