Re: Lyric help

Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2003 09:38:45 -0500
Newsgroups: alt.music.eminem
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That is such a wrong way to approach Eminem. Why don't you research
how many syllables he uses per line, how he varies rhyme patters and
rhythm throughout songs and genereally employs hip-hop writing
techniques of a very high level, which is why he has all the respect
he has. If you think most fans (that are over 12) listen to him
because they like the swear words or are intrigued by the controversy,
you are wrong. In fact, an average Eminem listener could be listening
to a song by Eminem without any swear words and not even notice it.
(How many people noticed that Lose Yourself had only 2 swear words?).
A general guideline for a first time listener would be:
The Slim Shady LP: is generally very immature, has lyrics written for
simple laughs and is a "fun" album overall. However it also has
serious songs on being broke and having a hard life (Rock Bottom, If I
Had), which seem to disappear in the later albums and be replaced with
more celebrity type troubles, such as annoying fans, demonizing media,
etc.
The Marshall Mathers LP:his highest selling CD, having a very diverse
array of songs able to please anyone, including commercial (The Real
Slim Shady), angry (The Way I Am), storytelling (Stan), dark
(Amityville), raw (Remember Me), dance (Drug Ballad) and numerous
other categories, almost each song representing a unique category.
This is truly the CD with the most mass appeal potential, and it's
doubtful that Eminem can produce something new that will sell quite
like this one, although it might be of a higher musical and lyrical
level, like his newer albums are.
The Eminem Show: this album has a more consistent, angry tone to it,
interrupted with his usual "fun" songs (Business, Without Me, My Dad's
Gone Crazy) and a few unigue songs (Hailie's Song, Superman). Mostly,
this album delivers his political and social commentary, critisizing
the current government, media, etc and has a lot of bitching about
various stuff.
D12:Devil's Night: Eminem's band/group/posse/crew/whatever is called
D12, consisiting of 6 rappers including himself. On this album, even
though Eminem usually has a maximum of one verse per song, he delivers
a stunning variety of rapping styles and flows, even though the topics
and ideas in most songs aren't readily identifiable, featuring the
usual boasting and descriptions of inflicitng violence, characteristic
of a lot of rap. Perhaps this is because it was hard to pick a single
viewpoint on a song with 6 people working on it.
8 Mile O.S.T.: on the soundtrack for his movie, Eminem only has 3
songs by himself and 2 collaborations. The 3 songs, however are very
notable, representing 3 different ways a rap song can be good and
hopefully represent the direction Eminem will be following in the
future. "Lose Yourself" is a great example of conveying emotion
through music, something that hasn't been common in hip-hop (except
for conveying anger), the song "8 Mile" is a great example of good
integration of lyrics and singing with the accompanying beat and
melody, and the song "Rabbit Run" representing an amazing lyrical flow
and showcasing a tremendous number of lyrical techniques.
Besides these, Eminem has about 100 other songs, including his first
album "Infinite", which only sold a few thousand copies. However, most
of the songs are collaborations on other artists' album and don't have
any important relevances to his image, controversy, etc.
The songs you shouls listen to:
For controversy:
Criminal (marshall mathers lp) - homophobic lyrics
Superman(eminem show) - mysoginistic lyrics
Kim(marshall mathers lp) - he kills his wife in the song
'97 Bonnie And Clyde(slim shady lp) - he dumps his wife's body in a
lake with his daughter
White America(eminem show) - political/social commentary
Kill You(marshall mathers lp) - lots of violence
Famous/hit songs:
My Name Is(slim shady lp)
The Real Slim Shady(marshall mathers lp)
Without Me(eminem show)
Stan(marshall mathers lp)
For humour:
Brain Damage(slim shady lp)
As The World Turns(slim shady lp)
Role Model(slim shady lp)
Under The Influence(marshall mathers lp)
My Dad's Gone Crazy(eminem show)
For his commentary on him & his image:
Who Knew(marshall mathers lp)
The Way I Am(marshall mathers lp)
Marshall Mathers(marshall mathers lp)
Sing For The Moment(eminem show)
Stimulate(8 Mile OST limited edition bonus disc)
Other important songs:
Cleanin Out My Closet(eminem show) - about his mother
Hailie's Song(eminem show) - about his daughter
Rock Bottom(slim shady lp) - about being poor
The Kiss(eminem show) - a skit on the incident that got him on
probation
That's pretty much all I can come up with off the top of my head. I'm
sure others on this board will contribute a lot to this. Just don't
forget to have an emphasis on his music, because that's the best thing
about him.