“I’m not the person I was at 28. The passion is still there but the rage mostly isn’t.” — Marshall Mathers

Music is reflection of self
We just explain it, and then we get our checks in the mail
It’s fucked up, ain’t it? How we can come from practically nothin’
To bein’ able to have any fuckin’ thing that we wanted.
That’s why we sing for these kids who don’t have a thing
Except for a dream and a fuckin’ rap magazine,
Who post pin-up pictures on their walls all day long,
Idolize their favorite rappers and know all their songs.
Or for anyone who’s ever been through shit in their lives
So they sit and they cry at night, wishin’ they’d die,
‘Til they throw on a rap record and they sit and they vibe.
We’re nothin’ to you, but we’re the fuckin’ shit in their eyes.
That’s why we seize the moment, try to freeze it and own it,
Squeeze it and hold it ’cause we consider these minutes golden
And maybe they’ll admit it when we’re gone, just let our spirits
Live on through our lyrics that you hear in our songs.
— Eminem, “Sing for the Moment”

It’s his birthday. If you’ve hung around these here parts, you know my feeling for the man. In fact, the third post I ever wrote on this here site – way back in 2002 – !!! – was blathering over how I couldn’t wait for 8 Mile to come out. This is why it’s funny to me when new readers who consider me just like them get shocked or “disappointed” when I write about him in the way that I do. I can’t help it you’re new around here.

Some other things I’ve written about him:

In the summer of 2020, in the heaviness of lockdown,I wrote a MONSTER post about him, this one percolating for YEARS. Eminem helped me get through the first year of quarantine. Writing the piece took me months, was a steadying factor.

My sister and I went and saw him and Rihanna in concert, which was a hoot.

This one was fun: on Eminem’s love of Alfred Hitchcock. I pitched it to Film Comment in early 2020, after the release of Em’s Music to be Murdered By – inspired by Hitchcock. Film Comment was intrigued but then they ceased operation because of the pandemic. Finally, I just wrote it.

There’s way more in my archives, but here’s a link to the first in-depth thing I wrote about him: “Am I Too Loud For You?”. If you want my take on one of the most notorious songs in his notorious catalog, there it is.

 
 
Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what I do, and if you feel inclined to support my work, here’s a link to my Venmo account. And I’ve launched a Substack, Sheila Variations 2.0, if you’d like to subscribe.