Time To "Dixie Chick" Eminem

PABAAH: Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood ^

[jonalvy44]

Write to Clear Channel, ask that he be removed from the airwaves...Letter and email addresses provided at PABAAH

[Stultis]

I can't believe those adorable, animated hardshell chocolate candies did anything offensive! (BTW, why the funny spelling?)

[Stultis]

If this guy had a history like Rage Against the Machine, then I'd agree with you.

It drives me crazy that RAtM are such odious hard-leftists. If you can manage to ignore the lyrics, they rock like a house on fire. They have a thousand times the musical chops of that Mather does (IMH[and reluctant]O).

[LowCountryJoe]

I remember hearing of Curtis Blow but not Vaughn, Mason and Crew. And, ah yes, the Sugar Hill Gang's Rapper's Delight and Grand Master Flash's Don't Push Me were my first true exposures to rap - you know, the rap that hit the top 40.

When I wrote that Ice-T and KRS-One were the "pioneers of rap" I should have qualified that statement by including the fact that they were probably the first rappers that had the features of being simultaneously witty, provocative, and interesting, as well as being entertaining.

[LowCountryJoe]

Doesn't it just tick you off to no end when some of your favorite performers are left-winged idiots?

[Kenton]

His followers don't vote.

Good point. But to take it even further, I doubt that he HAS any followers.

He has fans, of course, but I don't think for a moment that his lyrics are a threat to the President. He's not a left winger, he's a nihilist.

Of course, it's also important to realize that the doesn't have the same fan base as the Dixie Chicks. It was predictable that there would be a reaction from their basically conservative Country-Western base. Not so from the alienated, apolitical young people who listen to Eminem.

To them he's not being political, he's just being "edgy". And as OpusatFR points out, they don't vote anyway.

[cyborg]

I do not doubt they work. However, I will have to disagree with respect to Eminem. Besides if I wanted to boycott it wouldn't be effective. I don't buy his stuff anyway.

[KDD]

"Stan"

I've never really listened to any of his other work.

My youngest sons (17+19) like him.

They played it for me after I told them that hip hop had no redeeming value what-so-ever. I think "Stan" transended the genre though. But much of rap is just garbage in.

[IYAS9YAS]

His followers don't vote.

Sure they do...they just don't know it. And they always vote for the guy with the big "D" on the ticket...

[AD from SpringBay]

Ok - I hereby vow to never buy an enima-m music. BTW - is it still a boycot if you weren't going to buy in the first place? I could impose similar sanctions on all sorts of music and products if you want.

[ozaukeemom]

Very well said!

[proud American in Canada]

"He does so with quite a bit of skill."

Based on the few songs of his I've heard on the radio, I agree. I don't like his music--but there is something quite different about it.

And I agree with the posts above that calling attention to this lyric will be self-defeating, that his fans won't care and the resulting publicity will only result in increased sales.

[over3Owithabrain]

What I don't get is how so many FReepers swoon over anyone who at some point utters a conservative thought. Like, "sure Eminem drops repeated f-bombs, glorifies violence against women, makes profane anti-gay remarks, encourages kids to do drugs and hate society. But hey, he's against gun control, so he's great!"

I'm sure you could walk into any prison in America and hear some anti-Hillary remarks, some anti-Osama curses, etc. So what? Does that make it ok that they committed murder?

Are we so desparate for allies that we put up with vile freaks?

[smpc]

Eminem is the most popular artist on the planet today.

In terms of record sales he is not even in the top five worlwide over the last fiscal year.The top five earners based on worldwide record sales are-
1.Robbie Williams($195mil)
2.Enya($175mil)(weird i know)
3.Coldplay($107mil)
4.Rolling Stones($93mil)
5.Andrea Bocelli($89mil)

I'd assume he'd have better stats in the US alone though.

[lormand]

I'm sorry that I could never share your acceptance of cRAP as a legitimate form of music, no matter who is the messenger or conduit.

Most 3 year olds can recite poems to sampled rhythms. In fact, here is my recipe to being a cRAP "artist".

