Eminem Best Posts: The Sad & Lonely Life of an Eminem Fan in 2018 [TRIGGER WARNING: READING COMPREHENSION NECESSARY]

GawDEDEDE · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
It was a well written article but the guy is clearly stuck in the past, it’s actually kind of sad and pathetic hence I guess the title of his article. If you’ve taken absolutely nothing away from Ems catalogue from 2003-2017 then I can’t fathom why you’d still check for the dude much less write a piece about him. You are clearly married to the idea of the 28 year old bleach blond rebel, not Marshall Mathers as a growing and evolving artist.

I can name about two dozen post 2003 songs that are either definitive Em or major additions to his catalog. Suggesting that Kamikaze is the first album to contain any tracks with value in 16 years Is actually really lazy and it’s no more original than the twitter critics who could get more profound “Eminem hasnt been good since 2002” takes off in 140 characters or less.

CARNIFEX · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
Don’t even have to read to know that this is the typical try hard awkward anti Eminem s---

Spatula · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
Imagine spending time to write this. Its a f---ing rapper, either listen to his music or dont. Its not a f---ing philosophy

Swizz · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018

Spatula said

Writing this long of an article on artist the author doesnt like or doesnt think has made any good music in a decade proves how good eminem is.
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what the f--- kind of a sentence is this

DKC · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018

Spatula said

This guy wrote all that since Kamikaze. I have 3000 posts since 2015.
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yeah so he spent a few weeks researching and writing a thoughtful article that got published and he got paid for it. you've spent three years writing posts about eminem lol. not really making you look any better.

I always think it's funny when people on forums don't like an article so they go to the "ugh how could this person spend time writing this" defense when they write posts on a rap forum every single day.

JMG · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
I thought it was okay besides suggesting Eminem has not had any good music since 8 mile. Cmon even Revivial has some of his best music. The bottom line between Eminem now vs Eminem 99-2003 is obviously drugs. Even he knows it. When he made his first 3 albums the confidence he got was from X pills and alcohal. Somewhere during Encore it caught up to him. Then he got clean and tried to live up to someone he did not know. and it was forced.

Also he gives a f--- now. I think he took a step in the right direction with Kamikaze but the best thing about this album is its not bad.. Unlike previous albums where the standout tracks couldnt outweigh the horrible ones. It does not make me cringe and i can make it through every track. Its not a classic at all gives faith that he may have one more in him sooner or later. I was impressed how he handled the MGK beef. I thought the pressure would get to him... He probaly has the most staying power and longevity in music history so hopefully he uses the next couple years to embrace it and really cement his legacy and make up for all the gargage hes put out. If i hear another female hook then its overwith.

Sav Stanfield · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
great piece.

For me Eminem died the day Not Afraid came out. Even on Relapse (despite how bad it was) he was still an enigma, and was still able to exist in his own weird, twisted universe.

When Not Afraid (and especially Love the Way You Lie) came out it was like an entirely different person, the mystery was all gone and we were left with a boring shell intent on pandering to the lowest common denominator. the problem since then is that theres no going back, the illusions already been broken. And it was such a powerful illusion that even his old music doesn't have the same appeal as it once did.

Zebedee · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
Glad I read this. I feel like 3x times smarter than I was

Charlie Work · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
Between this piece and the David Drake's Chief Keef piece, TheOutline is proving itself the best hub for music journalism by a long, long shot. You can really see how rushed and minor Pitchfork reviews are by comparison. I don't think they'd be getting lapped by some guy with a web cam in Connecticut if they were putting out this level of quality.

Gonna quote some of the most striking points that actually answer questions I've been stuck with:

But something seems different this time, and it isn’t just the fact that Eminem somehow managed to make an album that’s less than an hour and doesn’t feature a single Pink chorus. I feel like I actually really like three or four songs on it — “The Ringer,” “Greatest,” “Lucky You,” and “Not Alike,” specifically — and there’s a solid six or so tracks that I consider to be legitimately good Eminem songs. Taste in music is so deeply subjective and subconscious that, after several dozen (several hundred?) listens, I’m still not even sure whether I think Kamikaze is a good album or not. It probably isn’t, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t give a s---. After 16 years of existentially and viscerally painful records, the fact that Eminem put out an album that’s merely bad feels like a major victory. It’s a breath of fresh air for the grumpy and resentful stans like myself who’ve built layers upon layers of protective pessimism to shield ourselves from the naked sting of disappointment that we’ve been subjected to for the better part of two decades.
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Eminem’s many bitter and painful (for him and his fans both) failures from Encore onwards are a direct result of the countless different ways that his awful taste and frequently galling aesthetic began to come into conflict with his ability to make music that was both technically impressive and artistically insteresting. There’s a fascinating dynamic at play in the way Eminem has survived as an extremely famous and influential musician who is also embarrassing to listen to in front of other people. His image was always of a lonely, angry man harboring his resentments inside of the pair of headphones and an oversized hoodie, and that’s increasingly become the only kind of situation in which one can listening to Eminem without being openly and publicly ridiculed for doing so.
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I like to think I’ve done that successfully. But has every Eminem fan? This guy is one of the most popular and successful musicians of all time. How many fragile male egos is he funneling his bs into, and how many of those men have learned to grow up enough that they know they can’t act like what Eminem raps about?
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DKC · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
I thought this was an interesting take/article in general even if I don't necessarily agree with all of it. It's semi-long, but worth it. Don't bother responding to this thread with your s-----y take on this piece if you haven't read the whole thing plz.

