0307190266
DETROIT FREE PRESS
030720
Sunday, July 20, 2003
METRO FINAL
1K
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 2003, Detroit Free Press
WITH EMINEM, REAL MUSICIANS GET A BUM RAP
Editor's note: This column contains lyrics that could be offensive. But the
Free Press thinks they're important to understand the columnist's view.
So I went to the Eminem concert in a football stadium last week and here's one
good thing I can say about it right off the bat: There were no long guitar
solos. That was good. There were also no musicians. That was bad.
Eminem arrived in a Hummer that came up through the floor of the stadium. That
was good. He jumped out and began rapping. That was good. Most of the lyrics
were angry, mean, profane, sexist or just plain filthy. That was bad. But I
couldn't understand too much because the bass was booming like a belching
Cyclops. That was good.
Did I say bass? Yes. Bass. But there was no bass player. There were records,
played over the giant speakers, to which Eminem performed. Singing along with
records used to be considered bad. Now it's considered good. Which I think is
bad.
There was one song -- is it really a song if it's a rap? -- and it was done by
one of the many co-rappers Eminem had with him, and in this song, I swear I am
not making this up, the only two words I could understand were "child
support."
Did I mention it was sold out?
Some 45,000 came to that show, rivaling anything Bruce Springsteen or the
Rolling Stones could draw. And they have instruments!
Here's another thing I heard:
"WHASSUP, DETROIT?"
It is what it is
At last count, I heard it 279 times. "WHASSUP, DETROIT?" I heard it from
Eminem, from 50 Cent, from Obie Trice. (Forget lyrics. The most inventive part
of rap is the names.)
"WHASSUP, DETROIT?"
Now, being hopelessly square -- but willing to learn -- I always had taken
"whassup?" to be a form of greeting, sort of like, "How's things?" or "What's
your sign?"
So the first time they yelled "WHASSUP, DETROIT?" I yelled back "whoo!" The
second time, same thing. Third time, a little less.
By the 127th WHASSUP, I was WHAS-OUT. I mean, how many times would you yell,
"I'm fine, thank you"?
But at least I understood those words. Most of the others were too loud or
distorted. I did catch this from an Eminem anthem:
I am, whatever you say I am,if I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
It's hard to argue with that logic, although I think I first read it in "The
Cat in the Hat." Still, I would rather have a packed stadium singing that than
another verse to which everyone -- including countless junior high school-aged
kids -- was urged by Eminem to sing along:
Don't f---With Shady, Cause ShadyWill f----' kill you.
People sang this and waved their arms and smiled, as if we were all singing
"Kumbaya."
He's no Rocky Balboa
Oh, well. It had energy and it's good to see 45,000 at a downtown event.
Still, if you asked me to sum up the Eminem football stadium concert, I would
say it was mostly about people kidding themselves.
Because Eminem grew up in the Detroit area, he was hailed as "hometown." This
meant the same people who would vilify another rapper who sang about killing
his girlfriend instead cheered him like a war hero.
And parents who normally bridle their kids let them go because they saw the
movie "Eight Mile" in which Eminem turns himself into Rocky, and they said,
"Oh, see, he's different," never bothering to listen to an actual Eminem CD
that would make them throw up.
There is also something odd about a guy who screams about being trashy and
blue collar and anti-establishment, but lives in a 22,000-square-foot mansion.
You can only get so angry at your butler, you know?
On the way out of the show, I passed a man playing a harmonica and collecting
money. He wasn't particularly good, but then, to cite a famous rapper, "He is,
whatever I say he is." And given what I had just heard, I say he's Mozart.
Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or albom@freepress.com.
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