BUN B (UGK): “When did he realize he was wrong for saying that? When he got caught? It’s no way that song should have been still out there like that. Nobody should have gotten a copy of that. If he didn’t want nobody to hear it, he should have never put it on record, he had 10 years to find that tape.”
KILLER MIKE : “This is a Black and Latino culture and art form. If you’re not sensitive to that, then your card is
gonna be pulled. I haven’t heard the song, but I’m not in favor of White men bashing Black women. I don’t think people are gonna tolerate that.”
PETEY PABLO: “It’s a shocking situation ’cause he’s always been a great MC to me and for this to be the case, he’s like Elvis. I don’t think you can really apologize for that because if you call me a Nigger, then to me, that’s always on your mind and that’s what you think about us and that’s the way you look at me.”
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson (university of Pennsylvania): “Eminem certainly needs to apologize—not just offer the excuse of his youth to deny the racist beliefs that abound. Even if he was just ‘blowing off steam’ as an angry kid, why resort to racist lyrics to denigrate his former girlfriend? His explanation fails to acknowledge the hurtful beliefs that have prevailed for centuries, beliefs that he appropriated and circulated through his lyrics. Further, he has refused to admit that such poisonous beliefs are a threat to the very music he loves, and also to the people who have been responsible for creating the culture he has benefited from, making him wealthy by his own admission.”
MALIK SHABAZZ (NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY): “There’s clearly two standards for Black and White celebrity figures when it comes to acts they have done or allegedly committed. … You have Michael Jackson allegedly molesting children and he’s being attacked with the full force of every media in the country. … You have Kobe Bryant in the same situation, but with Eminem—who is on tape making racist comments that reveal what he feels about Black people—everything is being suppressed…. He can’t be allowed to get away with a mere retraction when the evidence on him is already in.… His Black fans should remember this and it should reflect in his future record sales.”
IRV GOTTI: “I’m a person who loves Black women. I been around Black women all my life, so I’m a defender of them. What bothers me more than the actual tape is his comment that he was dating an African American woman at the time. His words are far worse than the tape. If he would have said, ‘I was freestyling, I needed something to rhyme with lack itch, I didn’t know what I was doing,’ that’s still not an excuse, but that would have been better. Knowing this is what you think of Black women—that they *****es, sluts, hos—I ain’t never gonna ride with that.”
ESHAM: “8 Mile was full of so much garbage that it was crazy. … He’s just a racist and the whole movie has racist overtones. It was fictitious and, once again, he was just using the culture and twisting it up in his own little sick way for the masses.”
LAZY LAZE (M.O.P): “White America has that same programmed disdain and lack of respect for Black people, and like a battered wife, we are just supposed to excuse it. We have to stand up for ourselves and hold people accountable for their actions, whether it’s Eminem, Bush or the Boston Red Sox—they wouldn’t sign a Black free agent till 1992!”
CRAZY LEGS (ROCK STEADY CREW): “I feel there is a huge double standard when it come to mainstream media holding people not of color accountable for their actions. If this had been someone of color, careers would have been lost by now. What Eminem has done is something that has to be taken seriously. At the same time, I feel that as a person of color, I would like to see our own people stop treating things like what he said as something that only we can do and not check each other when we do it.”
NIKKI GIOVANNI: “I’m not a fan of Eminem and it was a profound disappointment. He had to know that this was not acceptable and what he didn’t expect is that somebody would say something to him. Eminem and the White boys who want to do rap have to grow up. You are just not allowed to be a bigot. … It’s like [Eminem] floated a balloon politically, and he wanted to see who’s gonna shoot it down. Now they’re putting a spin on it like, ‘I’m sorry.’ Somehow, young, White people seem to think they can do anything and then say ‘I’m sorry.’ But that doesn’t get it. It just doesn’t get it.”
JIMMY HENCHMAN: “It would be a travesty if Eminem did not apologize to our community [of women]. As Americans, we’re entitled to The Source.… As Americans, we’re entitled to free speech by the first amendment.”
SUGE KNIGHT (CEO, DEATH ROW RECORDS) “First off, I am definitely supporting The Source on this, because they have been representing for Hip-Hop since day one. I not only fault Eminem but the people around him, who knew about this all along—including Dr. Dre. I don’t support anyone who [says they are] down with Hip-Hop and is trying to defend this racist muthafu**a. I’ve watched beefs go on in Hip-Hop where guys are ready to go to war with each other and hold grudges for years, but this is way worse and some people are ready to dismiss it. My mother is Black, my sister and my two daughters, so when he talks about Black women, there is no forgiving him.”
