Eminem can reach audiences that none of those artists can and is a better lyricist than all of them. Eminem reaches audiences of all ages and more importantly middle America. He has white people buying his records and those are the people that pay the most money. Yeah you mentioned some legendary hip hop artists but can people really relate to them? Can the general public really listen to their songs and relate to the subjects? No they can't. I'm sure 50 Cent is nowhere near your list of real hip hop artists and he's not exactly a favourite of mine but he did once say something interesting.
The best golfer in the world is a black man and the best rapper in the world is a white man. And if people can't look and see that kind of talent and why they are at the top then they will never understand. No point in explaining it.
Just been reading back through the thread, since we all had
our differing opinions here, Eminem has gone on to make
one of the best comeback albums ever in Recovery. As i
said before i will say again, the best hip hop artist ever!
Just been reading back through the thread, since we all had
our differing opinions here, Eminem has gone on to make
one of the best comeback albums ever in Recovery. As i
said before i will say again, the best hip hop artist ever!
Recovery was pretty terrible from a Hip Hop perspective tbh. It was totally pop rap. Not the Eminem which led to him being viable for such a claim. Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers LP and Eminem Show were three gems but you can't stay living off them. From a lyricist point of view Nas and Jay-Z are probably the greatest hip hop artists (living) with honourable mentions for Ghostface, Tupac & Biggie obviously and Rakim.
Recovery was pretty terrible from a Hip Hop perspective tbh. It was totally pop rap. Not the Eminem which led to him being viable for such a claim. Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers LP and Eminem Show were three gems but you can't stay living off them. From a lyricist point of view Nas and Jay-Z are probably the greatest hip hop artists (living) with honourable mentions for Ghostface, Tupac & Biggie obviously and Rakim.
Yeah, and from a overall "artist" perspective (meaning someone who pushes boundaries, is extraordinarily creative, never rests on his laurels etc), Eminen doesn't come close to Kanye West either. West isn't the best "rapper" or the best "lyricist", but I think his sheer level of boundary pushing and creativity puts him ahead of Eminem in the conversation. Kanye, more than being just a hip-hop artist, is just a great muscian. And a consistent one.
Eminem may continue to sell more records than Kanye (Eminems's "comeback" album, far outsold Kanye's My Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was far better reviewed. The best reviewed album of 2010, in fact) or any other rapper. That's because as the first (only) credible white superstar rapper, he's got an audience of fans who will never turn away from him. You could probably say it's the same thing for Elvis....there were many more talented black Rock n' Roll pioneers who faded commercially (like Chuck Berry or Little Richard), while the cult of Elvis refused to die, because he was one of the white superstars to dominate what was then percieved to be a mostly black/African-American genre.
It's the way of the world. Eminem himself has said that if he wasn't white, he wouldn't have sold half as much as he did. He knows why he's still able to sell like he is, despite not being particularly musically or artistically relevant in 2011. Black rappers will always have a less stable fanbase than him....the fact that someone like Jay-Z has stayed at the top of the game and selling albums as long as he has is incredible. He hasn't got that automatic, casual white fanbase that will keep Eminem afloat forever, regardless of the quality of his music..
It's hard to judge Eminem's status in the overall hip-hop pantheon. He hasn't got the most incredible flow (Snoop Dogg might win that contest....he might talk complete nonsense at times, but his flow is hypnotic. I think that's why he's stil in the game 20 years after his debut. Jay-Z has a better flow as well). He hasn't got the deepest lyrics (Nas, Rakim, Black Thought, Common etc), isn't the most creative or critically acclaimed of his generation (Kanye West).....so what critera exactly makes Eminem the "greatest hip-hop artist"?
