What Eminem Should Learn From Bob Marley

– written on November 22, 2014

Iggy Azalea had recently called the attention of Eminem on Twitter after the rapper mentioned her in his song “Vegas”.

"Put that s**t away Iggy/ You don't wanna blow that rape whistle on me/ Scream!/ I love it/ 'Fore I get lost with the getting off."

Just last week, he freestyled about punching Lana del Rey in a viral video uploaded on YouTube.

“But I may fight for gay rights, especially if they dyke is more of a knockout than Janay Rice/ Play nice? Bitch I’ll punch Lana Del Rey right in the face twice, like Ray Rice in broad daylight in the plain sight of the elevator surveillance/ ’Til her head is banging on the railing, then celebrate with the Ravens.”

For a guy with such a sweet name, Eminem ain't no sweet guy and we all know it. Eminem had built his empire by his use of misogynistic and often violent language. Iggy Azalea and Lana del Rey aren't the first women he had slammed. The long list includes Christina Aguilera, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson, Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, and Kim Kardashian.

He wasn't personally targeting Lana del Rey. It just so happened that her last name molded nice with the rest of the lyrics. Sorry, Lana.

Eminem's songs target our obsession with pop culture and as an audience, we love and share his outrage, phony or not. He parodied Kim K, Jessica Simpson, Spears, and Amy Winehouse with his hit “I Made You” in 2009. The fact that majority of his targets are women is disturbing.

We don't expect artists to confine and censor themselves but art is art is art until it isn't art anymore. While rap music promoting rape and violence against women was deemed acceptable before (editor’s note: or at least nobody reacted then), people today are not so tolerable. The climate now is more sensitive. We are against all the bullying.

As a communicator with a big audience, artists like Eminem should choose their words wisely. Boys and young men look up to Eminem and he should use his genius to preach love and peace, like Bob Marley. No woman, no cry. Well, we wouldn't be crying if Eminem would stop talking about beating the crap out of us. He should at least apologize.

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