OCCUPIED COUNTRY

Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up

It wasn't that long ago - was it, when superstar white rapper Eminem was being accused of writing and singing shouting homophobic lyrics ? The natural assumption was that the gangsta-wannabe was indeed homophobic - along with the vast majority of the rest of rap-land. The accusations grew. Time passed. No denials from the hard man's "people" or from M & M .....eerrrr....Eminem himself.

Gay groups started picketing his performances. Prominent homosexuals started mouthing-off and, eventually, the whole thing gained a momentum that finally necessitated a response from the self-styled King of white-boy rap.

The response took the form of - frankly - mealy-mouthed references to irony, post-modernism and the fact that Enema Eminem was merely "acting a part". The whole thing culminated in a controversial duet with the fading *pop* star Sir Elton John.

Very little was said about the misogynistic nature of his lyrics at the time, until some Hip Hop magazine was handed a copy of something he recorded back in 1988. Immediately the "news management" machine steps in. Denials are made. "Youth and inexperience" are paraded as reasons (and excuses) for this lapse. We learn that *Em* had just been dumped by his black girlfriend and that's why he decided to sit down and write a song that, in the words of the BBC is "about his unhappy experience with a black girlfriend and warns about dating black women." Hmmmmmmm ?

What's the difference here ? Why does one accusation elicit a swift response whilst the other is allowed to languish ? Well the female in question is black and we can't have the World's foremost rapper accused of racism can we ? How would that look amongst his Gangsta mates ? Homophobia ? Hey that's fine. Misogyny ? That sells in rap-land. Looks good. Macho Motherfucka that's what you are Marshall. Macho Motherfucka.

Racism ?? Hell no ! That won't sell shit in this market. Get the media manipulation boys in quick.........no.........wait.........oh thank fuck for that ! Jacko's just knocked us off the front page.

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Well the "breaking news" at the moment is the fact that George and his pals have "hinted" that the British Guantanamo Bay detainees *may* be released for British trial. That's OK then. Just let the rest rot. At least Tony's off the hook.

Or is he ? What the Hell is our legal system going to charge them with ? Looking foreign and being in the wrong place at the wrong time ? Not believing in the same friend-who-lives-in-the-sky as George ? Being called Ali, Osama, Mohammed or Saddam ? To be honest, none of those charges would surprise me. I reckon they'll have a better chance of sticking than trumped up charges of terrorism anyday. Time will tell.

As if Capitalism wasn't suffering enough from the onslaught of fundamentalist Islamic movements, some of those "Good Ol' Boys" who live or die by their ability to trade currency on Wall Street have, allegedly, been following in the footsteps of their mates in Enron, J P Morgan, Merrill Lynch and the rest.

I'm not a fan of Jacko but.....well........he is going to keep this off the front pages for a few weeks at least isn't he ? Especially the News International rags. Makes you think don't it ?