Sales. The only area where Eminem crushes his opposition. And as I said, even Eminem knows he's only done that because he's white, and many of his white fans will never desert him. I don't think it's a good enough measure. He's talented, and he may outsell other hip-hop artists even when he's 60, but he'll never be considered the greatest, imho. But hey, at least he's better than Lil Wayne:D
Yeah, and from a overall "artist" perspective (meaning someone who pushes boundaries, is extraordinarily creative, never rests on his laurels etc), Eminen doesn't come close to Kanye West either. West isn't the best "rapper" or the best "lyricist", but I think his sheer level of boundary pushing and creativity puts him ahead of Eminem in the conversation. Kanye, more than being just a hip-hop artist, is just a great muscian. And a consistent one.
Eminem may continue to sell more records than Kanye (Eminems's "comeback" album, far outsold Kanye's My Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was far better reviewed. The best reviewed album of 2010, in fact) or any other rapper. That's because as the first (only) credible white superstar rapper, he's got an audience of fans who will never turn away from him. You could probably say it's the same thing for Elvis....there were many more talented black Rock n' Roll pioneers who faded commercially (like Chuck Berry or Little Richard), while the cult of Elvis refused to die, because he was one of the white superstars to dominate what was then percieved to be a mostly black/African-American genre.
It's the way of the world. Eminem himself has said that if he wasn't white, he wouldn't have sold half as much as he did. He knows why he's still able to sell like he is, despite not being particularly musically or artistically relevant in 2011. Black rappers will always have a less stable fanbase than him....the fact that someone like Jay-Z has stayed at the top of the game and selling albums as long as he has is incredible. He hasn't got that automatic, casual white fanbase that will keep Eminem afloat forever, regardless of the quality of his music..
It's hard to judge Eminem's status in the overall hip-hop pantheon. He hasn't got the most incredible flow (Snoop Dogg might win that contest....he might talk complete nonsense at times, but his flow is hypnotic. I think that's why he's stil in the game 20 years after his debut. Jay-Z has a better flow as well). He hasn't got the deepest lyrics (Nas, Rakim, Black Thought, Common etc), isn't the most creative or critically acclaimed of his generation (Kanye West).....so what critera exactly makes Eminem the "greatest hip-hop artist"?
Sales. The only area where Eminem crushes his opposition. And as I said, even Eminem knows he's only done that because he's white, and many of his white fans will never desert him. I don't think it's a good enough measure. He's talented, and he may outsell other hip-hop artists even when he's 60, but he'll never be considered the greatest, imho.
That's a few minutes of my life i won't get back after reading that crap..
That's a few minutes of my life i won't get back after reading that crap..
Truth hurts, brother. Truth hurts. Eminem is the Elvis of hip-hop. Take that as you will.
Don't take my word for it....Eminem says as much in his lyrics for "Without Me".
"No I'm not the first King of Controversy
I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley
To do black music so selfishly
And used it to get myself wealthy"
He's overrated, but Eminem is very self-aware. He knows exactly why he's such a huge artist. If he was black, he'd have been a barely talked about has-been years ago, especially with the severe decline of quality in his albums over the years.
Yeah, and from a overall "artist" perspective (meaning someone who pushes boundaries, is extraordinarily creative, never rests on his laurels etc), Eminen doesn't come close to Kanye West either. West isn't the best "rapper" or the best "lyricist", but I think his sheer level of boundary pushing and creativity puts him ahead of Eminem in the conversation. Kanye, more than being just a hip-hop artist, is just a great muscian. And a consistent one.
Eminem may continue to sell more records than Kanye (Eminems's "comeback" album, far outsold Kanye's My Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was far better reviewed. The best reviewed album of 2010, in fact) or any other rapper. That's because as the first (only) credible white superstar rapper, he's got an audience of fans who will never turn away from him. You could probably say it's the same thing for Elvis....there were many more talented black Rock n' Roll pioneers who faded commercially (like Chuck Berry or Little Richard), while the cult of Elvis refused to die, because he was one of the white superstars to dominate what was then percieved to be a mostly black/African-American genre.
