debate notes

Critics of Eminem will point to his most "offensive" and "vile" lyrics. I don't dare to defend those lyrics on their own. But what I know is this: Every argument that has been made against Eminem was made and countered on his latest album. He took on the arguments of his latest and most vocal critics before most of them even knew his name.

Those who bought Stan on CD can hear the screams of the girlfriend as the deranged Stan drives off the bridge. On the radio, these are censored - but should they be? After all, Romeo and Juliet starts with young men joking about "thrusting maids to the wall. Should Shakespeare's play be performed, let alone be taught in the classroom?

Eminem lyrics which have been censored;

"I take seven [kids] from [Columbine], stand 'em all in line...and that's a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time."

All I had to do was go in her room and lift up her mattress

Which is it bitch, Mrs. Briggs or Ms. Mathers?

It doesn't matter your [attorney Fred Gibson's a] faggot!

I drink malt liquor to fuck you up quicker than you'd wanna fuck me up for sayin the word n1gga

"Cuz i got jelly like Beyoncé’s pot belly"

If I could hit the notes, I’d blow something as long as my father

To show her how I feel about her, how proud I am that I got 'er

God, I’m a daddy, I’m so glad that her mum didn't abort her

In Rap god Eminem sings

“You get too big and here they come trying to censor you like that

one line

I said ‘im back’ from the Mathers LP 1

when I tried to say

‘ill take seven kids from Columbia

Put ‘em all in a line, add an AK-47, a revolver and a nine’

See if I get away with it now I aint as big as I was”

Eminem “But what I am faced with now is far beyond the traditional arguments against extreme speech. While the old criticisms of Marilyn Manson, Ice-T, Madonna, Twisted Sister, and even Elvis amused — and at times — bored me, this latest crop of music critics frightens me. Because every point they make was made better in the very work they criticize.”