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- News November 2003 Archive
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November 2003
| Eminem goes to war - Posted by Denz on Tuesday, November 25 2003 |
Eminem is already fighting back following allegations of racism by releasing three new battle rhymes directed at Benzino.
The tracks, leaked to the Internet, indirectly pour scorn on the emcee and Source magazine co-owner who last week held a press conference in which he revealed early recordings of Eminem delivering racist rhymes.
"I'm withholding my anger, though I'd like to be the strangler of this punk-ass little pu**y's puny neck," Eminem rhymes on one track.
"...[S]o he just torches himself he has no fortune and wealth so he extorts someone else/To get his dough, and now he's acting like a bully/So he tries to push and pull me/But he knows that he can't fool me."
Publicly, Eminem has attempted to explain the controversial early recordings as the childish misjudgements of a teenager.
"The tape they played today was something I made out of anger, stupidity and frustration when I was a teenager," he said last week.
"I'd just broken up with my girlfriend, who was African-American, and I reacted like the angry, stupid kid I was."
However, Benzino insists, "First and foremost Eminem owes a true apology as well as a more detailed explanation to the black community and to black women for these offensive lyrics."
His partner and Source co-owner, David Mays, has denounced Russell Simmons and the Hip Hop Summit Action Network (HHSAN) after the figurehead came out in support of Eminem.
Mays, previously on the HHSAN board of directors, has stepped down from the organisation and claims that he will only rejoin when Simmons reveals any financial ties he has to Eminem and his label Interscope.
Simmons, however, is not budging on the issue.
He announced: "In almost 30 years in this business, I've never been in a hip-hop battle and I will not be drawn into one now by The Source magazine."
"Dave Mays and Benzino are my brothers and I wish the best for them. Unfortunately, we do not agree on this issue."
Meanwhile, a former protégé of Benzino has also pitched in to the argument, accusing his mentor of hypocrisy.
The white rapper called, The Bawston Strangla, was once signed to Benzino's Surrender label and claims that the rapper at that time attempted to mould his image.
"I don't want to say that [Benzino] said you have to say this, but basically he came to me and he was like this is the image I'm looking for on this song," he explained to sohh.com.
He claims that Benzino told him: "I'm looking for a white kid from South Boston, who is Irish, who's extremely pissed off, got a drug problem, doesn't like authority figures and doesn't like black people."
"If you listen to that song, everything else I ever recorded is the exact opposite of that song. I can't justify myself for doing it. I was wrong for doing it," he said of the resulting track.
On the subject of the latest developments in Benzino's feud with Eminem, he said: "It was kind of hypocritical because dog turned around and do the same thing to Eminem that he did to me." |
| Chronic Wealth - Posted by Denz on Monday, November 24 2003 |
Dr. Dre and Eminem have been named the second most powerful celebrities in the world in a poll compiled by Forbes magazine.
The U.S. magazine, aimed at an elite business readership, put the pair just below actress Jennifer Aniston but above other major power brokers like Steven Spielberg, Paul McCartney, J.K. Rowling and Tiger Woods.
Using annual earnings, media coverage, magazine covers and television and radio appearances as a gauge of the power and influence of the celebrities in question, the annual list last year pronounced Britney Spears the winner.
Eminem and Dre pulled in a combined haul of $35 million in 2003, they were featured in 27,130 newspaper and magazine articles and appeared on television and radio over 450 times. |
| 'Best in Cinema' - Posted by Denz on Saturday, November 22 2003 |
| The American Film Institue has nominated Eminem's "Lose Yourself" for its "The 100 Best Songs in U.S Cinema list. Among the 400 chosen, Slim will compete with older pieces from Judy Garland, Madonnna and Bing Crosby and contemporary songs like Renee Zellwegger and Catherine Zeta Jones' rendition of "All That" from the Chicago soundtrack. |
| Simmons Supports - Posted by Denz on Friday, November 21 2003 |
Influential hip-hop figurehead Russell Simmons has come out in support of Eminem against allegations of racism.
