news archives

November 30, 2003 - The New York Daily News reports Eminem is continuing to take heat for the decade-old track on which he said "black girls are dumb." At New York's City Hall on Tuesday, Brooklyn Councilwoman Yvette Clarke called it "outrageous, misogynist and disrespectful to African-American women."

November 30, 2003 - Steppin' Out magazine spoke with Dido and asked the singer what she thought of Eminem. "He was really nice. One way you can understand someone is checking the people they surround themselves with, and he was surrounded by the coolest and nicest people," she said. "They made me feel really welcome on the video set, and I felt such a nice vibe on that tour!" Read more.

November 30, 2003 - Anonymous writes "Read on for the lyrics to the newest Eminem track addressing Benzino and The Source. It features 50 Cent and Jadakiss." 

November 27, 2003 - maniac writes "During the last few days I have been hearing news and rumors of Eminem releasing not one, but three diss tracks towards enemies such as Benzino and JaRule. Most of the leaks have been simple previews and not the entire track, except for one. The included link is that to a song named 'Monkey see, Monkey Do' by Eminem responding to Ja Rule and 'Bully' in response to The Source. Listen to the clips here."

November 27, 2003 - Anonymous writes "Today in a new statement from the Source Magazine, the Co-Founders David Mays and Benzino charged the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HHSAN) and Russell Simmons of being irresponsible for defending Eminem over his racist lyrics that The Source aired publicly last week. Read more."

November 27, 2003 - SOHH.com caught up with The Bawston Strangla, the white MC Ray Benzino signed to his Surrender label in the late 90s to get his reaction on Eminem recording a racially charged rap during his teen years. "I think he made a mistake, I think he was young," Strangla told SOHH. "To me that's what it sounded like. It sounded like he was probably 16 or 17 years old his girlfriend broke up with him and he was heated. But at the same time, you don't go putting stuff down if you don't mean it like that." The rapper got dropped from Surrender Records right around the time Slim blew up. According to the Strangla, Benzino felt it would be near impossible to promote another white rapper while Eminem was making so much noise -- prompting Zino to put the Strangla on hold before eventually dropping him. Strangla denied being dropped for using the 'N' word in a rap, claiming Benzino was in the studio when it was recorded. Read more.

November 25, 2003 - Davey D. weighed in on Eminem's disparaging remarks about black women when he was 16, which were aired to the press by rivals Dave Mays and Benzino. Davey writes, "He should own up to it and apologize. He should do it, not because Dave Mays, Benzino and The Source are pressuring him. He shouldn't apologize because of all the negative publicity that may erode some of his fan base and market share. He shouldn't apologize because Interscope Records, XXL, Rollingstone, Radio and video outlets that play his music, Dr Dre and any other person or institution financially connected to Em will be questioned about their judgment or lack thereof. He should apologize because what he said was offensive and hurtful. And while, I understand, he may have been hurting himself when he made his songs, he still should apologize. As far as I'm concerned Black women deserve to hear that. If Em does do that and he is as sincere and forthcoming with his feelings as he is in his other songs, he will be several steps ahead of a whole lot of people who dis Black women and support the dissing of Black women everyday." Read more.

November 22, 2003 - Triumph The Insult Comic Dog and the voice of Triumph, Robert Smigel, was on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR. Triumph peppered his comments with references to pop stars, including Eminem and Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC, and also goofed on Gross for her much-talked about interview with Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly, who had walked out of an interview after feeling unfairly questioned. Listen to the interview here.

November 22, 2003 - Kelefa Sanneh of the New York Times was on hand for The Source press conference to listen to a "profoundly poor hip-hop track from about a decade ago, maybe longer" from Eminem. Sanneh opined, "These revelations will undoubtedly give Eminem's detractors more reason to dislike him, but they probably won't much bother his hardcore fans. Although much has been made of Eminem's hip-hop credibility, the truth is that for the past few years a number of hip-hop fans — especially black hip-hop fans — seem to have been losing interest in the rapper, who never seemed comfortable in any community, not even the hip-hop community. His music still hews closely to hip-hop's beats-and-rhymes blueprint, but his persona comes straight out of rock 'n' roll: the sullen loner, the paranoid rebel." Read more.

