11/16/2004
Eminem Asks, What Makes Someone Gay?
Check out the track on Eminem's new release, Encore, out today, called "Rain Man", which Kelefah Sanneh in the NYT calls the centerpiece of the album. It's a strange, seemingly nonsensical song, about labels, celebrity, and the deadliness fame can have on the creative spirit.
Rain Man
In it Eminem lobs pop culture references (Michael Jackson, Christopher Reeve, evil movie villains like Darth Vader and Lex Luther) and offers the comical sound effect of Jessica Simpson's ass popping like a balloon, all in a parody of his own "offensiveness".
Yet the core of the song is a strange, locker room rumination on what defines a homosexual.
Here are the lyrics to the middle stanza of "Rain Man":
Now in the Bible it says
thou shall now watch two lesbians in bed
have homosexual sex
unless of course you were given the consent to join in
then of course it's intercourse and it bisexual sex
which isn't as bad as long as you show some remorse for your actions
either before, during, or after performing the act of that which
is normally referred to as such more commonly known phrases
that are more used by today's kids
in a more derogatory way
but who's to say what's fair to say and what not to say
let's ask Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre (what up?)
I got a question if i may (yea)
is it gay to play putt putt golf with a friend (yea)
and watch his butt butt when he tees off (yea)
but but i aint done yet
in football a quarterback yells out hut hut
while he reaches in another grown man's ass
grabs on his nuts, but just what if
it was never meant, it was just an accident
but he tripped, fell, slipped and his penis went in
his teeny, tiny, little, round hiney
and he didn't mean it but his little weenie flinched just a little bit
and I don't need to go into any more details
but what if he pictured it as a female's butt
is that gay? I just need to clear things up
til then I'll just walk around with a manly strut because...
Is homosexuality defined by a physical act, or is it defined by the thought process behind that act? I'm not sure I've ever heard that brought up in music before by any artist, gay or straight.
To hear Eminem rap about the "tiny, little round hiney" and the "flinching weenie" and introduce a discussion of homosexual anal sex (a topic that threatens most hetero masculine egos) is pretty out there. It addresses the concept of the Down Low, gays who see themselves as "Str8", and machismo all at once. It calls out the hypocrites who do one thing and call it another.
Extemporating on mature concepts in fifth-grade dialect dreamt into utterly sophisticated rhyming sequences is the brilliance of Eminem. Is he a homophobe at heart? Who knows? But he asks some pretty "probing" questions for a straight rapper.
Eminem's Encore
Posted 11:25 AM EST by Andy in Music | Permalink
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You should check out the song "gay / not gay" by King Missile. Deals with similar themes.
Posted by: Ryan | Nov 16, 2004 2:16:51 PM
I heart M&M.
He's able to say what the masses are too afraid to think; irregardless of how it will affect his fame/success/personal life. Add in sweet ass rhyming skills and phat beatz, you can't help but show him some respect.
Posted by: jase | Nov 16, 2004 3:16:05 PM
I'm gay yet I like MM very much: his outthere style aand his audacity to say what he is thinking when so many do not. One hell of a body: makes me think many things!! Sorry Marshall.
Posted by: dan | Nov 16, 2004 10:37:24 PM
I thought that wos such a crack up! i luv the way he can tackle issues like sexuallity and make such a joke out of it by putting it next to putt putt golf! Im not a homophobe at all *respect to gays* and i dont really think eminem is either, hes just making fun of the rest of us, and hes bludy good at it!
Posted by: nix | Dec 4, 2004 1:43:39 AM
hey man MM is at it again,me like tha dude spinnin hot on tha mic one day me gonna rap like him cos he, a talent,brain....
Posted by: Stainless Roberts | Dec 10, 2004 9:06:40 AM
eminem likes to express his feelings and might upset some people but if you cant have fun then life would be boring. be a rebel eminem.
ilove eminem specially chocolate one of him.
or him with chocolate on that would be interest may be my gay friends could join in on the fun. if i rap that song would i be hated for having my point of view.
Posted by: MRS DUFF | Jan 7, 2005 12:18:15 AM
im gay and suck loadsa cock, ive sucked 2 cock at same time, bet em hasnt dun that , beat that dick likers hater
i fink orlndo bloom is buff
Posted by: gay gary blackwell | Apr 17, 2005 5:15:50 PM
i just would like 2 say gays should die and eminem's da best at saying faggots suck
F U C K T H E H O M O S E X U A L S !!!!!!!
Posted by: JALE | Mar 2, 2006 3:02:18 PM
Who the fu** let this dude in, Jale?
Anyone notice he happened to come to an all gay website? For hatin' gays, he sure seem to be attracted to them and their sites
What kinda loser even wastes his time to post something about something-unless it got him really fuc**** scared. Who is the pussy now?
It doesn't even affect you, yet you make it so much of your business-what is it, u like dick too???
Fuc** dumb ass loser,-lol!
Posted by: javan | Mar 18, 2006 11:45:49 PM
I tried sending Jale's dumb ass an email-and he gave a FAKE email address that doesn't even work! lol
"Yeah, see what I posted about ur busted lame ass on the gay website you purposely went to. What kinda fucker does that anyway??? Fuckin' loser.
If anyone's a faggot, u are. So fuckin' scared... got to post a comment where no one can see ur stupid ass about something that obviously scares the shit out of you... pussy- lol!!!!!
I'd rather be a fuckin gay ass queer than some kinda of pussy ass bitch-that wants to start shit just 'cause his daddy hasn't told him he's a man yet... stop fucking ur sister and maybe he would!!! Stupid cunt ass bitch. Ur just jealous because all the gay dudes you've ever met cock is bigger. Not my fault ur girlfriend preferred gay dudes to ur dumb ass."
Posted by: Javan | Mar 19, 2006 12:04:53 AM
WoW! Alot of hate and vulgarity. What is happening with our world. If any man be innocent let him be the first to throw stones. Does anyone ever really stop and think, consider yourself momentarily. It may be a saving grace, for you to do some introspection.
Posted by: heaven sent | Sep 10, 2006 3:21:25 AM