Shady Grave

I’ve never been a fan of rap. I’m not really into the money-sex-drugs-gang-banging lifestyle that rap is so fond of touting, so I rarely listen. However, the movie 8 Mile changed that for me. I saw a different side of rap, a different perspective on how rap has shaped a culture apart from money-sex-drugs-and-gang-banging. I saw how freestyle rap contests are not only akin to the white-bread intellectual debates, but that it takes an incredible amount of mental agility, creativity and nerves of steel to pull it off. In short, I became a fan, if not of rap as a whole, at least of Eminem and his alter-ego, Slim Shady.

The thing that really struck me about Eminem is the fact that he's a really transparent guy. He tells you what he's thinking, the good, bad and ugly. It takes guts and a strong sense of self to put it out there for the world to either jeer, scoff or vindicate, as I well know. A recent stint in rehab caused Eminem to re-evaluate his career, and as a result, he wrote a song that really touches me as a person.

This song is the epitaph to Em’s decision to put his alter-ego Slim Shady to death. The lyrics are driven to a cathartic pitch by Em’s fevered and intensely-felt delivery. These are words that come straight from his heart. While just sharing the lyrics doesn’t convey the depth of meaning they have for Em and anyone hearing this song, they do the job:

Have you ever loved someone so much you'd give an arm for
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for
When they know they your heart
And you know you were they armor
And you will destroy anyone who would try to harm her
But what happens when karma, turns right around and bites you
And everything you stand for turns on you, to spite you
What happens when you become the main source of her pain?
Daddy look what I made, Dad's gotta go catch a plane
Daddy where's mommy?I can't find mommy, where is she?
I don't know, go play Hailie, baby your daddy's busy
Daddy's writing this song, the song ain't gon' right itself
I'll give you one underdog and you gotta swing by yourself
Then turn right around in that song and tell her that you love her
And put hands on her mother who's a spittin' image of her
That's slim shady, yeah baby slim shady's crazy
Shady made me, but tonight shady's rock-a-bye baby

With the release of this song and his final (for now) album, Eminem goes on indefinite hiatus and Slim Shady lays in the grave dug by his own Creator. Goodbye, Slim. You’ll be missed, you and your crazy ass attitude.