It's all Eminem, all the time.
A flurry of controversies and events in the past month will likely lead
to huge sales for his fourth album, Encore, which hits stores
today (he moved the release date up from Nov. 16 to combat Internet
piracy).
Here's a look at some of the hubbub surrounding the rapper.Playing
politics: Eminem got political right before the election with
"Mosh," a protest song that takes on President Bush and the war in Iraq.
"[Expletive] Bush," he raps, "until they bring our troops home."
Playing crass jokester: Right before "Mosh" came "Just Lose It,"
an ultra-silly video with puke and fart jokes, and Em posing as Pee-Wee
Herman, MC Hammer, Santa Claus and Michael Jackson.
Speaking of Michael: Jackson wasn't happy with being parodied as
playing with children in the video. "Michael is calling on all networks
to pull the video," said Jackson representative Ramone Bain on Oct. 12.
BET pulled the video from rotation. MTV did not. In the current Rolling
Stone cover story, Eminem says: "I didn't do anything in the video that
he hasn't said himself he does. With the little boys jumping on the bed
and all that – they're just jumping on the bed."
On the radio: Em has teamed with satellite radio provider Sirius
to create a rap channel called Shade 45. He kicked it off Oct. 28 with a
New York event he dubbed the Shady National Convention. "This channel
gives me a direct outlet to the streets and our audience," Em says on
the Sirius site. "... And most of all, no censorship."
Race issues: The longtime feud between Eminem and The Source
magazine led to a controversy late last year about racist lyrics on a
decade-old Eminem tape. He apologized for it, and most of the rap
community let it pass. He addresses it in a song on Encore.
Staff and Wire Reports
A SOFTER SIDE?
In the opening cut of Encore, "Evil Deeds," Eminem asks forgiveness for
his violent character. In "Yellow Brick Road," he apologizes for a
racist rap he admits to recording when he was young. In "Like Toy
Soldiers," he calls for an end to several personal beefs. One cut even
finds him forgiving his ultimate enemy – his mom.
New York Daily News
