If you picture a white guy from the Midwest, you might imagine him watching a baseball game or heading to a church potluck—but certainly not rapping. Then again, you’ve most likely never met Marshall Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem, a white rapper whose beats can make you dance just as much as his lyrics can make you think.
Has rapping gone colorblind? Eminem is making a strong case for it.
Eminem certainly doesn’t fit the mold of most rappers you see on the cover of XXL. He was born in the heavily Caucasian state of Missouri, he’s got close-cropped hair that would look more at home in a boardroom than at a rap battle, and he’s even named himself after M&Ms, a candy widely enjoyed by white people. He might not have sold crack cocaine like Jay-Z or grown up in Compton like Kendrick Lamar, but that hasn’t stopped “the real Slim Shady” from cooking up rap albums that the likes of Tupac, Biggie, and Queen Latifah would have to give “props” if they were alive today. The genius rhymester has penned lyrics that encapsulate elements of the white experience that range from watching “two trailer park girls go round the outside” to divorcing someone named Kim to throwing up spaghetti, and if his CD sales are any indication, America is tapping its toes right along with his beats.
Play that funky music, white boy! Eminem is “straight fire”!
The rap establishment has clearly accepted Eminem, given that his mentor is notable artist and producer Andre Romell Young a.k.a. Dr. Dre, an African-American man whose songs are greatly influential in the hip-hop community. But certified honkies love him, too. It might be Eminem’s message, which exhorts his fans to “lose yourself in the music, the moment / you own it, you better never let it go,” that compels them to look past the color of his skin and appreciate the content of his songs. His bass-heavy ditties inspire partiers to “report to the dance floor,” but his mile-a-minute raps take on heavy topics like hating your mom and being repeatedly cheated on, and it’s that combination that makes Eminem a winning emcee behind the microphone.
Eminem may rap that “y’all act like you never seen a white person before,” but as more and more people check out his music, not only are they seeing a white person, but one who can groove at that! Go ahead and lose yourself in some of his rap music today. We don’t think you’ll regret it!
