Interview with Eminem

Hi, and welcome back.

 Today’s post will be a fictional interview between Josh Eells of the music magazine Rolling Stone and Eminem, the rapper whose career has generated many controversies over the years. 

Josh: Hello! Thank you for accepting to come for this interview. Let’s begin, shall we?
Eminem: Ok, let’s start.

J: How did it all begin?
E: I was born in 1972 and I grew up with my mother and smaller brother. I never got to meet my father though. We had big problems with money, you know, but we had to keep moving. We had to move from one house to another. Of course, this brought more problems for us, change people around us, change schools, you know. When you’re the new kid and know nothing about the school or people there, like what they do, what they’re like, you end up being a target, you know, for bullying. I used to be that guy, and it was not easy man. Then, I discovered rap and I began to attend different battles. There was a problem though; I was white. People used to ignore me somehow, to underestimate my abilities because you know, rap is an African-American music. This was the main problem of my childhood. We were living in a neighborhood of African-Americans and I got beaten up many times for being, you know, different. However, at one point people started to admire me somehow and this is where it all started I guess.
J: Why do you think white people are underestimated while coming to rap music?
E: I don’t know. Maybe because white people are associated with wealth, happy lives, you know, no problems, no worries whatsoever and consequently people consider they don’t have that rage and ability to talk about problems.  Well, it’s not like that, not everyone is rich, not everyone has a perfect life. This problem is kind of stereotypical, you know.
J: Is this the reason people talk about authenticity in rap music?
E: I guess so. Authenticity is like the whole thing in rap music you know. If you want your song to be good it needs to be real. You can’t simply put some words there and say you have a song. It has to send a message. It has to be your way of expressing your feelings, your past, your present, your future. This is what all music is about. Feeling.
J: Your authenticity has been generating controversies over the past years. What were some of your intentions when you were writing the songs? What were you hoping to achieve and how did you want to impact people listening to them?
E: I was hoping that I could make myself heard, you know; make people understand my struggles as a child and later as a teenager. I wanted to open their eyes, evidencing the discrimination and the harassment that surrounded me and that surrounds many others. I also wanted to make people see some of the failures of our society as well as making them see the hypocrisy that surrounds us. As for authenticity, I think one of the best proofs of mine is my background. I didn’t start in life having everything I wanted. I built my way to the top from almost nothing. My biggest ambition was to show people that I can become someone and that I can rap. Of course there were lots who said I will not succeed, you know, because of my skin colour. I wanted to prove them wrong. All the rage, all the hate in my songs was real. It was reflecting over a period of my life, you know. Maybe this won me some extra authenticity points. Violence and hate sell well. Especially to people who are just like me, who have to deal with the unfair situations of life. Discrimination is a real problem in our days, you know, having people acting different just because of your skin colour. I understand this, because discrimination is not directed only towards African-Americans. It can be used as a weapon against anyone and I learnt that the hard way. Life is not easy, and discrimination and harassment only make it worse for certain individuals of the society. However, my songs are meant not only to attack different individuals that represent our society but also to give a hint of hope to those that are going through tough moments, those who think than nothing and no one can help them, those ones that are ready to give up. I would tell them to keep fighting, ‘cause no matter how hard it might look like, it is certainly not impossible.
J: So you are saying that your hate and rage are directed towards the people discriminating and harassing others.
E: Yes.
J: But what about the language that you use in your songs? Do you think that it has any impact on the songs and most importantly, do you use the same language at home, around your kids? Taking for example your song “The Real Slim Shady”, what’s one of the messages that you were trying to send?
E: Language that I decide to use is important in my songs. I want people to understand exactly how I feel, no matter if they get offended or not. If I think something I will say it exactly as it is, you know. And this is one of the aims of the song you mentioned. I was trying to make clear that no matter what, I will not be “false or sugarcoated at all”. Sometimes people accuse me of profanity and say that my kids shouldn’t be exposed to this kind of language, and they are right, you know; but the words I use in my songs are not something that I use in a conversation with them. You know, where I lived when I was a kid, words like that would just come out from anybody at any time and I feel like it is important to use them to describe that situation. I am aware that kids nowadays are attracted by these kinds of words in songs but it is not my problem. When it comes to my music there are my rules but one thing should be clear, there is a huge difference between my music and my home. Music is art and my home is no place for profanity.
J: I understand. Thank you again for being here today! It was truly amazing to find all these things about you.
E: Thank you for inviting me.