Eminem doesn't represent hip-hop culture

posted: February 26, 2003

by Adam Bowser

Recently, I read an article in Vibe Magazine where the author predicted Eminem to be the next Tupac Shakur of the rap industry.

Now whether Eminem is worthy to clean Tupac's toilet seat is an argument for another article, but his popularity from the Arlington projects in New Jersey to even the high society of Fairfax County simply cannot be overlooked.

There can be little doubt left that Eminem has an overwhelming amount of lyrical skill. He brings a passion to his art that so many rappers in this commercialized era of music lack.

And while so many other rappers, including Jay-Z, have albums that decrease in quality slowly from their first through their latest, Eminem's albums increase in originality and lyrical prowess, flooding music listeners with a style uniquely his own.

The Detroit native continually makes mention of the fact that inner city drug glorification and violence are just ploys used by many rappers to claim "realness" and increase record sales and much of the violence he acts out on his records is said in jest. Nothing new or radical, but positive nonetheless.

He also realizes his success, financial or otherwise, is substantially based upon his ethnicity (listen to "White America," the first track from The Eminem Show).

Given all this, does that make Eminem a true hip-hop artist? Well, first what is hip-hop?

The most common misconception is that hip-hop is merely a label for a genre of music, because it is much more than that.

Hip-hop is in itself a culture developed in inner cities and urban areas of the United States.

The culture itself still grows today, even though it is continually demeaned by terms such as "youth culture," or "urban youth culture" - as if the very basis for its existence and the fabric of its influence will be outgrown and dispersed upon entering into an older generation.

It is perpetuated nationwide, even gaining differentiation through geographical variations.

Hip-hop has strong African influence through language, clothing style, dance and behavior; it claims and revamps many traditions brought about through slavery and uses music as one of its many tools of expression.

Hip-hop is grounded in a mindset of rebellion and revolution through culture (i.e. art, music, dance, language, video) against an oppressive Eurocentric society that views its own culture as the norm.

It is expressed through backward hats, altered language and scratching records - through energetic, complicated and many times sexual dancing, and it can be expressed through rap music or modern rhythm and blues. The story of hip-hop can be told through heavy metal or country western and will not lose its meaning solely based on its musical medium.

So what does this make Eminem? It makes Eminem a truly talented rapper - one who articulates his own experiences, poor or otherwise, through his music, and perhaps even comprehends the intricacies of the culture of hip-hop.

Does he perpetuate the truths of hip-hop and the basis for its existence through his music? Certainly not. Does this mean all black rappers do? Of course not.

There could be a white rapper who examines the reality of hip-hop and attempts to envision the basis for its existence through his music, but Eminem does not.