Eminem is fascinatingly messed-up

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      To those on the outside looking in, he might be the most mammothly messed-up megastar in the long and sordid history of pop music. Eminem has it all, but he sure as fuck doesn’t seem happy, and never has. But once you get past the mommy issues, the daddy issues, and the drug addiction—not to mention the general bile, bitterness, and hatred of humanity—there’s a great case to be made that Marshall Mathers is more well-adjusted than most of us.

      At least the man sometimes known as Slim Shady is not only dealing with his inner demons, but doing it in a way that’s inspiring to anyone with seemingly unsolvable personal problems. No matter how tortured we might be, most of us put on a shiny, happy, and completely fake face between visits to the therapist’s couch. Eminem, on the other hand, makes no effort to sugarcoat the fact that his world is a giant shitball. And that’s what makes him so unrelentingly fascinating.

      Life isn’t easy, and he’s not going to pretend that it is.

      Pop music has no shortage of multimillionaires who’ve made careers out of pissing and moaning about life and the endless series of injustices it has foisted upon them. Hello, Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan, and that unwashed hippie who invented dubstep with Korn.

      Few music stars have the nards, however, to lay out their various personal traumas—past and present—in specific and often horrific detail. Forget speaking in metaphors and cleverly coded generalities, Mathers has made a career out of splaying his guts on the table for all to see. He’s a rarity: a musician who will invite you into his crib and then clean out his closets while the cameras are rolling.

      Need a reason to feel sorry for Slim Shady? Imagine watching your mother pop prescription pills in the kitchen, talking ’bout how her personal shit’s missing. Not only that, but a mom who’ll tell you, after Uncle Ronnie has died, that she wishes it had been you. And don’t even get started on the father who bailed on him after just a couple of months, that fat kid DeAngelo Bailey who beat him for his lunch money every day, and those Faygo-chugging clowns who insist on calling him Slim Anus. To tune in to the Eminem show is to learn that he can’t even drop a log in a public bathroom without someone standing by the stall waiting for an autograph.

      Whether it’s his first masterwork—2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP—or his almost-as-essential The Marshall Mathers LP 2 from last year, Eminem has stayed consistent in his lyrical obsessions. To semi-quote Public Enemy’s excellent and criminally overlooked “Sex, Drugs & Violence”, screw getting on with the bling-bling and half-naked chicks who can’t sing, the Motor City’s most famous MC (sorry, Kid Rock) is more obsessed with working personal shit out.

      That he still actually has shit to work out is, on some level, terrifying for the rest of us. Imagine being impossibly wealthy, internationally megafamous, and critically respected. And then process the fact that none of that has made Eminem any happier.

      As anyone who’s ever seen the video for “Without Me” will confirm, the guy obviously has a sense of humour. And, hell yeah, admit it, you can’t help but laugh when, at the beginning of “Business”, he addresses his fans as “bitches and gentlemen”.

      But what’s weird is that you’ve almost never seen him smile in a promo photo taken after his official debut, The Slim Shady LP, made him an overnight sensation. The public image that Eminem projects is one of a guy who is pretty much as tortured and hopelessly confused as the rest of us.

      Try saying that about Bono, Keith Richards, or that British fellow who used to pork Gwyneth Paltrow. To look at Eminem is to look at someone who is keeping it real in a genre overrun with jackasses who don’t seem to be interested in much more than blow and ’hos.

      It’s one thing to sing “I’m just Marshall Mathers/I’m just a regular guy/I don’t know why all the fuss about me.” It’s quite another not only to sing it like you mean it, but also to live it. Messed up? Sure, Eminem has probably got a couple of screws up in his head loose, but at least he’ll cop to it. The rest of us should be as able to cope. It’s one thing to be able to relate to lines like “I own a mansion, but live in a house/A king-size bed, but I sleep on the couch/I’m Mr.Brightside, glass is half full/But my tank is half empty, gasket just blew.” It’s quite another to admit it to the world.

      Eminem headlines Day 3 of the Squamish Valley Music Festival next Sunday (August 10).

      Comments

      12 Comments

      Chris

      Jul 30, 2014 at 6:12pm

      Did you just put him up with the pop stars? He never needed a pat on the back to get at a boy. He's a Hip Hop Artist.

      Ron Y

      Jul 30, 2014 at 6:37pm

      Nice editorial - kinda thought you might be doing a hatchet job on elderly rappers or something.

      Yeah, interesting fellow, quite a good headpiece - the autobiographical book he put out a few years ago is witty and self-deprecating. (Which we should have known as fans - anyone who can write Fack or Ass Like That is not obsessed with making himself look cool or macho)

      Free hip hop

      Jul 30, 2014 at 6:59pm

      Rap is poetry for idiots. Hip hop is for intelligent singers and fans alike.

      @free hip hop...

      Jul 31, 2014 at 10:43am

      Please dont ever post again. You're a troll.

      @@ Free hip hop

      Aug 1, 2014 at 9:27am

      I prefer slinger of truth. The mindset of people who listen to dumbed down lyrics tend to be dumbed down.

      Hip hop is king. Always was always will be. Now go be a gangster, whip out your east van hand signs and yolo yourself.

      ha@msn.com

      Aug 1, 2014 at 1:15pm

      I think he misses his ex wife.

      Rose

      Aug 1, 2014 at 2:00pm

      That artical was very unacurate

      sleepy

      Aug 1, 2014 at 3:36pm

      He needs to see me again

      Drew

      Aug 1, 2014 at 5:30pm

      Very true. Huge fan of Em and I gotta agree. But I wonder why the highest selling rap artist isn't happy? I guess that's something only he knows. Great article Btw

      @free hip hop

      Aug 1, 2014 at 7:57pm

      hip hop is the culture, rap is the music. go back to school.