It's the way of the world. Eminem himself has said that if he wasn't white, he wouldn't have sold half as much as he did. He knows why he's still able to sell like he is, despite not being particularly musically or artistically relevant in 2011. Black rappers will always have a less stable fanbase than him....the fact that someone like Jay-Z has stayed at the top of the game and selling albums as long as he has is incredible. He hasn't got that automatic, casual white fanbase that will keep Eminem afloat forever, regardless of the quality of his music..
It's hard to judge Eminem's status in the overall hip-hop pantheon. He hasn't got the most incredible flow (Snoop Dogg might win that contest....he might talk complete nonsense at times, but his flow is hypnotic. I think that's why he's stil in the game 20 years after his debut. Jay-Z has a better flow as well). He hasn't got the deepest lyrics (Nas, Rakim, Black Thought, Common etc), isn't the most creative or critically acclaimed of his generation (Kanye West).....so what critera exactly makes Eminem the "greatest hip-hop artist"?
Sales. The only area where Eminem crushes his opposition. And as I said, even Eminem knows he's only done that because he's white, and many of his white fans will never desert him. I don't think it's a good enough measure. He's talented, and he may outsell other hip-hop artists even when he's 60, but he'll never be considered the greatest, imho. But hey, at least he's better than Lil Wayne:D
Yeah man totally, I'm such a huge Kanye fan (have bought all his albums since CD) and I thought MBDTF was a masterpiece. What he doesn't have in lyricism he makes up for in immaculate production. In fact he is probably the most consistent producer in Hip Hop of the last 5-10 years tbh. Timbaland has been shite as of late, Premo drops a decent joint here or there now a days and RZA & Dre don't release very much. I don't think he will ever achieve real mainstream success again because of that Taylor swift thing. Though that said he sold about 650, 000 in America with no promo so he doesn't need to sell out to sell records. Unlike Eminem who had to resort to the 15 year old girl Facebook status brigade. The only track off it I rated was that bonus song Ridaz, the rest was generic. I mean come on this is the guy who used to ridicule pop.
The reason why Eminem is so successful is because like all big artists he was able to tap into something that other artists in the genre weren't able to do, because there was nobody like him. Put in the context of the late nineties, positioning himself as the school shooter type that put across psychotic confessionals came just at the right time when all media was heading towards reality television, obscenity like South Park and white boy angst in nu metal and rap music. But to say Eminem only sold tons of records because he's white is a red herring. You have to admit he is very talented and far and beyond above (for instance) Everlast, Vanilla Ice or ICP... the middle class white audience never related to ghetto issues and I think a lot of the black audience were getting bored of the same themes by the time he came along, especially after Biggie and Tupac's deaths. That's why whatever he was doing struck a chord with so many and why he has... Stans.
He's not entirely as talented or original as other artists in rap music but neither are many of the biggest sellers in any genre. Neither Elvis nor Madonna were as talented as their black predecessors, but they were more culturally and musically provocative as individuals.
The reason why Eminem is so successful is because like all big artists he was able to tap into something that other artists in the genre weren't able to do, because there was nobody like him. Put in the context of the late nineties, positioning himself as the school shooter type that put across psychotic confessionals came just at the right time when all media was heading towards reality television, obscenity like South Park and white boy angst in nu metal and rap music. But to say Eminem only sold tons of records because he's white is a red herring. You have to admit he is very talented and far and beyond above (for instance) Everlast, Vanilla Ice or ICP... the middle class white audience never related to ghetto issues and I think a lot of the black audience were getting bored of the same themes by the time he came along, especially after Biggie and Tupac's deaths. That's why whatever he was doing struck a chord with so many and why he has... Stans.
He's not entirely as talented or original as other artists in rap music but neither are many of the biggest sellers in any genre. Neither Elvis nor Madonna were as talented as their black predecessors, but they were more culturally and musically provocative as individuals.
Good post. You make a lot of salient points.
I don't think Eminem only sells tons because he's white. He's a very talented rapper, and did bring fresh perpectives and humor and trailer trash angst to his music, at least in the beginning. I think the initial excitement he generated when he first burst onto the scene was justified.
