Gnawledge Records

Eminem Attack President
By Canyon Cody
Published in The Heights

What will Eminem do for his Encore? Some have speculated that he will vent some political anger on his upcoming fourth album, due Nov. 16. Will Eminem finally stop wasting his venom on easy targets like Britney and Benzino and instead channel his rage toward a more deserving enemy? Unfortunately, the album's horrible lead single ("Just Lose It") points to no such maturation and setting the release date for two weeks after the election rules out the possibility of having any real political consequences.

As a result, Eminem bypassed the lethargic and cautious record label to host a new DJ Green Lantern mixtape, Shade 45: Sirius Bizness, which also serves as an advertisement for Eminem's new channel on Sirius satellite radio. Eminem then enlisted underground emcee Immortal Technique to back up his big words with some actual socio-political knowledge.

Eminem "Mosh"
Until now, Eminem's strongest political words were, "Fuck Bush!" Earnest they may be, but ineffectual nonetheless. On this track, Eminem elaborates on his political views with more than two words: "No more blood for oil/ We got our own battles to fight on our own soil/ No more psychological warfare/ They trick us into thinking that we ain't loyal." Despite the Patriot Act, dissent is still truly patriotic.

Eminem got it right: "I'm like a skillet bubblin' until it filters up." Marshall Mathers might not be Howard Zinn, but he is an exaggerated barometer of suburban white America's adolescent angst, reflecting a festering anger among the uninformed and apathetic. On his last album, he stood with these kids, the ones with "so much anger aimed in no particular direction, just sprays and sprays," but after four years of the Bush administration, even Slim Shady understands that it is now time to direct our anger toward those who actually deserve it.

Immortal Technique "Bin Laden"
The difference between Immortal Technique and Eminem is that Tech read a book before he wrote his anti-Bush tirade. "Bin Laden," also on the Shade 45 mixtape, features Immortal Technique at his most politically vicious, blaming the government for the inner city crack epidemic and attacking Ronald Reagan for funding al-Qaida.

Technique compares George W. Bush to Osama Bin Laden, telling Americans that "Bin Laden was a CIA tactician/ They gave him billions of dollars and funded his purpose/ Fahrenheit 911, that's just scratchin' the surface." Tech explains the current insurgency in Iraq, not as evidence of fanatical loyalty to the old regime, but as the natural self-defense of a people from a foreign invasion. American ghettos would also defend themselves from invasion, Tech says, but it wouldn't reflect support for the Bush administration, but rather an instinct of self-preservation.