How elitist... and inaccurate.

Which all inevitably leads to the same conclusions, that we should all respect each others taste and blah blah blah. That's the problem with these 'Greatest' polls. They never get anywhere :)

English as a second language?

I disagree with some of what you're saying here. Eminem is not terrible, his first 2 albums are among the best hip-hop albums ever made, with or without the commercial success that came with them. I agree that most hip-hop fans (or music fans in general) don't take the time to delve deeper into music to find better/more obscure artists, but that doesn't mean that every artist who has ever been signed to a major record label is terrible.

I will say his new album shows him moving in a completely different direction. He's made it clear he doesn't want to be the voice of a delinquent generation anymore. He avoids a lot of the dark subject matter of his older work and is working towards making an album with 15 hit singles on it, and that's fine if it's what he wants. It's time we stop looking as it as Eminem sucks now, he just appeals to a different demographic now. A bigger, more diverse demographic (being the pop music fanbase) that we might not all be a part of, and I am OK with that. I will still cherish his older work for how great it was and I'll keep my eye on what he does in the future. He'll probably be writing songs my kids will be singing along to someday.

Who said that?

I don't think anyone thinks Eminem "sold out" with this record; Recovery does not sound like it was trying to be completely composed of hit single pop music. It sounds like an Eminem album, he hasn't really changed that much.

I agree. Its not like every single song on there is about his struggle w/ drugs or his divorce, he still has a few tracks that at least somewhat remind me of the My Name Is and The Real Slim Shady days.

Maybe he's only partially appreciated as a white rapper because he's only partially white?

People misunderstand my criticism of him. I don't think he's not a great lyricist, he is. He changed the trajectory of lyricism in hip hop when he came along, nor do I hate him because he's embraced in the mainstream. I do get put off at times when an artist gets so "media saturated", but Eminem is not na example of this and it alone certainly doesn't make me an elitist.

I hate Eminem, because he's a total waste of oxygen. He generates little to nothing of intrinsic value to the world of hip hop in proportion to the breadth of his influence. He has the veneer of legitimate talent, in as much as he is very good at creative wordplay; he certainly has put in his time with pen to paper, but that is not all that makes an emcee. the Slim Shady LP was extremely innovative and a bit of a novelty when it first came out, but every successive album after that proved him to be a one trick pony and the world ate it up like it was a hot fudge sundae.

So now he wants to become the new mature culturally relevant Eminem. Please. It's too late and besides, that's more a marketing ploy to keep his maturing demographic than it is anything else.

In a nutshell I hate Eminem not because he's bad at what he does, but because he's really a douche that has little to no artistic integrity, who has used his own musical career as a magnified petri dish for his own dramatic life. In essence, he's white trash with a microphone.

Well I certainly can't disagree with the majority of that post. But I'm sure you can understand how comments like "Eminem is terrible... just awful" could be taken out of context.

I agree that Eminem is a one trick pony, his success is strictly based on his initial shock value and wordplay ability.

I still feel like every song on the new album is over produced and meant to be commercially successful. Don't get me wrong, I like the album, I gave it good reviews on MB even. I just don't think it comes anywhere close to his older work.

You're absolutely right on all counts and my post was more of an effort to explain myself than it was an effort to attack or disagree with your response, which was very well thought and stated.

I disagree. Firstly, there is a fine line between a One Trick Pony and a signature style. Second, you dismiss the possibility of his having artistic integrity by claiming he uses his musical career to bring attention to himself. And yet, I'm having a hard time remember the last time Eminem did something that could legitimetly be called a publicity stunt. He even took a musical hiatus and dropped off the face of the Earth for a while to deal with his problems privately. It's only through his music that he exorsizes his personal problems. And I ask you, isn't that the hallmark of a great artist?

Was his stuff a little immature at times? Definetly. But he was always deeper than his lyrics, the naivety of both his persona and his fans wrapped themselves in infinate layers of irony. A true satirist. Was a lot of his subject matter used purely for shock value? Yes. He's even said this himself. Listen to any D12 song and it's clear that it's just bullsh*tting, makes for some fun hip hop though. And when he did delve deeper into his pysche, the results were sincere and often quite beautiful. Over all, he's a great emcee and i'm sure a pretty cool guy.

And be careful about how you use the term "white trash". As far as I'm concerned it's as derogative as a few other words.