Hearing this album a decade after all the endless controversy is an incredible experience, in more ways than one.First off, this is nothing less than a classic hardcore rap album. "Kim," "Way I Am," "Stan"--these are examples of rap at its absolute greatest. All hype aside, all Slim Shady posturing ignored, these are brilliant tracks, and they still would be if Eminem had never broken the mainstream. The album itself is a marvel of hip-hop storytelling, a credit just as much to Dr. Dre's production than Eminem's performances. The finished work as a whole is stunning.
Second, in hindsight, even Eminem's edgiest moments really aren't that edgy. There were rappers pushing well beyond these same boundaries a decade before "Stan" managed to become a hit. The murder of his wife documented in "Kim" is still a harrowing listen, and his violent raps can still unnerve you from time to time, but this is hardly the kind of stuff that would incite middle-class America to revolt and take to the streets, knocking down their white-picket fences on the way out.
The fear and revulsion exhibited by virtually every public figure in office in the late-90s seems silly now. But more importantly, the reason behind their reactions and the controversy in general is painfully clear now: He's white.
If violent lyrics are the issue, there a much, much more extreme examples everywhere you look. Hardcore gangsta rap existed for decades before Eminem came around. Wu-Tang Clan, 2pac, and Notorious B.I.G. arguably brought it to the mainstream by the mid-90s, with lyrics every bit as gratuitous as Eminem's. Groups like Gravediggaz brought the horror branch of hip-hop to life, with themes that make "Kim"s end sequence sound laughable.
The only difference here is race, pure and simple. Eminem is white. To politicians, this makes him easier to fear, because they perceive him as being closer to their reality, or their existence at least. The only reason they ever heard of him to begin with was because record companies saw the benefits of publicizing a white rapper, which came true exponentially. Wu-Tang was rapping with the same basic themes for ages (in rap terms) before Eminem came around, but I don't remember anyone giving Raekwon shit for what he raps about.
Another factor is Eminem's talents as an MC. I honestly can't think of another rapper who could have made "Kim" sound as gritty, real, and utterly terrifying as he did. He's a storyteller in the purest sense. He convinces you of what he's trying to express, and gives you no choice but to agree. And that's scary to people, especially if they're using the word "faggot" and talking about killing people.
The good thing is that all that shit is passed. Eminem was on 60 Minutes this week, for fuck's sake. He's no longer the end of upstanding white society as we know it. He's a rapper. He's a musician. And this is just an album. A great album, but an album nonetheless. So listen to it with all that Grammy controversy nonsense out of your mind, and you'll be reworded in spades.
