Publisher Description

Offering a fresh way to look at one of the best-selling hip hop artists of the early 21st century, this book presents Eminem's words, images, and music alongside comments from those who love and hate him, documenting why Eminem remains a cultural, spiritual, and economic icon in global popular culture.Eminem: The Real Slim Shady examines the rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor who has become one of the most successful and well-known artists in the world. Providing far more than a biography of his life story, the book provides a comprehensive description, interpretation, and analysis of his personas, his lyrical content, and the cultural and economic impact of Eminem's work through media. It also contains the first in-depth content analysis of 200 of the rapper's most popular songs from 1990 through 2012.The book is organized into three sections, each focusing on one of the artist's public personas (Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers, Eminem), with each section further divided into chapters that explore various aspects of Eminem's cultural, spiritual, and economic significance. Besides being a book that every fan of Eminem and pop music will want to read, the work will be valuable to researchers in the areas of race and ethnicity, communication, cultural and musical studies, and hip hop studies.

Author Biography

Marcia Alesan Dawkins, PhD, is clinical assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication.

Table of Contents

AcknowledgmentsPrelude1. "I'm Sorry Mama"2. Daddy Dearest3. The Shady Bunch4. Marshall Mathers: The Everyman's Man5. Angels and Demons and Mathers6. The Thin Line7. The King of Controversy8. Losing Himself9. Eminem versus EverybodyCoda: Shady 2.0Appendix: ChronologyNotesIndex

Promotional

Offering a fresh way to look at one of the best-selling hip hop artists of the early 21st century, this book presents Eminem's words, images, and music alongside comments from those who love and hate him, documenting why Eminem remains a cultural, spiritual, and economic icon in global popular culture.

Long Description

Eminem: The Real Slim Shady examines the rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor who has become one of the most successful and well-known artists in the world. Providing far more than a biography of his life story, the book provides a comprehensive description, interpretation, and analysis of his personas, his lyrical content, and the cultural and economic impact of Eminem's work through media. It also contains the first in-depth content analysis of 200 of the rapper's most popular songs from 1990 through 2012. The book is organized into three sections, each focusing on one of the artist's public personas (Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers, Eminem), with each section further divided into chapters that explore various aspects of Eminem's cultural, spiritual, and economic significance. Besides being a book that every fan of Eminem and pop music will want to read, the work will be valuable to researchers in the areas of race and ethnicity, communication, cultural and musical studies, and hip hop studies.

Promotional "Headline"

Eminem-born Marshall Bruce Mathers III-is hailed by Rolling Stone as one of the top 100 "Greatest Artists of All Time" and as "The King of Hip Hop." He was listed as number 58 in the book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America , has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, and his lyrics are often condemned for containing foul language and promoting violence, misogyny, and homophobia. Eminem has also publicly supported gay rights, made videos that promote voting and anti-bullying, founded a charity to help disadvantaged youth, and changed the face of the recording industry by seeking "digital reparations" for all artists. Will the real Marshall Mathers please stand up?

Description for Reader

* Poses the question of whether the Marshall Mathers persona can be considered a spiritual rapper * Traces the development of the Slim Shady persona as mixed race * Provides a discussion of today's white rappers who came after Eminem as reflections of his three personas * Discusses Eminem's impact on the recording industry via court cases and social media

Details