Eminem is Overrated

The other day I was reading an interview with Jay Z. The interviewer asked him how he felt about Eminem being the highest selling rapper of all time. Jay Z's response was this:

"I don’t really understand the appeal of dude. He dropped a few hot verses back in the day, but he’s been mad average for many years now. He is probably the most overrated rapper of all-time, but he did really well targeting his audience. He is a genius in that sense, but in the bigger scheme of things, there are a million rappers who were and are lightyears ahead of him [...] When you really think about it, it’s ridiculous that Em has outsold so many rappers with real talent. 2Pac, Nas, Big, Kanye, and myself would rap circles around him. I am not trying to take away from his talent, but in all reality, he is catalogue can’t match mine..."

It can easily be written off as Jay Z being jealous, but he might be right. This led me to listen to Eminem's entire discography. The conclusion that I cam to? Jay Z is right. Eminem is overrated. He did do a great job marketing himself to his target audience but as far as the music goes, he's good at best with sporadic stand outs through a discography spanning decades.

Almost every album in his discography from 1999 to 2004 is significantly composed about tracks that involve the raping and killing of his ex-wife Kim and or his mother Debby. Encore is the first album in his discography that did not make references to the rape, torture or murder of either of them. Yet somehow, it was less critically acclaimed than the previous album being rated as low as a C- by Entertainment Weekly or 3 stars from All Music and The Guardian. Why is that? Encore is the first album where Eminem acknowledges that the reason people love him so much is because he's white and that makes him stand out in a field of black rappers. Encore sees Eminem attempt to tackle other issues mainly politics and family life. Critics called it sloppy work and far less emotional. Because he was screaming at the top of his lungs about murder like such tracks as "Kim."

Then there's Relapse. On his song "Talkin 2 Myself," he rapped:

 "Encore I was on drugs, Relapse I was flushing 'em out," 

And, it's easy to tell. Relapse is full of tracks about torture and murder. As well as poppy songs like "Crack a Bottle." Many of these songs were written while recovering from drug usage or on drugs. Tracks like "Underground" and "Beautiful," stand out because they're much more honest and better structured and performed than other tracks on the album. They also don't feature any of his silly accents or slurred speech. These were clearly tracks created by a sober Eminem. That provided hope for the future.

Recovery did not bring that hope. The album is filled with pop heavy songs like "W.T.P." and "Won't Back Down," with features from pop artists Pink and Rihanna. I only point this out because a good portion of Eminem's early music is about how he hates pop stars and rappers making pop music. Yet, here he doing that. Following that Marshall Mathers LP 2 was released. It was more of the same but with darker tracks and sequels to past tracks interlaced, attempting to prove that he had not gone away from what people initially thought was great. On the song "Bad Guy," Eminem raps:

"wait, here comes my favorite lyric 'I'm the bad guy who makes fun of people that die' and hey, here's a sequel to my Mathers LP just to try to get people to buy."

Eminem knows what's up. But let's talk about him making fun of people. Eminem has a reputation of supposedly ending careers of people who attempt to feud with him. But, let me ask you, who's career did he really end?

Ja Rule? People forget it was basically Ja Rule vs 50 Cent, Eminem, D12, Obey Trice, Stat Quo, G-Unit and damn near everyone else signed to Aftermath or one of it's imprints. I can't give that to Eminem. That was a team effort and it didn't really work. Ja Rule was already moving away from music and toward movies. Additionally, he only stopped responding because he went to jail. Then he came home and instantly did more movies, I'd say his career is just fine.

Insane Clown Posse, a group of juggalos who never had mainstream success but maintained a dedicated fan base. If anything, Eminem made their careers better. Because of his disses people who weren't juggalos became aware of them. Eminem helped their careers by bringing national attention to a local group. He should have just signed them. Cannibus? His career was already on it's last legs. He was claiming to write for LL Cool J just to stay relevant. Eminem started beef anyway by making fun of him for this. Again, picking on the smaller target and giving them more time in the spotlight.

Benzino? Benzino wasn't even a rapper when he started beefing with Eminem. Benzino was a producer and owner of The Source. This beef started because they gave Eminem 4 out of 5 mics. Benzino released one rap album less than three months before this beef started in early 2002. Despite the fact that he had been producing records since 1986. Benzino literally released one track in this beef called "Pull Your Skirt Up," and Eminem released an entire mixtape the next day. He had that shit waiting, hoping Benzino would respond to Eminem and 50 Cent making fun of him in interviews for several months. Once again, this just made Benzino bigger because he was able to release 4 more albums, including a remix album.

I'll tell you who's career Eminem actually did end. He ended Nick Cannon's rap career, but it's not like he really had one to begin with. I know he didn't end Elton John's or Michael Jackson's. He didn't end Backstreet Boys or NSYNC or Britney Spears. Who is Eminem beefing with these days? Asher Roth and Iggy Azalea because he can't handle other white rappers?

The biggest reason he's overrated, his fans. They're white people, who hold up his lyrical content as the greatest because he doesn't talk about things that make them uncomfortable. Somehow they believe Eminem is a much more lyrical artist because he doesn't say the word nigga as much as someone like Nas, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, Ice Cube, Rakim etc. Do you see where I'm going with this. His fans are the same people that leave comments on country covers of rap songs like "this is what real music sounds like." His fans are the same "progressive" white people who support Bernie Sanders but are quick to yell "all lives matter," or tell you why Bernie Sanders is blacker than you.

You may think I'm just hating on Eminem because he's white, and I'm not. I'm just saying if he were black he would not have been half as successful as he is. He would not be labeled as one of the greatest lyricist of all time. He would be good, but nowhere near legendary status. You may disagree with me when I say he's overrated, but even Eminem knows it. On his song "White America," Eminem raps:

"Look at these eyes, baby blue, baby just like yourself. If they were brown Shady'd lose, Shady sits on the shelf. But Shady's cute, Shady knew Shady's dimples would help. Make ladies swoon baby (ooh baby!) Look at my sales, let's do the math: if I was black, I woulda sold half, I ain't have to graduate from Lincoln High School to know that"

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
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