So, let's have it out. Has anyone else read this month's Source yet? I usually don't, but the whole controversy got me interested. RS
I have no idea what this is about, so can I take it for granted that it's the latest episode of the incredibly tiresome Eminem vs. Benzino 'battle'?
Yes and no. Benzino got a hold of some of Em's first recordings - recordings that, when viewed in the context of a white rapper, are very offensive. The issue comes bundled with a CD. On it is a 20 second "compilation clip" of those Em songs in question (all a federal judge would allow The Source to run after a lawsuit from Shady Records). Also on the CD are statements by poet/activist Nikki Giovanni ("What is the purpose of this boy, who is making a living off a black art form, being so insulting?"), Malik Shabazz of the new Black Panther party ("Hes really playing a game now, to try and get some black money and black redibility...by emulating [us] and really ripping us off") and activist/radio talk shot host Bob Law ("The real conern is that Eminem would feel like he could make a statement like that and that there would be no economic or political consequences. It indicates how Eminem and others in this society still hold back people in contempt. ... In their heart, they really hold us in contempt.") The 20 seconds of songs are clearly clipped lines from the originals, with no sense of context. These are the lyrics (each line break denotes a clip) "'Cuz I don't like that *#*#*#*#*# *#*#*#*#." "Black girls only want your money 'cuz they're dumb chicks. Don't date a black girl, take it as a diss." "Black girls and white girls just don't mix, 'Cuz black girls are dumb and white girls are good chicks." "I'ma bust another rhyme, about this blck girl 'Cuz she turned out to be a *#*#*#*#in' wack girl" "Get straight to the point, black girls are bitches." I'm reading the issue itself right now. RS
Benzino's a tool, and Mathers is a very talented jack-off. They both deserve any and all criticism and derision that flys their way.
The longest article in the issue is an interview with (surprise!) Benzino where he, among other things, compares himself to Jesus. I'm not even kidding. Also included are interviews with the person who brought the tape forward (never named), an incredibly one-sided profile of Eminem (they couldn't find one person to say something positive about him, evidentally) and quotes from other rap figures. There's a sidebar about Russell Simmons' support for Eminem. The first paragraph explains what SImmons said, the next five rip on him for saying it. Finally, there is a sidebar flow chart that shows how Interscope Records is taking over hip-hop (20% of all rap releases purchased in 2003 were on Interscope or Interscope-owned label). RS
This is basically the rap version of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a polarizing issue with no good guys on either side, a battle, not of who is right, but who is less reprehensible than the other and who can destroy the other first. But a thought - has Benzino ever considered, if he can't sell records after all the pimping he gets from the Source and strong-arming artists to guest-appear on his albums, maybe, just maybe, he just wasn't meant to make it in the business? And with all the talk about Eminem exploting a "black" artform, they conveniently forget that the Source is owned by a white dude.
In this very issue, Benzino's "Redemption" is named as one of the six most slept on albums of 2003, right up there with records from Gza and Gangstarr. RS
At least you can feel sorry for both the Israelis and Palestinians. There are no victims in this senseless, but quite entertaining, pissing contest.
To Benzino's credit, he also made the Onion AV Club's Least Essential Albums list two years in a row: http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3948/avfeature_3948.html http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3847/avfeature_3847.html True, I suppose loss of credibility doesn't quite compare to loss of innocent lives.
Oh, yeah, and the SOURCE has credibility in terms of engaging "Black America"'s best interests... They've *#*#*#*#ing TEAMED UP with the goddamned ARMY to send black kids as fast as possible to their deaths in the desert, and they're worrying about what a kid said when he was stupid, and still growing up? The SOURCE is global capitalist soulless cash-whorism, all dressed up as giving a damn about black people and/or hip-hop... *#*#*#*#ing hypocrites...
I hope if any black rapper ever rapped or said anything derogatory about whites, Asians or Hispanics that The Source would make sure to make a big issue of it.
GNN "dirty version" of Eminem's "White America" I don't even like this guy, but his relationship with GNN is...illuminating.
The GNN flash version of "white america" is great. At first glance, I was a bit surprised that a corporate dude like Eminem was at GNN, but I had my 15-year old daughter watch along with the show. It changed her mind about Eminem. If her dad is turning on Eminem, Eminem can't be cool. She's moved on to greener pastures!
Actually (and this was why I submitted that the relationship was "illuminating"): In a move that is sure to inspire some to question whether we have finally lost our edge and gone corporate, GNN is proud to release our collaboration with Interscope recording artist, Eminem. Inked in mid-April, the deal between Interscope and Guerrilla News Network to produce a Flash-driven animated video for Eminem's ultra-controversial track, White America, was kept an industry secret. In order to fuse GNN's underground political culture with Eminem's profane anti-American rant, we pitched a concept that would "place the viewer in the body of Eminem as he moves through the media-drenched environment that is the subject for his critique of American society." In this way, we were actively seeking to divert the emphasis from the cult celebrity of Eminem and have the video be a platform for a broader and hyper-visual critique of America itself. While the process of creating White America was long and meticulous, once we had finished the basic design for the first couple of verses, Interscope decided that they wanted it to be much more than a viral internet product. This meant increased scrutiny by their lawyers and a series of revisions to the final cut. But no level of corporate safeguarding could prepare us for the reception that CNN gave the video just days after its launch on Rolling Stone.com, when a parent of one of the Columbine shooting victims was brought on to critique the work. This coverage, combined with the perception of the video as "anti-patriotic" was enough to delay the video's television debut indefinitely. But by that time, Eminem was in the middle of his U.S. tour, opening the show with this track and our video on the large stage video screens. The interpretive artwork for the four main verses of White America was created by Anson Vogt of Phong.com and his team: Shawn Schmidt and Dan Clegg. The chorus segments were done by Black Mustache's Haik Hoisington.