In a statement released yesterday (November 20) Simmons said he believed Eminem's apology to be "sincere."
The owners of The Source magazine, Ray Benzino and Dave Mays, held a press conference this week during which they played early recordings of Eminem delivering racist rhymes.
The hip-hop star was quick to react asking the public to, "take it for the foolishness that it was."
"These lyrics are disgusting, but the oneness of hip-hop culture has transformed many young people in trailer parks around the country away from their parents' old mindset of white supremacy," Simmons said.
"We believe Eminem's apology is sincere and forthright. He continues not only to be an icon of hip-hop, but also has evolved into a good soldier who gives back money, time and energy to the community, encouraging this generation of youth to reach their highest aspirations."
Simmons' partner in the charitable Hip Hop Summit Action Network, Benjamin Chavis, said: "Hip-hop culture transcends race."
"We, therefore, must be careful as to how the race card is played to divide people rather than to encourage unity in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality for all."
Nonetheless, The Source is refusing to back down, Editor Kim Osorio told New York Newsday: "These are racist remarks by someone who has the ability to influence millions of minds." |
| Racism Regret - Posted by Denz on Wednesday, November 19 2003 |
Eminem has expressed his regret over comments he made on a 10-year-old recording, denying that he is racist.
Allegations of racism were made against the global hip-hop superstar in a press conference yesterday held by the owners of The Source magazine.
Ray Benzino and Dave Mays have run a series of editorials questioning the star's dominance in the hip-hop field. Benzino, a rapper himself, has traded numerous battle rhymes with Eminem in a long-running feud played out on underground mixtapes.
A tape played by the pair during the New York press conference included the lines: "Never date a black girl, because blacks only want your money/ And that sh*t ain't funny."
Another track featured the lines: "All the girls I like to bone have big butts/ No they don't, 'cause I don't like that n***a sh*t/ I'm just here to make a bigger hit."
Eminem responded to the attack by claiming that he made the track in a fit of anger after splitting up with a black girlfriend.
"The tape they played today was something I made out of anger, stupidity and frustration when I was a teenager," he said.
"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."
"Ray Benzino, Dave Mays and The Source have had a vendetta against me, Shady Records and our artists for a long time."
Benzino and Mays wouldn't be drawn into a Q&A following the press conference but maintained that the allegations be treated with the same gravity as those levelled at high-profile black entertainers.
"Don't make this right now a double standard," Benzino said. "We got to treat this the same way you treat Mike Tyson, like you treat Kobe Bryant, like you treat R. Kelly, like you treat O.J. Simpson." |
| Early Release - Posted by Denz on Saturday, November 15 2003 |
Several U.S. retailers apparently decided to get a jump start on the early street date for Jay-Z's "The Black Album" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) and G-Unit's "Beg for Mercy" (G-Unit/Shady/Interscope), both officially out today (Nov. 14). Sources say major retailers, led by Target, started putting the titles out as early as Tuesday, forcing other retailers to start selling them too.
"The Black Album" was initially slated to come out Nov. 28 but was moved up to today, apparently due to rampant piracy. "Beg for Mercy" album was originally due Nov. 18 but was also moved up.
By yesterday, both albums were available in outlets nationwide -- except, of course, in those stores that had yet to receive shipments due to the logistics involved in the rush release. Despite the complications, the two albums -- and Tupac Shakur's "Resurrection" soundtrack (Amaru/Interscope), released Tuesday -- are providing explosive sales for merchants this week.