But the fact that he continues to sell by the trillion, I feel is mostly based on the fact that he's white. He's stale, he has nothing new to say, his albums keep getting worse...and yet he continues to keep outselling every other rapper in the game, easily. Hip-hop is a game where stale artists drop off the map, to be replaced by fresh blood (unless they are incredibly deep like Nas, or keep reinventing themselves like Jay-Z). Eminem was fresh and interesting once upon a time, but he's a pointless act now. The most interesting thing about his lasts Rhianna. By all rights he should be in vitural has-been territory with Ja Rule, Nelly and others who are well past their sell by date. Yet he's still the biggest selling hip hop artist around.
Eminem's cultural relevance ended about 7 years ago. I "get" how Madonna kept selling huge for so long.....she was the queen of reinventing herself, and making herself seem new every couple of years. Jay-Z keeps doing stuff to remain culturally relevant....conquering Glastobury in 2008 was a huge milestone for hip-hop. Eminem is not Madonna or Jay-Z....he just keeps selling, regardless. The likes of Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, B.O.B and others have come along and not done "ghetto/gangsta" rap....but white audiences will eventually tire of them in a way they will not for Eminem, because of his skin color.
Before Recovery came out last year Eminem had sold 83 million albums becoming Artist of The Decade. That doesn't even include all the sales from the singles he has released or even the 8 Mile soundtrack album or Re-Up compilation album or the album and singles sales from 1998/1999. Recovery sold 5.5 million albums in 2010 and over 500,000 copies of Love The Way You Lie featuring Rihanna. He has broken records on Facebook and Twitter and even Youtube view with his Not Afraid video.
13 years in the spotlight and his star has never faded although i bet if someone else was Artist of The Decade it would have been all over the news and newspapers. Eminem still stays in Detroit, nowhere near Los Angeles or Hollywood where many other celebs go to stay in the spotlight. He is barely seen out in public, lives 2 miles from his childhood neighbourhood and is the biggest selling artist from 2000-2010. That is a real star. There's nothing flashy about him. His feet are firmly on the ground and no one can compete with him, not even Lady Gaga.
Although i still laugh at this picture, Interscope Records' 2 biggest artists and he doesn't even acknowledge her. Then again Interscope has never really done anything for him, it was always Aftermath Records that got the benefit of having him under contract. Now take that picture i just showed you and you ask the average music fan who the Artist of The Decade is. Who sold 83 million albums in 10 years and is currently approaching 100 million albums sold NOT including his singles sales............who are they gonna pick? The small man with the modest clothing, never seen or heard about, or the big flamboyant artist with the fancy clothes whos face is never off the TV or out of the papers. Tell us........who sold more music? I bet most would pick Lady Gaga. She can't touch Eminem or his sales and neither can any other artist and when it comes to selling out and whoring yourself to Hollywood and the media he doesn't even come close. That's why he is a real star.
Before Recovery came out last year Eminem had sold 83 million albums becoming Artist of The Decade. That doesn't even include all the sales from the singles he has released or even the 8 Mile soundtrack album or Re-Up compilation album or the album and singles sales from 1998/1999. Recovery sold 5.5 million albums in 2010 and over 500,000 copies of Love The Way You Lie featuring Rihanna. He has broken records on Facebook and Twitter and even Youtube view with his Not Afraid video.
13 years in the spotlight and his star has never faded although i bet if someone else was Artist of The Decade it would have been all over the news and newspapers. Eminem still stays in Detroit, nowhere near Los Angeles or Hollywood where many other celebs go to stay in the spotlight. He is barely seen out in public, lives 2 miles from his childhood neighbourhood and is the biggest selling artist from 2000-2010. That is a real star. There's nothing flashy about him. His feet are firmly on the ground and no one can compete with him, not even Lady Gaga.
