> [from Debate]
>
> >* PE's Chuck D clarifies feelings on Presley
> >Aug. 13, 2002
> >was, simple and plain." As for whether there is a modern-day Elvis,
> >Chuck D points to Eminem. "Eminem is the new Elvis because, No. 1, he
> >had the respect for black music that Elvis had," Chuck D said. "I think
> >he's courteous and sympathetic to black music, and, unfortunately, he's
> >more sympathetic to black music than many black artists themselves."
Eminem rocks, for the most part. The first half of his new album is pretty good, the second half sort of wanders, due to a lack of material. Eminem, like all the best hip hop artists, has a tremendous sense of the acoustic material; some of his samples are stunning (e.g. Aerosmith's "Sing for the Moment"). The Slim Shady LP is still the best, musically, but all his stuff would be on my "Buy" list, if I did music-crit.
For those unfamiliar with Em: he comes straight out of post-industrial Detroit, so the raw violence you hear is real, the aesthetic documentation of the catastrophe of neoliberalism, sort of the radical voice of the white US workingclass. All his stuff is co-produced with Dr. Dre, one of the key players of the LA hip hop scene.
-- Dennis