Dec 3 - Why Blacks Never Really Came Down On Eminem

    

 

 

Long Beach, CA - At first, rap star Eminem was accused of using Black music to make himself wealthy. After selling over 30 million records worldwide, he was being compared to the late Elvis Presley, who took R&B and rock and made it a style of his own, without giving due credit to the African-American culture. Then it came out - a rap tape from ten years ago with Eminem calling Black women dumb, and making several references to "******s".

It was what every Eminem-hater was waiting for, and what every Eminem-lover thought would never happen. But it was true, and he admitted to it. So of course, he was called a racist by many. According to BlackNews.com, a huge press conference was held by Source Magazine who broke the story, and a few activists started talking about a boycott and massive protesting. But then, suddenly nobody cared anymore. Everybody forgot, and the Eminem legend lived on.

What happened? Since when do African-Americans back off of a popular white guy who calls Black people stupid ******s? Where are the boycotts? Where is the protesting? Where's the NAACP?

Here's what happened:

1) Whether he meant it or not, Eminem admitted to the accusations and apologized. He didn't make excuses, and he didn't rationalize. He apologized, and he really didn't have to. This is something that no racist bigot in history as ever done. He could have just said it wasn't him, and there really would have been no way to prove it was. But, he was man enough to accept the charges. Then, on his new CD he apologizes again, saying - "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..."

In one interview, he explained that he was a victim of the trailor park environment that he grew up in, but was not in harmony with that kind of racist thinking anymore.

2) Eminem had support from the Blacks who knew him. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons publicly stood up for Eminem and accepted his apology. Long-time rapper/producer Dr. Dre also stuck by him. And so, most of the hip-hop world did so too.

3) Eminem's actions were louder than his words. He said he wasn't a racist anymore, and proved it by the many Black artists that he has helped. Eminem is responsible for the successful career of the rap group G-Unit, who have sold millions of records worldwide. In addition, all three members of G-Unit - Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and 50-cent, had solo albums that all sold millions more worldwide. Eminem also helped Obie Trice, another rap artist, sell a gold album. And, he helped D-12, another rap group, generate two multi-platinum selling albums. All in all, he helped seven African-American rappers sell over 15 million records world-wide, and all of them became popular icons in the rap industry. This was noteworthy in comparison to Elvis who never helped one Black artist make a penny.

Truthfully speaking, Eminem could have went searching the urban streets for more white talent like himself, but he never did.

4) Eminem gave and still does give credit to African-Americans. Regularly, he references Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, Tupac, Outkast, and countless other rappers as his inspirations, and as the leaders of the hip-hop culture. Not once, has he called himself the king of hip-hop. Being that he is the biggest rapper of all time, he very well could call himself the king, but he seems to respect the founders of the rap genre. Again, this was very noteworthy in comparison to Elvis, who never gave credit to any Black musicians, and insisted on being called the king of Rock.