Although i still laugh at this picture, Interscope Records' 2 biggest artists and he doesn't even acknowledge her. Then again Interscope has never really done anything for him, it was always Aftermath Records that got the benefit of having him under contract. Now take that picture i just showed you and you ask the average music fan who the Artist of The Decade is. Who sold 83 million albums in 10 years and is currently approaching 100 million albums sold NOT including his singles sales............who are they gonna pick? The small man with the modest clothing, never seen or heard about, or the big flamboyant artist with the fancy clothes whos face is never off the TV or out of the papers. Tell us........who sold more music? I bet most would pick Lady Gaga. She can't touch Eminem or his sales and neither can any other artist and when it comes to selling out and whoring yourself to Hollywood and the media he doesn't even come close. That's why he is a real star.
Why would they think Gaga's sold more she has only released one proper album? If she had released as many as Eminem she would have easily outsold him she is already on the bestellers list of all time from one album and an EP.
Why would they think Gaga's sold more she has only released one proper album? If she had released as many as Eminem she would have easily outsold him she is already on the bestellers list of all time from one album and an EP.
Exactly. I really don't get some people's logic on here.
Before Recovery came out last year Eminem had sold 83 million albums becoming Artist of The Decade. That doesn't even include all the sales from the singles he has released or even the 8 Mile soundtrack album or Re-Up compilation album or the album and singles sales from 1998/1999. Recovery sold 5.5 million albums in 2010 and over 500,000 copies of Love The Way You Lie featuring Rihanna. He has broken records on Facebook and Twitter and even Youtube view with his Not Afraid video.
13 years in the spotlight and his star has never faded although i bet if someone else was Artist of The Decade it would have been all over the news and newspapers. Eminem still stays in Detroit, nowhere near Los Angeles or Hollywood where many other celebs go to stay in the spotlight. He is barely seen out in public, lives 2 miles from his childhood neighbourhood and is the biggest selling artist from 2000-2010. That is a real star. There's nothing flashy about him. His feet are firmly on the ground and no one can compete with him, not even Lady Gaga.
Although i still laugh at this picture, Interscope Records' 2 biggest artists and he doesn't even acknowledge her. Then again Interscope has never really done anything for him, it was always Aftermath Records that got the benefit of having him under contract. Now take that picture i just showed you and you ask the average music fan who the Artist of The Decade is. Who sold 83 million albums in 10 years and is currently approaching 100 million albums sold NOT including his singles sales............who are they gonna pick? The small man with the modest clothing, never seen or heard about, or the big flamboyant artist with the fancy clothes whos face is never off the TV or out of the papers. Tell us........who sold more music? I bet most would pick Lady Gaga. She can't touch Eminem or his sales and neither can any other artist and when it comes to selling out and whoring yourself to Hollywood and the media he doesn't even come close. That's why he is a real star.
You need to give Lady Gaga the 10+ years Eminem has had selling music, and then it would be fairer. But I do completely agree with your overall point.
I can't believe people are saying Eminem stays out of the spotlight and doesn't use publicity. His last album was completely based on publicity and commercialism whereas Kanye's album only just sold less than him in the States with literally no real promotion or performances from him. Eminem was over here on Jonathan Ross etc. Kanye didn't even do any American talk shows and he still sold just under 700,000 first week copies.
Eminem has always used publicity and controversy to further sales, to ignore that is just bullshit. He started loads of fights with people like GLAAD and Dolores Tucker early in his career. His videos are always provocative. He has had feuds with plenty of lesser musicians. He insults other celebrities in his songs and videos, especially Mooriah who has been a constant target. The Borat stunt is a recent example of PR in his favour.
To say Eminem is 'modest' is bollocks, he is a consummate attention seeker, IRL troll and ruthless businessman who knows what he is doing. The fact he isn't Gaga didn't stop him dressing up as Marilyn Manson, Robin and Britney Spears in his videos, nor did it stop him donning a hockey mask and waving a chainsaw around. Him and Gaga might have the opposite views on things like 'tolerance' but they are cut from the same attention seeking cloth.
