Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem
Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem
does eminem matter?
On assignment for his first cover story for Rolling Stone, the very first national cover story on Eminem, Anthony Bozza met a young blond kid, a rapper who would soon take the country by storm. But back in 1999, Eminem was just beginning to make waves among suburban white teenagers as his first single, “My Name Is,” went into heavy rotation on MTV.
Who could have predicted that in a mere two years, Eminem would become the most reviled and controversial hip-hop figure ever? Or that twelve months after that, Eminem would sit firmly at the pinnacle of American celebrity, a Grammy winner many times over and the recipient of an Oscar.
did eminem change or did america finally figure him out?
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Angry Blonde
Despite staggering album sales, sold-out concerts, and the complete, breathless attention of legions of fans and the media, Eminem remains an incorrigible enigma. Angry Blonde, full of his lyrics and complete with his commentary on his songs, offers an unprecedented look into the mind of a modern musical genius.
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Title Is Misleading But Good For Rap Historians,
I was so excited when I received “Whatever You Say I Am” for Christmas last year. Now, almost a year later, I’ve finally gotten through the final pages.
Why did it take so long you might ask? Well for starters, it was all I could do to keep my interest going. This is NOT an EMINEM BIOGRAPHY. I repeat, this is NOT an EMINEM BIOGRAPHY. The subtitle of this book is called “The Life And Times Of Eminem.” While Anthony Bozza does a fine job of creating a book about the history of rap and how Eminem has influenced rap, it’s culture and overall society, I soon figured out after reading chapter after chapter thick with rap’s roots, that Bozza forgot to include Eminem’s life in the book. Each chapter I started, I kept anticipating…..oh maybe this is the part where we get to see Eminem’s life, influences, etc. But after reading yet another chapter of rap history such as with historical MC’s like Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, I realized I was wrong again, and had to psych myself up to keep reading. It just got a bit boring after a while.
Also, I am a slow reader in general, but reading this book made me look like a speed demon before. It was truely agonizing at times trying to absorb what I just read. I cannot tell you how many times I had to go back and re-read Bozza’s long, flowery-worded sentences laden with so many commas, you had to literally look back to see where the pause was and where the next statement began.
I realize that all the background of rap is influential. Bozza talks of the Blues, Sly & The Family Stone and R&B, The first known rap song, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang, famous MC’s and the underground rap parties they threw, the controversy of Vinalla Ice, The Beastie Boys, and on and on. Bozza talks of how society has both embraced and despised Eminem after hearing the sides of the rapper, from his devotion to his daughter, his hate against women, his family-man traits, and his hate toward his mother. Bozza disects the reasons why society wants to listen to Eminem and why he changed the world of rap in more ways than just because he is white. Heck, Bozza even gives us the history of Detroit and how the rough and tough industrial city, it’s racial barriers, rich suburbs and run-down neighborhoods shaped what Eminem became. This is all well and good, but again, where is Eminem’s “Life And Times?”
We don’t really even get a hint of Eminem’s hard times in life on his way to the top until toward the end of the book. There you’ll find a couple pages or so of Eminem’s ups and downs with wife/ex-wife Kim, the fued with his mother who supposedly had some stability problems, all the moving around from school to school and home to home, his take on his father who abandoned he and his mother, etc. These pages were some of the most interesting parts of the book and were smooth reading for me, contrary to my staggered reading amongst all the history stuff. But this small section at the back of the book must have been what made the book a so-called biography.
The interviews were good; what there was of them. The main interviews basically follows Bozza and his journey with Eminem through the different parts of Detroit and where Eminem used to live, and you’ll read about Eminem recalling what happened here and there. Then you’ll also follow them into the old restaurant of home-cooked meals where Eminem used to work and listen to their discussions over pizza and booze. These too were some of the best parts of the book, in that Bozza’s descriptions of the places and people around it enable the reader to get right into that actual scene and feel like he/she is a part of it.
But to put it bluntly, I wanted this book because I thought it would be a biography. I wanted to hear about how Eminem grew up on rap, how his upbringing influenced him, some history of the rap battles that he had to perform at to get to the top, the predjudices that he experienced along the way and all the other aspects of the “LIFE AND TIMES OF EMINEM.” Bozza mearly just touches on these issues and devotes the rest of the book to how America has influenced Eminem, how Eminem has influenced America, how Eminem mirrors society and how he is in many ways the voice of a generation, the significance of racial issues and how this has shaped the outcome of Eminem’s success, and on and on and on. So where is the “Life Of Eminem?” If you take a microscope, you can find bits and pieces.
Bozza has not written the perfect book about Eminem, but the perfect book about rap history and how it has shaped America. Bozza basically weaves rap society and American culture around the controversies that Eminem exhibits. To make a long story short, most of this book is about how a blonde, blue-eyed white guy came into the predominantly black rap world and peaked an interest in society not only because he is a white man in the black rap game, but because he is an…
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|Not enough history on Eminem, too much focus on culture,
I just finished reading this book and I thought that it was well written from start to finish. Unfortunately, I did not get the content I was looking for. I was looking mainly for what Eminem did in the past and what he intends to do in the future. The book I would say was only 2/5ths that. The rest was focusing on hip-hop history. Chapter after chapter was the same stuff over again, but focusing on a different artist of hip-hop. Sometimes there was long stretches of pages that seemed to have no end, while not even mentioning eminem. If your looking for a book on hip-hop culture, this is a good one. If you want a book that shows the life and times of eminem, this book only counts as 2/5ths.