1) Wear close 3 sizes oversize (show how smart you are)
2) Wear jewelry 2 times your weight (look as absolutely stupid as you can)
3) Stick your arms out with wrist bent in and palms facing inward
4) Swing them like the monkeys you see at the Zoo
5) Play some mindless sample loops with mucho low level bass frequencies (most likely ripped off from a real musical artist)
6) Recite poems regarding slapping your "hoes" or stuffing them in your trunk, or in the case of M&M, some ground breaking philosophical stuff that was overlooked by the great Greek Philosophers of ancient Greece.

Seriously, the "state" of music in the history of Man has reached the absolute gutter with cRAP. I seriously think that there can never be something so vacuous of talent and musical substance as this. Can anyone name the guitar player for Snoop Doggie Dog? The drummer for The Suger Hill Gang? The bass player for Ludicrus?

[Stultis]

Doesn't it just tick you off to no end when some of your favorite performers are left-winged idiots?

Yikes! I wouldn't say Rage... is a favorite. Objectively I'll warrant their ability to produce a compelling sound and performance, but they're waaaaaaay to far gone into lefty land for me to willingly subject myself to their ministrations.

The one that really got to me was catching Viggio Mortense (sp?), the actor playing Aragorn in LOTR, on Charlie Rose. The fool was wearing a self-made "No Blood for Oil" tshirt, and this was during Afghanistan. The only thing that mitigated it was that he was so unbelievably mewling in his hand wringing, and ludicrously counter-factual in the hatred and blame he heaped on America. (His main rap was to debunk the notion that LOTR was analogous to the war on terror by "pointing out" that LOTR was about an alliance of different races, whereas Afghanistan was about white Americans attacking native Afghans. HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET? We fought a good bit of that war with only a couple hundred Americans fighting side-by-side with Afghanis. And we fought on the side of a multi-tribal, multi-ethnic alliance of Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmen, etc, whereas our enemy, the Taliban, were the mono-tribal, mono-ethnic group, being almost entirely Pashtun.)

It damn near ruined the whole series for me.

[cspackler]

I'm sorry that I could never share your acceptance of cRAP as a legitimate form of music, no matter who is the messenger or conduit.

Well, I don't really cosider it a valid for of music. It's just that every once in a while, if you keep you ears and mind open, a person in oversize pants with lots of jewelry making goofy hand jestures with mind numbing back beats just might happen to say something that you might want to hear.

[lormand]

"It's just that every once in a while, if you keep you ears and mind open, a person in oversize pants with lots of jewelry making goofy hand jestures with mind numbing back beats just might happen to say something that you might want to hear. "

Agreed!

[goldilucky]

You are correct in your point about Curtis Blow and Grand Master Flash were witty, provocative, and interesting.

"Rap Dirty" was one of my favorites tunes but I can't remember if it was Vaughn, Mason, and Crew or another artist that wrote this tune.

Many of the rappers actually have borrowed ideas from original artists. For example, DJ Quik did an imitation of one of the artist Kleeer's tunes "Tonight". I have listened to much of Eminem's music but one of his latest tunes "Sing with Me" sounds like one of Aerosmith's tunes.

I actually prefer underground rap like High Tech and Science "Money" and "Analyze This" (don't know the artist), and The Mad Scientist, and The DOC-"It's Funky Enough". Wish I could find where EB Radio was at. They used to play underground rap on this one conservative station. At first I was real surprised the station would permit the music be played. I'd stay from midnight till 2 a.m. listening to them play the music on Sundays. Then EB Radio went away. I miss their music as they had quite a program set up.

[UCANSEE2]

Eminem's songs are reflections about his LIFE and EXPERIENCES. (So, mostly reflections on the past).

It is highly possible that the lyric "I want the President Dead", may be a reference to Bill Clinton, not George Bush.

But, the DEMS like the idea he said it and the public thinks it refers to BUSH, so not only will nothing be done to him, but you won't hear this explanation anywhere in the various media.

[goldilucky]

President of what? Maybe it's of Saddam Hussein?