Comments
The best golfer in the world is a black man and the best rapper in the world is a white man. And if people can't look and see that kind of talent and why they are at the top then they will never understand. No point in explaining it.
our differing opinions here, Eminem has gone on to make
one of the best comeback albums ever in Recovery. As i
said before i will say again, the best hip hop artist ever!
Recovery was pretty terrible from a Hip Hop perspective tbh. It was totally pop rap. Not the Eminem which led to him being viable for such a claim. Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers LP and Eminem Show were three gems but you can't stay living off them. From a lyricist point of view Nas and Jay-Z are probably the greatest hip hop artists (living) with honourable mentions for Ghostface, Tupac & Biggie obviously and Rakim.
Yeah, and from a overall "artist" perspective (meaning someone who pushes boundaries, is extraordinarily creative, never rests on his laurels etc), Eminen doesn't come close to Kanye West either. West isn't the best "rapper" or the best "lyricist", but I think his sheer level of boundary pushing and creativity puts him ahead of Eminem in the conversation. Kanye, more than being just a hip-hop artist, is just a great muscian. And a consistent one.
Eminem may continue to sell more records than Kanye (Eminems's "comeback" album, far outsold Kanye's My Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was far better reviewed. The best reviewed album of 2010, in fact) or any other rapper. That's because as the first (only) credible white superstar rapper, he's got an audience of fans who will never turn away from him. You could probably say it's the same thing for Elvis....there were many more talented black Rock n' Roll pioneers who faded commercially (like Chuck Berry or Little Richard), while the cult of Elvis refused to die, because he was one of the white superstars to dominate what was then percieved to be a mostly black/African-American genre.
It's the way of the world. Eminem himself has said that if he wasn't white, he wouldn't have sold half as much as he did. He knows why he's still able to sell like he is, despite not being particularly musically or artistically relevant in 2011. Black rappers will always have a less stable fanbase than him....the fact that someone like Jay-Z has stayed at the top of the game and selling albums as long as he has is incredible. He hasn't got that automatic, casual white fanbase that will keep Eminem afloat forever, regardless of the quality of his music..
It's hard to judge Eminem's status in the overall hip-hop pantheon. He hasn't got the most incredible flow (Snoop Dogg might win that contest....he might talk complete nonsense at times, but his flow is hypnotic. I think that's why he's stil in the game 20 years after his debut. Jay-Z has a better flow as well). He hasn't got the deepest lyrics (Nas, Rakim, Black Thought, Common etc), isn't the most creative or critically acclaimed of his generation (Kanye West).....so what critera exactly makes Eminem the "greatest hip-hop artist"?
Sales. The only area where Eminem crushes his opposition. And as I said, even Eminem knows he's only done that because he's white, and many of his white fans will never desert him. I don't think it's a good enough measure. He's talented, and he may outsell other hip-hop artists even when he's 60, but he'll never be considered the greatest, imho. But hey, at least he's better than Lil Wayne:D
That's a few minutes of my life i won't get back after reading that crap..
Truth hurts, brother. Truth hurts. Eminem is the Elvis of hip-hop. Take that as you will.
Don't take my word for it....Eminem says as much in his lyrics for "Without Me".
"No I'm not the first King of Controversy
I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley
To do black music so selfishly
And used it to get myself wealthy"
He's overrated, but Eminem is very self-aware. He knows exactly why he's such a huge artist. If he was black, he'd have been a barely talked about has-been years ago, especially with the severe decline of quality in his albums over the years.
Yeah man totally, I'm such a huge Kanye fan (have bought all his albums since CD) and I thought MBDTF was a masterpiece. What he doesn't have in lyricism he makes up for in immaculate production. In fact he is probably the most consistent producer in Hip Hop of the last 5-10 years tbh. Timbaland has been shite as of late, Premo drops a decent joint here or there now a days and RZA & Dre don't release very much. I don't think he will ever achieve real mainstream success again because of that Taylor swift thing. Though that said he sold about 650, 000 in America with no promo so he doesn't need to sell out to sell records. Unlike Eminem who had to resort to the 15 year old girl Facebook status brigade. The only track off it I rated was that bonus song Ridaz, the rest was generic. I mean come on this is the guy who used to ridicule pop.