In discussing the street-date violations, one chain retailer says, "We never want to be first, but we also never want to be third." Another merchant says his chain had to respond to the violations. "Don't you know? Nice guys finish last," he quipped. |
| MTV Europe Awards - Posted by Denz on Tuesday, November 11 2003 |
| Though absent, Eminem took a European moon man while Sean Paul upset 50 Cent for Best New Artist at the MTV Europe Music Awards filmed last week. Punjabi MC was also among the few Hip-Hop winners for Best Dance Act. Meanwhile a few of the year's hottest collaborators took the stage for rare performances. Though Sean Paul didn't accompany Beyonce when she took the stage for the VMA's previously this year, SP joined the independent woman for a rendition of "Baby Boy." And while Justin Timberlake hasn't been seen with the Black Eyed Peas, the two performed "Where's The Love" for the European crowd. |
| Piracy Beg's for Mercy - Posted by Denz on Saturday, November 8 2003 |
A day after the release of Jay-Z's next album was moved up two weeks due to piracy, a similar move has been made for the debut set from the 50 Cent-led G Unit.
That group's "Beg for Mercy" will be issued Nov. 14 by Interscope, four days earlier than originally intended.
"What can you expect when you're the hottest rapper around?," 50 Cent said in a statement. "The streets are used to gettin' my music the unconventional way. So if they want it why not give 'em the real deal as soon as you can. Why make 'em wait?"
Interscope has been in this position before, having moved up the release of Eminem's "The Eminem Show" last year due to advance piracy.
"Unfortunately, this is becoming too common for us," said Interscope senior sales and marketing executive Steve Berman. "We've been in this situation before, so we know what measures have to be taken. This is an ongoing war against bootlegging and piracy. We are taking the necessary steps to get the real album into the listener's hands."
In the first million copies of "Beg for Mercy," four "golden tickets" will be inserted randomly. Each winner will get a chain necklace with a diamond-encrusted G Unit medallion, valued at $12,500. |
| Arrest warrants - Posted by Denz on Friday, November 7 2003 |
Arrest warrants have been issued for Eminem's ex-wife after she failed to show for two separate court hearings.
Kimberly Mathers, 28, hasn't been heard from in a week, and her whereabouts are unknown, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News reported Friday.
Lawyer Michael Smith said he last spoke to her on Oct. 30 and that "she was in great spirits."
"Everyone is concerned," Smith said, adding that Mathers hasn't disappeared for this long before. "Nobody knows where she is."
Eminem, whose legal name is Marshall Mathers III, doesn't know where she is either, said Harvey Hauer, who represented the rapper in his divorce case. They have a 7-year-old daughter, Hailie Jade.
On Thursday, after Mathers failed to show up for an arraignment on charges of running a drug house, 37th District Judge John Chmura issued a bench warrant. Those charges came from a Sept. 29 hotel party in Warren.
It was the second bench warrant issued for her arrest this week.
Mathers also was supposed to attend a hearing Tuesday for violating the conditions of her bond in a St. Clair Shores drug case.
Macomb County Circuit Judge Edward Servitto had issued a warrant when Mathers' lawyer couldn't reach his client after she missed the hearing. Servitto last month had ordered Mathers to wear a tether because she'd missed two earlier court dates since her June arrest in St. Clair Shores. |
| Arrest warrants - Posted by Denz on Tuesday, November 4 2003 |
A Turkish man was stabbed to death after hawking T-shirts depicting U.S. rap superstar Eminem because a man mistook the sales pitch as an insult to his mother, Turkish newspapers said on Tuesday.
A knife fight broke out in an Istanbul suburb after 19-year-old Dilaver Akkurt told T-shirt vendor Hayrettin Demir his mother was named Emine and lived in the area, Hurriyet newspaper said.
"Eminem" means "my Emine" in Turkish.
Akkurt warned Demir to stop shouting "Eminem" and to cease sales of the clothing inscribed with the star's name and image.
Police believe Demir, who died at the scene from multiple stab wounds, was killed by a friend of Akkurt's in the brawl in Istanbul's Kucukcekmece district, Hurriyet said.
Police have detained Akkurt, who was being treated in hospital for wounds, and are still searching for Demir's killer, the newspaper said. |
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