An Eminem listener said in one of his reviews: "My favorite music-wise



is "Drug Ballad." I love the beat on this one, it's the type you crank

up and roll down the windows so everyone else can hear. The lyrics

definitely don't send the right message, telling stories of drugs and

being addicted to them. I sort of tune out the lyrics and focus on the

music." I had heard the song "Drug Ballad" only

once before I heard it in class. I liked the beat very much and

understood what the song was about; however, I had never stopped and

listened carefully to see if there were more than just lyrics, a

message, behind his words. I think this song is very interesting. More

than just cursing and humor, it also has a message. It involves

someone (either a friend or himself) who was using drugs and had a

very miserable life because of his or her decision of being involved

with drugs and in an unhealthy society.

I think that what he does is take his message to youth of today when

most of the teenagers are rebels and obscene. He probably thinks that

the best way of getting to them is with someone who has been through

hard times, and hasn't had an easy childhood (just as Eminem) talking

to them in their same "language". I do agree with what PWilliams,

Macmatt and Sammi1 wrote in their reviews: his songs are not for kids

and sometimes some sensitive people may feel uncomfortable by his

lyrics or what he tries to say in his songs. His records do

contain a lot of explicit lyrics, most of it is obscene and many times

he can be misunderstood because he is somewhat abstract; he doesn't

show every single detail of what he sings about. However, he's got a

good point in each of his songs.

Eminem's childhood was not filled with balloons and cotton candy: his

childhood was tough and unhappy to the point of profanity and

obscenity. However, there is one thing I admire more than anything

about him: and that is how much he loves his daughter, Hailie. He

mentions his daughter in many of his songs. A few days ago, I was

downloading music from the internet. The title of a song by him caught

my attention more than the rest. The song's name was "Hailie's Song",

so I downloaded it.

In "Hailie's Song", Eminem talks about his daughter, ad of how happy

he is to have her. A part of the chorus says "Sometimes it feels like

the world is on my shoulders", meaning that his daughter means the

world to him. He also mentions how things change and actually make

sense when he looks into his daughter's eyes.

I also downloaded another song called "Dear Marshall". Eminem's real

name is Marshall Mathers. This song is dedicated to Eminem from his

mother's point of view. It has a slow and mysterious

beat that gives it a little bit of depression, and the lyrics are

spoken by his mother. In the lyrics she says that she loves him and

she talks of how she suffered a lot by being a single mother. She says

that she was very happy when he succeeded in music business, but that

she felt very disappointed because of his betrayal. She also says how

she feels that others blame her because of how full of anger her son

is. In the end of the song, she asks him to take responsibility for

his actions and tells him that it's not too late for a change. I once

heard that she made a public comment saying he should've died in place

of another artist that had passed away in those days. I don't know

what to say about this comment, but I do know it's not a nice one.

Like PWilliams said, everybody is conscious of the obscenity and

vulgarity that sometimes is expressed through his music, and it still

being as it is, the record Marshall Mathers LP is a great creation of

Eminem's.

In conclusion, I still think that regardless of all the problems he's

had, Eminem is a great artist and deserves the love of his fans and

audience. I also think that it is very hard to tell when an artist or

his music is good, because everybody has different likes and dislikes.

If anybody would come and ask me, I would say Eminem is a great

artist. I love his music, but many people don't. So I guess it all

depends on the person's likes or dislikes.