He's not entirely as talented or original as other artists in rap music but neither are many of the biggest sellers in any genre. Neither Elvis nor Madonna were as talented as their black predecessors, but they were more culturally and musically provocative as individuals.
Good post. You make a lot of salient points.
I don't think Eminem only sells tons because he's white. He's a very talented rapper, and did bring fresh perpectives and humor and trailer trash angst to his music, at least in the beginning. I think the initial excitement he generated when he first burst onto the scene was justified.
But the fact that he continues to sell by the trillion, I feel is mostly based on the fact that he's white. He's stale, he has nothing new to say, his albums keep getting worse...and yet he continues to keep outselling every other rapper in the game, easily. Hip-hop is a game where stale artists drop off the map, to be replaced by fresh blood (unless they are incredibly deep like Nas, or keep reinventing themselves like Jay-Z). Eminem was fresh and interesting once upon a time, but he's a pointless act now. The most interesting thing about his lasts Rhianna. By all rights he should be in vitural has-been territory with Ja Rule, Nelly and others who are well past their sell by date. Yet he's still the biggest selling hip hop artist around.
Eminem's cultural relevance ended about 7 years ago. I "get" how Madonna kept selling huge for so long.....she was the queen of reinventing herself, and making herself seem new every couple of years. Jay-Z keeps doing stuff to remain culturally relevant....conquering Glastobury in 2008 was a huge milestone for hip-hop. Eminem is not Madonna or Jay-Z....he just keeps selling, regardless. The likes of Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, B.O.B and others have come along and not done "ghetto/gangsta" rap....but white audiences will eventually tire of them in a way they will not for Eminem, because of his skin color.
13 years in the spotlight and his star has never faded although i bet if someone else was Artist of The Decade it would have been all over the news and newspapers. Eminem still stays in Detroit, nowhere near Los Angeles or Hollywood where many other celebs go to stay in the spotlight. He is barely seen out in public, lives 2 miles from his childhood neighbourhood and is the biggest selling artist from 2000-2010. That is a real star. There's nothing flashy about him. His feet are firmly on the ground and no one can compete with him, not even Lady Gaga.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JRuJCoqBn4Q/TOkXjEEiLvI/AAAAAAAABas/mxNeNonxGQI/s1600/celebrity-pictures-lady-gaga-eminem-thinking-wtf.jpg
Although i still laugh at this picture, Interscope Records' 2 biggest artists and he doesn't even acknowledge her. Then again Interscope has never really done anything for him, it was always Aftermath Records that got the benefit of having him under contract. Now take that picture i just showed you and you ask the average music fan who the Artist of The Decade is. Who sold 83 million albums in 10 years and is currently approaching 100 million albums sold NOT including his singles sales............who are they gonna pick? The small man with the modest clothing, never seen or heard about, or the big flamboyant artist with the fancy clothes whos face is never off the TV or out of the papers. Tell us........who sold more music? I bet most would pick Lady Gaga. She can't touch Eminem or his sales and neither can any other artist and when it comes to selling out and whoring yourself to Hollywood and the media he doesn't even come close. That's why he is a real star.
Why would they think Gaga's sold more she has only released one proper album? If she had released as many as Eminem she would have easily outsold him she is already on the bestellers list of all time from one album and an EP.
Exactly. I really don't get some people's logic on here.
You need to give Lady Gaga the 10+ years Eminem has had selling music, and then it would be fairer. But I do completely agree with your overall point.
To say Eminem is 'modest' is bollocks, he is a consummate attention seeker, IRL troll and ruthless businessman who knows what he is doing. The fact he isn't Gaga didn't stop him dressing up as Marilyn Manson, Robin and Britney Spears in his videos, nor did it stop him donning a hockey mask and waving a chainsaw around. Him and Gaga might have the opposite views on things like 'tolerance' but they are cut from the same attention seeking cloth.