November 22, 2003 - Eminem's ex-wife appeared in court on a bench warrant after skipping two separate court hearings. Kim Mathers was arraigned Tuesday in a Macomb County court on charges connected to the two missed dates, WDIV-TV in Detroit reported. Read more.

November 19, 2003 - Radio 1 reports a Highland movie company making a film about Eminem's life has traced his ancestory and found out he has Scottish roots on both sides of his family. Apparently the name Marshall Mathers originates from the Barclay Clan. Read more.

November 19, 2003 - The New York Daily News reports The Source magazine executives David Mays and Raymond 'Benzino' Scott aired the Eminem track about his breakup with a black girlfriend in 1993. "Black girls only want your money cause they're dumb chicks," Slim Shady raps. "Never date a black girl because blacks only want your money, and that s-- ain't funny ... black girls and white girls just don't mix, because black girls are dumb and white girls are good chicks." Mays said that Eminem must be "held accountable" for the 10-year-old track. In his statement, Eminem fired back at Benzino, Mays and The Source, saying that they have had "a vendetta against me, Shady Records and our artists for a long time. The tape they played today was something I made out of anger, stupidity and frustration when I was a teenager. I'd just broken up with my girlfriend, who was African-American, and I reacted like the angry, stupid kid I was. I hope people will take it for the foolishness that it was, not for what somebody is trying to make it into today." Read more.

November 19, 2003 - Alex C has mixed Blu Cantrell's hit 'Breathe' featuring Sean Paul with Eminem's smash 'Lose Yourself'. Download and listen to 'Breathe Yourself' here.

November 17, 2003 - Author Anthony Bozza was on WB11 to talk about his new book about Eminem. Bozza talked about misconceptions about Slim, how he likes quiet time, and how he doesn't have time for drugs with all the projects going on in his life. Bozza also spoke about the women in his life, including ex-wife Kim and his mother, and how he targets them in his songwriting when he's most angry. Watch the interview here.

November 11, 2003 - The New York Daily News reports that Eminem recently told a fried regarding Tupac Shakur, "The day he died, the world kinda stopped." Eminem has contributed to the 'Tupac: Resurrection' documenary soundtrack. "I remember buying my first Tupac album at 17," he said. "I think honestly that Tupac was the greatest songwriter that ever lived... I never had the chance to meet him because I wasn't up on the ladder yet, but I remembered hearing the news of his death while I worked as a cook in a Detroit restaurant, and will never forget the feeling." Shakur died at 25 in September 1996. His murder remains unsolved.

November 11, 2003 - The Associated Press reports arrest warrants have been issued for Kim Mathers, the ex-wife of Eminem after she failed to show up for two separate court hearings. "Everyone is concerned," Attorney Michael Smith said, adding that Mathers has not disappeared this long before. "Nobody knows where she is." Read more.

November 11, 2003 - As his career exploded, Eminem was living dangerously according to Anthony Bozza, author of 'Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem.' "He kind of spun out of control. I don't think anyone would have been surprised if he ended up dead or in jail," Bozza told Access Hollywood. "He was just kind of partying like a maniac. You know, drinking, popping some ecstasy." Read more.

November 6, 2003 - Triumph The Insult Comic Dog and Kathy Griffin both phoned into WBLI in Long Island to chat with Steve & Maria, and both guests spoke about Eminem. Triumph addressed the MTV Video Music Awards run-in with Slim, while Griffin talked about Em's troubles with ex-wife Kim. Listen to the two interviews here.

November 4, 2003 - Drunken Monkey and Codetheeves have combined to mix Eminem 'Without Me' vs. Bachman-Turner Overdrive 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet'. Download and listen to 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet Without Me' here.

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