@Charlie Work @Papa Alpha Andy you may enjoy.

THE SAD AND LONELY LIFE OF AN EMINEM FAN IN 2018

In a lot of very real ways, Eminem’s early music helped lay the groundwork for the world we live in today. But was that necessarily a good thing?

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

aquaberryares · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018

Ezio926 said

an high school student
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Ezio926 said

an high word count
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Ezio926 said

an criticism
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/thread

Lucy · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018

what said

This writer is missing the larger point, but just barely. He gets close when he mentions Pitchfork and A.V. Club.

What this author doesn’t quite nail down, is the fact that Eminem changing is only one factor in the equation. The world has changed as well, in a very partisan way, and a lot of people have developed a deep philosophical and political dislike for who Eminem is, and what he (consciously or unconsciously) stands for. You can see that with the author of this blog post, when he speaks about Milo Yiannopolous.

Back in 2000 for example, when he was protested for being homophobic, it was enough just to perform with Elton John. A show of tolerance was all that was needed to quell the concerns of his critics.

In the 2010s, opposition to Eminem is still heavily political, but not based on a specific issue like homophobia or misogyny, it’s something more abstract. To put it bluntly, many people just don’t feel comfortable with the idea of a white rapper appealing to a lot of white people, and being labeled as one of the greatest. It’s “cultural appropriation” to many. They don’t like him as a concept. And it’s not just the fact he’s white. He also represents types of rap that many view as “white people music”, namely conscious rap and technical rap.

And example of this would be “Vinyl, Me Please.” It’s a leftist hipster blog that once published an article talking about how outdated the term “conscious rap” is, and how artists like Common really only appeal to white folks’ understanding of black issues. The author proclaims songs like FDT as the “real conscious rap.” http://www.vinylmeplease.com/magazine/the-class-divide-in-conscious-rap-and-f-donald-trump/

When it comes to technical rap, or lyrical rap or whatever, you can see the instinct of many in the hip hop scene is to hate or ignore these types of artists. Rappers like Tech N9ne for example are never covered by websites like Pitchfork, and other artists like him who appeal to a large number of white people either get torn apart in reviews, or are not covered at all. The next victim of this will be Joyner Lucas btw, who prides himself on being “lyrical”. We’ve already seen a lot of the Pitchfork blogger types turning against him, no matter how well-intentioned his music may sound.

And that’s why Eminem finds himself in trouble. Opposition to him is not based on something shallow, like saying “f--” in a song. It’s a deep-rooted opposition to his existence. To his detractors, Eminem can exist, but not as a rap icon. Elton John was a quick fix solution that no longer works, and his f--k Trump cypher was the 2017 equivalent. So Eminem can yell “f--k Trump” as much as he wants, but it won’t change how he’s viewed by his haters. He even admitted in his Sway interview that it just backfired. He made literally no one happy.

The author of this blog post is the perfect example of what I’m saying. The guy is politically left. That’s clear with how he describes Milo Yiannopolous for example. And because of that, he feels at odds with the music he enjoys. He’s ashamed of his enjoyment. The dude is clearly a big Eminem fan deep down, hence this massive piece he published, but his peers are opposed to one if his favorite artists. That’s why he says Eminem must be enjoyed alone, those who he likes and respect, don’t appreciate his music choice.

I know this is a television show, but compare the author’s feelings to that scene in Homeland season 1. I think it’s like, episode 5 or 6, where all of these army vets are at a barbecue rapping Rabbit Run together. Again, I know it’s TV, but there is clearly a difference in how different people of different political stripes view Eminem.

Opposition to Eminem along racial lines can even be seen in how people are trying to retroactively alter their opinions on The Eminem Show. What was once considered a classic, is being branded as “angry white man over rock beats.”

Going forward, I don’t know how Eminem will combat this. Or if he even understands it. He’s not a Trump fan like the majority of his fans are, and he symbolizes so much that the modern day left hates. He’s in a fight that he can’t win, and he’s left just trying to defend his own legacy as a result. Those with influence in hip hop journalism hate him, while his own fans who buy his music can’t support his views. No wonder the man stays inside lol.

