Eminem angers fans with new single

Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, has thrived off controversy in his career. It has done nothing but push his sales and fame higher than before. Now, Eminem faces another controversy, this time about his song “Unaccommodating” in his new surprise album “Music To Be Murdered By.” Here, he delivers the lyrics, “I’m contemplating yelling ‘bombs away’ on the game / like I’m outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting.”

On May 22, 2017, there was a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena in the U.K. following an Ariana Grande concert. Twenty-three people died and over 130 people were injured, most of whom were children. It was the deadliest attack in the U.K. since the London bombings in 2005.

Most are calling these lyrics “disrespectful,” as they make fun of the bombings and by extension those affected by them, either survivors or victims. Many took their disdain to Twitter, tweeting their discomfort and disgust. A majority asked that no attention be paid to the album or Eminem because of the controversial lyrics, which of course did the exact opposite. The Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, also declared the lyrics to be offensive: “unnecessarily hurtful and deeply disrespectful.”

Many more Eminem fans are calling out the rapper for having been controversial for many years, defending him from what they deem unnecessary hate. Ariana Grande herself once defended Pete Davidson for making a joke about the same incident in 2018. After the actual bombing, Eminem raised nearly $2 million in support of those affected.

Eminem himself responded to the controversy: “This album was not made for the squeamish. If you are easily offended or unnerved at the screams of bloody murder, this may not be the collection for you.” He goes on to say that some selections were designed to cause positive action. “Darkness,” one of his new songs, tells the story of the Las Vegas shooting through the shooter’s point of view, while attempting to get the listener to campaign for gun control. Eminem also encourages the listener to register to vote at one point in the album.

Even though it seemed that this controversy was all over the internet for a few days, it quickly died as the news cycle continued. There aren’t many new posts about the controversy with any new information or opinions more than a week after the album dropped.

In the context of the song, the controversial lyrics seem to relay that Eminem believes his way of rapping is so different than how other rappers create their music. It breaks the mold.

Eminem doesn’t play by the rules, rather he has his own method of creating music and in such a way that it changes the industry. Many popular rappers have frequently stated Eminem is one of, if not the best, rappers. Curtis Jackson, 50 Cent, said, “Hip-hop is black music, without question, and unfortunately for some people it’s tough to accept that you got a white artist that does it better than black artists."

Only time will tell if we’ve heard the last of Eminem controversy.

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