eminem is a good poet. yall who dont like him dont kno shit. srry but eminem is a great poet.

Yeah, that may be true, but read what the discussion is about- is he the poet of a generation? Is he representing an entire generation, or just a select group of white gangster wannabes?

yeah, I agree with that. That's not poetry. And freedome of speech IMO is saying you opinion, without hurting, violating other people.

Eminem is about more than misogony and violence. I don't know how much of his work you are familiar with, so this is not really a personal attack.. however, your knowledge of Eminem seems to be limited to hearing NPR play the "my words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/that'll stab you in the head.." (gaybaiting) clip. I mean, c'mon. That was two albums ago. The only misogony on "The Eminem Show" was the relatively tame whiny-singer-songwriter "Superman" stuff. And what about "Lose Yourself" and "Rabbit Run"? Are those "misogynistic" too?

Eminem is not a perfect artist. His work is grotesque, sometimes even quasi-pornographic. But you're charicaturing your own position by reserting to stereotypes.

I'm a Beatles fan, too. But the Beatles were about a lot more than "show me the love." For the time, a lot of their work was remarkably hard-edged. Lennon's sugar-coated dadaist visions (I Am the Walrus, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) were banned from the radio in their day.

"yellow matter custard/dripping from a dead dog's eye... crab-a-locker fishwife/pornographic priestess/boy you been a naughty girl/you let your knickers down!" you can see the same combination of school boy taunts, folk rhythems (sp), and sexual references in Eminem's work.

"women wave your pantyhose/sing the chorus and it goes.."
Slim Shady and the Walrus. both examples of artists using an alias to create distorted, absurdist worlds.

or Bob Dylan. I mean, the way he chants/sneers his songs, he's practically a rapper already. or the lyrics

"you might hear laughing, spinning/ swinging madly across the sun/ its not aimed at anyone/its just escaping on the run"

"so many lives I've touched, so much anger aimed/in no particular direction, just sprays and sprays/straight through the radiowaves, it plays and plays/ till it stays/ stuck in your head for days and days"

Em is more rhetorical, less focused on images, but that's because of the nature of rap.

anyone, I'm going on, and on, but do you see what I'm getting at?

Eminem is a walking contradiction. His most laudable song may have been White America, where he admits that most of his fame is a result of "white privilege". Face it, if he were Black, he'd be whack. I'm a poet, and I don't know it! S**T, I should be a muthaf**kin' rappa!

You must not be into alot of hip hop.....I've been a drummer in hip hop groups for 10 years, and I've heard no better than Em. I don't like all his songs, but he's got obvious skills.....Oh, and your comment sounds racist. If Tiger Woods was white he wouldn't be as famous right,....wrong. Nothing should ever be about race.....

h u must be only listenin' to eminem cds and the radio in order to say a comment like that... and i sorta agree wit' dannyk015... most of em's acclaim comes from the fact that he is white i mean look at untouchable MCs such as nas and jay-z who would bury Em when it came to all round skill... not battlin'... cause battlin' is an art in itself and i'll give Em all the credit he wants there... but in terms of all round skill there are tons of artist that have comparable or better skills than Em mainstream and underground...

i feel like a huge factor that allows a lot of worthy MCs to be underrated or be considered weak is the fact that most people confuse success with skill in rap... skill is simply what it is and there's no denyin' it... success on the other hand, is jus' knowin' the formula to sell... skill isn't necessarily a requirement... i mean look who's at the top of the rap game right now... good ol' curtis jackson...

no-one is claiming Eminem is good just because he's popular. but his songs do have something, a lyrical intelligence you just don't find that much, even in the hip hop world. you can tell he's awake, knows what he's doing, and is interested in more than making money or bragging up on his skills.

If you don't like his music thats fine but to say he has no skills is just stupid. His flow is amazing and its original, yea nas and jay-z are great but aside from illmatic for nas his new stuff has been getting weaker. Jay-z used to be amazing, reasonable doubt, but with songs like bonnie and clyde and all that poppiness mixed in i'd say hes fallen also. Eminem is doing the same but I think he defintley should be high up there on best rappers list whether its selling albums, producing, battling, freestyling or quality of the rap in his songs.