Eminem

There is one rap artist that I like. Correction. That I love.

That would be Eminem.

Talk about being open-minded (considering I generally hate rap)… but he’s really good in a heart-wrenching sort of way. He speaks of his childhood, his fans, his daughter, his rise to stardom in his music - which I do deem as music because his spoken lyrics have so much poetic style that it’s as if he’s singing. I just downloaded one of his albums on iTunes, "Curtain Call - The Hits."

To the story about his ditching school after repeating ninth grade three times, he apparently says he's not stupid, just wasn’t interested in school because all he wanted to do was rap, but also that his example shouldn't be followed. Judging from his lyrics and the story of how he rose to success, I’d have to agree he’s far from stupid. I think he’s screwed up but is working on himself somehow. There’s so much anger in his work but it’s not the typical “f*** da police” style. It’s open, raw, honest, and skillfully crafted. Certainly it's unique. For someone who flunked ninth grade three times, he's got one heck of a vocabulary.

The girl that told me rap is the hardest music to write may have been partially right. I've started to think that perhaps most rappers simply aren't that talented. Without talent, it's probably quite hard to write this stuff in such an emotional, yet skillful, way. Then again, I know firsthand that when you're driven out of yourself by an overflow of emotions, sometimes words are the only escape.

~nv