[Freaky Trigger] - Focus Group Ballot now up!

Er, no.

I've seen three songs I will give 10 to. And, it'll be fun disagreeing with everyone about Basement Jaxx again!

Oh, and "Freak Like Me" will win.

also you never listen to words

also nor do i usually, but in em's case i am proud and delighted to make an exception

I think he thinks he's a lot cleverer than he thinks he is -- mind you, the same could be said about me. ;-)

also you never listen to words

Two years back, much of the rhetoric surrounding him (not here, I should note, or at least I don't recall it being a particular talking point) in his defense tended to revolve around his alleged talents with words, so it was one of those issues that got a little more foregrounded with me than it would with most musicians. I didn't buy that argument then and I don't buy it now.

Not all the time, though, Jordan. It would be more accurate to say that both got talked about, though not necessarily in equal measure.

Someone please explain the Eminem greatness tag. OK, I don't like him, that's by the by, but I can't see how anyone can claim that he has some sort of valid claim to greatness with either a flow or lyrics. His flow... it's weak. Maybe I look for different things in hip hop, maybe I listen to too much hip hop, or maybe I'm a pussy who likes Jurassic 5 and Black Eyed Peas, I dunno. He just sounds permanently like they guy next to you at the urinal. Except camper.

And as for lyrical genius... meh. "My thoughts are deeper than a jeeper with four guys in". Yeah, cheers Em. Nice original metaphor there.

And I meant association football, not shoulder pad football.

I'm going to go off and fall asleep in front of Premiership Parliament.

(i mean: since choosing how much he's onto his own game is up to us, somewhat, why not choose the version of the situation that makes things hard and therefore interesting for us, instead of HURRAH WE ARE SMART AND HUMANE THROWING ROCKS AT THE BOGEYMAN?)

(universal you, etc. blah blah fucking blah)

I'd also like to think Eminem has SOME say in his backing tracks - I doubt many artists are purely the creation of their producer, even the most fabricated ones.

*e.g. the line "I am whatever you say I am" considered as the great Postmodernist statement of the non-existence of any privileged discourses, simultaneously evoking Jesus and Popeye in an attempt to break down the lines between truth and fiction, religion and pop iconography, high and low culture. You could write a thesis on that one line!

Give it twenty years. It's usually how long it takes.

I don't know about that. I mean, he's not the dumbest person in the pop charts right now ('NSync has some extraordinary mental midgets; ever listen to Lance give an interview?) and I do give him props when he writes something good ("Guilty Conscience", "Stan", "The Way I Am", "Without Me"), but that doesn't mean he has any sense.

Yeah, it's like a Wierd Al Yankovich spoof song. [Only funnier obv.]
Saying that, I do quite like it, though some of the rhymes are awful: "They all want to discuss me / that must mean I'm dis-gust- ing". Dear me.

Anyhow, one of my big problems with Eminem's so called controversialness is the fact that he takes on gays and women and certain minorities with such vigor, with the excuse that it's all just fun and games, but very conciously avoids any attacks on blacks or other rappers. If his game is everyone is a target, why is he so very careful on that one? I mean, the answer is obvious, but it makes it well harder to buy his "This isn't me, it's the way it is" schtick.

I absolutely disagree and I don't care what the rest of the world says. Common sense damn well should be factored into an assessment of a person's intelligence.

I do agree that his "controversial" stances, regardless of whether they're his actual opinions or not, are so mixed and contradictory that they come across as cynical marketing ploys divested of any sense of personal responsibilty. I'm in a rather odd position where I respect a good portion of Eminem's music in how it's constructed and in some of the ways that particular sentiments are expressed, but I have absolutely no respect for Em himself. Actually, I kind of think he's a punk who got lucky.

Incidentally, I'm not sure how much of Em's troubles are due to "no common sense" versus "fucked up person"...

Might I remind everyone I can't stand Eminem by and large? Why am I defending him against people who used to defend him to me? :)

Alternatively, is there a place one can easily download all the songs from? (NB - not audiogalaxy type places)

To my knowledge there isn't a specific download place. Just answer for the songs you know - blanks dont affect the averages. Only missing 9 is fairly good going I think.