Amy Ngo
In the article "Eminem's Construction of Authenticity", the writer Edward G. Armstrong explains how Eminem has made an impact in "black people music." Dr. Dre, a veteran rapper and producer discovered Eminem. He believed with talent and his skin color, he would appeal to the audience of rap even more because it mostly consists of middle-class white young adults. Surprisingly, sales went up for Eminem when his lyrics crossed the line. When it comes to rap music, the artists are all about "being real." There are three concepts to rap authenticity: being true to oneself, allegiance to their hometown and background, and whether the rapper has requisite relation and proximity to an original source of rap. Eminem exemplifies all of these. He always acknowledges that he is white through his music and in the media, he represents his background coming from Detroit and doesn't hide his past about his relationship with his mother, and he can rap without using the "N-word". What I found in the article was that it was race that was significant in his success; it made him stand out from the the dominate black rappers. Marketing was also sufficient in his success. He would have been known as "M&M" if he wasn't urged to change it to Eminem. Maybe things would be different for him if he stuck by his original stage name. And of course, with Dre's help of producing and representing him, he got everything and more.
Eminem was big when I was in middle school and high school. He's not really relevant today, but he is still a good rapper. He could rap about a lot of things like family, his daughter, money. He showed that white people also had problems.
ReplyDelete-Jessica Urbano
Great summaration of the article, what i found interesting is that is considered "black music" but in the artciel is shwows that 75% of the audience that purchases are middle class white youth. its is interesting when i read that because Dr Dre knew that so he used it to his advantage to earn more money, or perhaps to connect the two races together because music knows no such thing as color, it is listened by the ear and the heart. Eminem owes his career to Dr Dre and he knows that because without his support he wouldnt exist as a known rapper.
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