Anyways, this will all become even more obvious when he retires, and the A.V. Clubs, and Voxs and Pitchforks all definitively write that he’s not a top 10 rapper.
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have sex

DKC · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018

Spatula said

Imagine spending time to write this. Its a f--king rapper, either listen to his music or dont. Its not a f--king philosophy
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You have over 3000 posts on this forum, most of which are dedicated eminem. You’ve written a lot more words on eminem than this article.

aquaberryares · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
*an thread

Oldboy · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
@Big Cuntry i didnt read, but i assume its about em fans never branching out...which i agree with and i was a victim to for so long, and i still struggle with today

reason for it is Eminem is the only of his kind, there is no one like him...not a good or a bad thing nor is it related to quality...he is just so unique that once u become a fan of his its super hard to find something similar ... so you either listen to other good music that outside of your comfort zone..or you listen to the artists you learned to like through Eminem like that yellow fa----

Big Dangerous · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
The funniest thing is modern Eminem is the antithesis of what his supporters think he and they are. His "lyrical" quadruple time flows are the only thing that is even remotely close to Eminem being 'different' or against the system. He's a hypocrite-- and not a social or personal hypocrite like he used to be-- he's a musical hypocrite. He's not an outside the box free thinker like his droves of stans would have you think. He's a sellout, a true sellout, who has done everything to strip away his artistic credibility following his s-----y relapse album. And because he rhymes a lot of words he and his mindless army would have you believe he's something new unique or better than the modern artists out rn when in reality he makes generic manufactured music with forced emotion and more cliched topics than anyone. What other artist literally forces the same fake insincere relationship songs every album cycle? It's actually funny. Why does he do that? lmao

Charlie Work · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018
@what

Eminem's politics are garbage, and we only missed that the first time because we were 14 year olds with soft brains. He's an underdeveloped crybaby whose vulgarity was freeing when rap was under assault by censors, but now it's only embarrassing, particularly because he's 45 years old. As for the alt-right and MAGA connections, maybe don't rely on free speech absolutism to justify your content and focus all your energy on how the media receives you if you want to avoid it.

"Opposition along racial lines" doesn't work when he's the highest selling rap artist ever btw. Race baiting the issue is also silly when rap music has engulfed pop music and white people make up the vast majority of every Billboard rapper's listener base.

You're a corn ball with bad tastes and bad politics, and I'll give you a swirly and f--- your girlfriend if you PM me your address.

Zebedee · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018

marshmallow said

Kanye fell off way harder than Em
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1 average album vs a decade full of awful music? I disagree

Swizz · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018

Spatula said

I spend time talking about eminem because i like eminem. I spend zero time talking about stuff i dont like.
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hmm. you sure are talking a lot about this article that you don't like

Spatula said

Theres plenty of artists and whatnot that got worse throughout their existance, but when that happens people just move on. Eminem is supposedly horrible for a decade and instead of moving on, people still focus on him. I dont understand that. To me its seems no one ever moved on from eminem and hes still that good to deserve a listen every new project he puts out.

For example i think south park turned to s--- and i simply dont watch it anymore. I dont go on south park forums and express my disappointment.
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Ah, the olde "criticism is only valid if it's positive" stance. A true classic

Zeugma · Sep 26, 2018

Sep 26, 2018

Sav Stanfield said

great piece.

For me Eminem died the day Not Afraid came out. Even on Relapse (despite how bad it was) he was still an enigma, and was still able to exist in his own weird, twisted universe.

When Not Afraid (and especially Love the Way You Lie) came out it was like an entirely different person, the mystery was all gone and we were left with a boring shell intent on pandering to the lowest common denominator. the problem since then is that theres no going back, the illusions already been broken. And it was such a powerful illusion that even his old music doesn't have the same appeal as it once did.
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I wholeheartedly agree with this.
I would just add that the second MMLP was very interesting to me because the illusion was already broken. It's like he accepted that, and deconstructed himself his own myths - his ability to rap naturally was gone (not on purpose, but still), he acknowledged that the good old "Slim Shady" was a formal gimmick ("blamed it on him when they tried to criticize / 'Cause we are the same" on Evil Twin), he made the god-awful Headlights to excuse the great and melodramatic Cleanin Out My Closet... The "portrait of an artist Tortured, trapped in his own drawings" he's been trying to display since 2013 isn't even "tragic", it's just dumb realistic, while My Darling, at least, personified that aspect into this weird a--- comeback of the OG demonic Shady voice.
I'm currently writing something (in french though) on all these aspects of post-hiatus Eminem. Lots of artists have fallen off, but I think the career of this man is truly unique in lots of ways

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