Source: YouTube
Eminem’s “The Storm” freestyle has shaken hip-hop to its core, so we decided to look back at past moments when Slim Shady got political on America’s arse.
As in years past, BET’s annual Hip-Hop Awards have been overshadowed by the excellent pre-recorded rap cyphers. While this year’s event celebrated the wins of Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B and DJ Khaled who won most of the night's major awards, much of the talk on newsfeeds and timelines revolved around Eminem’s four-and-a-half minute takedown of Donald Trump. The internet was quickly flooded with hot takes on Marshall’s cypher verse. Many were quick to point out that Em wasn’t saying anything that hadn’t been said over the course of Trump’s presidency. Lines like “Racism's the only thing he's fantastic for (Fantastic Four) / 'Cause that's how he gets his f***ing rocks off and he's orange / Yeah, sick tan,” hardly passes for commentary in 2017. Others credited him for calling out his fan base: “And any fan of mine who's a supporter of his / I'm drawing in the sand a line: you're either for or against / And if you can't decide who you like more and you're split / On who you should stand beside, I'll do it for you with this: Fuck you.”
Titled “The Storm,” this isn’t the first time the Detroit emcee forayed into politics. He has politically leaning songs scattered throughout his catalog, but can he be categorized as a conscious rapper? An effective political song should not only address a relevant issue but should offer some sort of nuance or insight on the topic at hand. @Okayplayer has decided to re-examine some of Marshall’s most socially conscious songs to see if they offer any insight and substance or if the songs just resort to name-calling and shallow analysis being passed off as commentary.
“White America”
With Eminem’s first two LPs, Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP, he mostly focused on his personal life. Much of his subject matter centered around him being poor in Detroit and his fast rise to becoming one of the biggest stars in music. On the opening cut of his third record, The Eminem Show, he addresses his white privilege and admits it helped him reach a level of success that wouldn’t be reachable if he were black. “White America” was arguably his first attempt at political and social commentary, addressing an issue that may have been a new concept to much of his fanbase, the “suburban kids” he addressed in the song’s final verse.
“White America” is effective, in the sense that he introduces a concept to a group of people who otherwise might not have been aware of it. However, in the song’s final bars, he makes the issue about him. He claims being white has not only given him more fame, it has also brought onto him more scrutiny from the media and public. While that may be true in some sense, he tries to excuse himself of his more harmful lyrics (ex. violence toward women and homophobic slurs) because he gets more exposure than many black artists who use similar language.
Pivotal lines:
“Look at these eyes, baby blue, baby just like yourself
If they were brown, Shady'd lose, Shady sits on the shelf
But Shady's cute, Shady knew Shady's dimples would help
Make ladies swoon, baby (ooh, baby!) — look at my sales!
Let's do the math: if I was black, I woulda sold half
I ain't have to graduate from Lincoln High School to know that”
--
“Square Dance”
Similar to 2017, the years following 9/11 featured a lot of artists making songs addressing policy and government. Eminem joined the likes of dead prez, Public Enemy, Bright Eyes, The Coup and many others who released songs attacking the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.
“Square Dance” addresses post-9/11 paranoia with passing references to Anthrax, the war in Iraq and terrorism. This song doesn’t offer much commentary outside of a few buzzwords, while taking jabs at Bush and Canibus in the same verse.
Pivotal lines:
“Yeah, you laugh 'til your mothafuckin' ass gets drafted
While you're at band camp thinking that crap can't happen
'Til you fuck around, get an Anthrax napkin
Inside a package wrapped in Saran Wrap wrappin'
Open the plastic and then you stand back gaspin'
Fuckin' assassins hi-jackin' Amtraks, crashin'
All this terror, America demands action
Next thing you know you've got Uncle Sam's ass askin'
To join the army or what you'll do for their Navy
You just a baby getting recruited at 18
You're on a plane now, eating their food and their baked beans
I'm 28, they gonna take you 'fore they take me”>
--
“We as Americans”
“We as Americans” was one of several songs leaked from an unofficial EP titled Straight From the Lab in 2003. A year later, “We as Americans” landed on the bonus disc of Encore, along with “Love You More” and “Ricky Ticky Toc”. It is one of Eminem’s more controversial songs, complete with the line: “Fuck money, I don't rap for dead presidents / I'd rather see the president dead / It's never been said, but I set precedents”. The lyric put Secret Service on alert even before the song was officially released.
