The Complicated Legacy of Eminem
Allow me to paint a word picture for you. The year is 1999. You come home from school and turn on MTV. There you see Carson Daly standing there ready to serve up some music videos on TRL, the most-watched music show of your time. Then he introduces a new song. A rap song, done by a rapper that is white with blonde hair. It catches your eye and you are fascinated. The song is called “My Name Is…” and the aforementioned white rapper is Eminem. This was my first exposure to Marshall Mathers at the age of 12. 21 years later, as I think about his career and life I can’t help but come back to that moment. And I think of the current moment and what his perception is by rap aficionados across the globe. I think about the legacy of Eminem and how it is just as complicated as the man himself, and how perhaps we as hip hop fans have taken him for granted.
The Great Expansion
I often credit Eminem for helping me to discover the rap genre. Musically speaking, I had a rather unconventional introduction compared to many of my friends. While so many people I know had their music tastes influenced by their parents I did not have such a situation. My father, an immigrant from Jordan, mostly listened…