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|Well-written, but it should be called “Rap: 99-2003″,
In the first few chapters, Bozza did an excellent job of putting Eminem in context. It’s important to remember what the culture was like in 99 when the Slim Shady LP came out: TLC’s No Scrubs was number one, Lauryn Hill and Celine Dion were superstars, as were the Backstreet Boys and Madonna. The culture was different in 2000 for The Marshall Mathers LP, after Columbine and when the presidency was on trial. Then Eminem lived a reality celebrity life until the 2002 release of his movie 8 Mile, which rocketed him into mainstream praise from “older” critics and a huge, diverse, fan base.
I enjoyed the first few chapters of “putting Eminem in context.” But then it went on and on and on and on. I have no idea what point each chapter was trying to make. Bozza wasn’t telling a linear story of Eminem’s career; rather, these are random essays/parts of interviews which could each stand on their own as a magazine piece. There is no benefit to having them gathered as chapters in a book, and reading chapter after chapter about Eminem’s place with Dre, DMX, Puffy, rap magazines, Rolling Stone, the VMAs, etc. gets old. This is much less about Enimen than it is about pop culture, rap, and hip-hop from 1999 through 2003. Bozza doesn’t even do a very good job making Eminem the unifying theme between all his comments on pop culture.
Bozza did an outstanding job with Tommy Lee on his auto-biography Tommyland. This was his first effort, and it shows that he is a talented magazine writer, but not a biographer. If you want a good read, go pick up Tommyland.
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|Nice to Hear From Slim Shady Himself…,
I got Eminem’s new book yesterday, and like the rest of his fans, I couldn’t wait to read it. The thing that impressed me most about this book were the many high-quality pictures in it. They are better than the ones of him in magazines or any other press-related items, and they are more personal. For instance, there are ones from the European Slim Shady tour, his video shoots, and other concerts. Eminem wrote the book basically to showcase his song lyrics and to give a short summary on what he was thinking with each song, where he wrote it, and the actual song process in the studio and otherwise. It gives the reader insight on Eminem’s work ethics, his studio experience, and how this brilliant emcee writes. His utter concentration and perfection for his work is the number one thing you will get from this book. YOu’ll also realize that beyond all the media hoopla,negative press,and his own slapstick sarcasm and wit, there is the music of an artist trying to express what goes on in his head. Eminem doesn’t get VERY personal with the reader, as let’s say one of his Rolling Stone interviews, but he does touch on his hard life and the struggles he went through. The book is more about “what makes him tick,” musically,as he puts it best in the introduction. I’d recommend this book to the true Eminem fan or Hip-Hop fan who wants to know what it is like to think up some phat rhymes and beats, maybe first in the form of a catchy hook, and then actually take it into the studio to create a song. This book, in essence, is the biography about each one of his songs. Also included, are some bonus works, such as freestyles he did on college radio stations and songs that didn’t make it off the cutting room table to be added to his albums. Eminem gives you what no journalist focuses on enough: the music and the genius process behind it.
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|LOST LYRICS NOTEBOOK IS HERE!,
THIS BOOK IS SO GREAT. IT IS NOT ABOUT HIS LIFE THOUGH. IT IS MORE OF THE WORDS TO HIS SONGS WITH THE REASON OF WHY HE WROTE THEM. DON’T BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT A BIOGRAPHY.
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|This book was the best!,
This book was really amazing! I got it for a Christmas present and I had been wanting it since it first came out. I think it’s wonderful. It was so awesome to read through all the different pages and then look at the wonderful, full-color pictures. I loved reading every story behind every song… especially my favorite songs. It was really awesome for me to know how Eminem came up with the words to my favorite songs and what he was thinking of when he did it. The introduction alone was wonderful! I loved it. It gave you a rare glimpse at Marshall Mathers. Not Slim Shady, not Eminem, but the REAL Marshall. After that intro Eminem doesn’t need to do anymore explaining about himself or his music. For anyone who doesn’t understand him, the intoduction shows you what he is all about. It shows you that from the beginning all Eminem cared about was self-expression and the music. No matter what he raps about it’s obvious that all Eminem tried to do was capture his feelings on paper. I recommend this book to all true Eminem fans! I think this is a book made directly and only for the fans who understand and love him (like me!) I loved listening to the song on my discman as I read the lyrics in the book. It helped me understand and feel the song better. Not to mention, the pictures were wonderful! This book is by the man himself… Eminem. So what else could you want? And why would you read anything else about him? You know none of this information is false because it’s from Eminem to his fans. It is the best book and I recommend all Eminem fans go out there and pick it up! It’s definitely worth every penny.
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