May 5, 2015 During an interview with Vlad TV, Dr. Boyce Watkins offered praise to Eminem on his artistry, but also stated that the Detroit, Michigan rapper “is a little bit of a product of white privilege.” The author/political analyst shared his thoughts on Em after he was asked if Eminem is the king of Hip Hop. Dr. Watkins chuckled at the question before offering a stern “no.” He then went on to break down the reasons why he feels Eminem is in fact a product of white privilege. “I like Eminem though as a rapper,” Dr. Boyce Watkins said. “The first time I ever heard him back in the 90s, I thought he was a great artist. Eminem is as true of a lyricist as you’re gonna see. And he’s also great because he shows respect to those who came before him. So, he’s not Iggy Azalea or whatever. He’s a guy that I think at the core of his heart he’s not a wigger, but he’s not a white boy. He’s just who he is. And to me, I think that Eminem to some extent is a little bit of a product of white privilege for two reasons. “One, he does get a little bit of that Elvis effect,” he added. “You’re a white rapper. You’re as good as the black guy. People are gonna love you more because you’re white…The other thing about Eminem that I think is an artifact of white privilege is that Eminem gets something that a lot of black artists don’t get. He gets to be a pure and true artist. Eminem, if you listen to his music, he raps about everything that’s in his soul and in his spirit. There’s not sort of this very programmatic, predictable, continual music that comes from him. Where he’s always talking about the same thing…And so, what I see with a lot of artists who’ve become corporatized is just sort of the same old stuff. And it gets old after a while.” Dr. Watkins was later asked if Eminem selling 50 million more records than Jay Z would make the Motor City lyricist the king of Hip Hop. He explained that the king of Hip Hop would be decided by the Hip Hop purists and the Hip Hop community, and not through album sales. “Album sales should never define who the best artist is,” Dr. Watkins said. “There are some artists who are so extraordinary that they can sell one record and everybody would still consider them to be among the best…If you’re looking at it in terms of who the king of Hip Hop is, I think that would be decided more amongst the Hip Hop purists, the Hip Hop community.”
May 5, 2015 in other news.. MJ is the king of pop because of album sales... foreal if jay z had the most album sales i guarantee the whole argument would change.
May 5, 2015 This is what I don't get when people say 'Eminem is where he is because of white privilege'. if that's true why isn't Action Bronson doing Eminem numbers? Mac Miller?
May 5, 2015 Wtf is this guy on about? So because Eminem is white he gets to be a "pure artist". As opposed to what? If he was black, white or latino, what difference would that make?
May 5, 2015 Really don't see a problem with anything he said. It was probably harder for him when he was a nobody to get accepted into rap being white, but as soon as Dre signed him being white absolutely helped him become more popular than a similar black artist.
May 5, 2015 Apparently he was quite popular locally with slim shady ep when dre wasn't in the picture.
May 5, 2015 it was, Em basicly said the same thing in White America when I was underground, no one gave a f--- I was white, no labels wanted to sign me, almost gave up, I was Like, f--- it, until I met Dre, the only one to look past, gave me a chance, and I lit a fire up Under his a---, helped him get back to the top, every fan black that I got, was probably his in Exchange for every white fan that he's got, like d---, we just swapped, sittin' back lookin' at s---, wow, I'm like my skin is it starting to work to my benefit now