After pleading guilty to a concealed weapons charge in 2001, Eminem spent two years on probation, during which barred him from owning or possessing firearms or any other weapons. He expressed his frustration with gun control on “We as Americans”. He blasts the government for taking away his Second Amendment right and claims he needs a gun to protect himself from his rap rivals and Osama Bin Laden, whom he mocked in the video for “Without Me”. While this is a quality track overall, it’s flimsy from a commentary standpoint. Marshall’s pro-gun stance on the song is pretty dated, considering he changed his tune on the issue in his 2008 memoir The Way I Am. He further changed his stance on “The Storm,” on which he insulted Trump for focusing more on the NFL protests than gun control following the Las Vegas mass shooting.
Pivotal Lines:
“When runnin' with the long arm of the law I'm long gone
I'ma do five years — no less than that, no questions asked
So it might be a good idea that I stop right here
And quit while I'm ahead, already in the red
Already got a steady infrared meant for my head
A target on my back, bigger problems than that
Bin Laden on my ass, he probably gon' send a task
I ain't gon' even ask, they ain't gon' let me pack
They ain't gon' give me my semi, but I got my weed back”
--
“Mosh”
While Encore is typically seen as one of Eminem’s worst albums, “Mosh” is one of the few gems on his fourth LP. “Mosh” was released just over a week before the 2004 presidential election, complete with an animated video encouraging fans to vote Bush out of office. The anti-Bush track is one of Eminem’s most impassioned political statements, backed by a repetitive, but excellent Dr. Dre instrumental.
The first half of “Mosh” is filled with sharp, but vague rhymes about his career and personal problems. He hones in on his target on the final two lines of the second verse, which includes a “fuck Bush” and a plea to bring the troops home. On the third verse, Eminem protests the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, criticizing the White House in the process. He drops a few cliched Bush critiques: “No more blood for oil” and “Make him fight his own war, let him impress daddy that way.” While his content wasn’t the most original, the fire in his delivery makes this an effective track and one of his best political records.
Pivotal lines:
“Let the President answer a higher anarchy
Strap him with an AK-47, let him go
Fight his own war, let him impress Daddy that way
No more blood for oil
We got our own battles to fight on our own soil
No more psychological warfare
To trick us to thinking that we ain't loyal
If we don't serve our own country
We're patronizing a hero; look in his eyes, it's all lies
The stars and stripes have been swiped, washed out and wiped
And replaced with his own face, mosh now or die.”
--
“Campaign Speech”
Eminem released the seven-plus minute “Campaign Speech” weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Easily the worst song on this list, he is more focused on cramming as many rhyming syllables in each line than making any sort of statement. “Campaign Speech” is framed like a political song, but he never stays on a single topic long enough to actually say anything of substance despite the song’s obnoxiously long runtime. He makes references about Dylann Roof, Trayvon Martin and Colin Kaepernick in the exhaustingly technical display of rhyming.
In 2004, Trump was involved in a promo for Shady’s Encore album, in which the then-reality TV star cosigned the rapper: “I know a winner when I see one. And Donald Trump is telling you right now, Slim Shady is a winner. He’s got brains, he’s got guts, and he’s got Donald Trump’s vote.” However, “Campaign Speech” offers one of Eminem’s first anti-Trump sentiments. Nearly four minutes in, Eminem officially distances himself from Trump, calling him a “loose cannon”. While an impressive display of rhyming and technique, this track offers very little musically and politically.
Pivotal lines:
“Consider me a dangerous man
But you should be afraid of this dang candidate
You say Trump don't kiss ass like a puppet
'Cause he runs his campaign with his own cash for the funding
And that's what you wanted
A fuckin' loose cannon who's blunt with his hand on the button
Who doesn't have to answer to no one—great idea.”
Zach Gase is a freelance writer for Okayplayer + an avid music lover. Follow him (and us!) on Twitter @GooseOhio.
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