KILLER MIKE : “This is a Black and Latino culture and art form. If you’re not sensitive to that, then your card is
gonna be pulled. I haven’t heard the song, but I’m not in favor of White men bashing Black women. I don’t think people are gonna tolerate that.”
PETEY PABLO: “It’s a shocking situation ’cause he’s always been a great MC to me and for this to be the case, he’s like Elvis. I don’t think you can really apologize for that because if you call me a Nigger, then to me, that’s always on your mind and that’s what you think about us and that’s the way you look at me.”
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson (university of Pennsylvania): “Eminem certainly needs to apologize—not just offer the excuse of his youth to deny the racist beliefs that abound. Even if he was just ‘blowing off steam’ as an angry kid, why resort to racist lyrics to denigrate his former girlfriend? His explanation fails to acknowledge the hurtful beliefs that have prevailed for centuries, beliefs that he appropriated and circulated through his lyrics. Further, he has refused to admit that such poisonous beliefs are a threat to the very music he loves, and also to the people who have been responsible for creating the culture he has benefited from, making him wealthy by his own admission.”
MALIK SHABAZZ (NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY): “There’s clearly two standards for Black and White celebrity figures when it comes to acts they have done or allegedly committed. … You have Michael Jackson allegedly molesting children and he’s being attacked with the full force of every media in the country. … You have Kobe Bryant in the same situation, but with Eminem—who is on tape making racist comments that reveal what he feels about Black people—everything is being suppressed…. He can’t be allowed to get away with a mere retraction when the evidence on him is already in.… His Black fans should remember this and it should reflect in his future record sales.”
IRV GOTTI: “I’m a person who loves Black women. I been around Black women all my life, so I’m a defender of them. What bothers me more than the actual tape is his comment that he was dating an African American woman at the time. His words are far worse than the tape. If he would have said, ‘I was freestyling, I needed something to rhyme with lack itch, I didn’t know what I was doing,’ that’s still not an excuse, but that would have been better. Knowing this is what you think of Black women—that they *****es, sluts, hos—I ain’t never gonna ride with that.”
ESHAM: “8 Mile was full of so much garbage that it was crazy. … He’s just a racist and the whole movie has racist overtones. It was fictitious and, once again, he was just using the culture and twisting it up in his own little sick way for the masses.”
LAZY LAZE (M.O.P): “White America has that same programmed disdain and lack of respect for Black people, and like a battered wife, we are just supposed to excuse it. We have to stand up for ourselves and hold people accountable for their actions, whether it’s Eminem, Bush or the Boston Red Sox—they wouldn’t sign a Black free agent till 1992!”
CRAZY LEGS (ROCK STEADY CREW): “I feel there is a huge double standard when it come to mainstream media holding people not of color accountable for their actions. If this had been someone of color, careers would have been lost by now. What Eminem has done is something that has to be taken seriously. At the same time, I feel that as a person of color, I would like to see our own people stop treating things like what he said as something that only we can do and not check each other when we do it.”
NIKKI GIOVANNI: “I’m not a fan of Eminem and it was a profound disappointment. He had to know that this was not acceptable and what he didn’t expect is that somebody would say something to him. Eminem and the White boys who want to do rap have to grow up. You are just not allowed to be a bigot. … It’s like [Eminem] floated a balloon politically, and he wanted to see who’s gonna shoot it down. Now they’re putting a spin on it like, ‘I’m sorry.’ Somehow, young, White people seem to think they can do anything and then say ‘I’m sorry.’ But that doesn’t get it. It just doesn’t get it.”
JIMMY HENCHMAN: “It would be a travesty if Eminem did not apologize to our community [of women]. As Americans, we’re entitled to The Source.… As Americans, we’re entitled to free speech by the first amendment.”
SUGE KNIGHT (CEO, DEATH ROW RECORDS) “First off, I am definitely supporting The Source on this, because they have been representing for Hip-Hop since day one. I not only fault Eminem but the people around him, who knew about this all along—including Dr. Dre. I don’t support anyone who [says they are] down with Hip-Hop and is trying to defend this racist muthafu**a. I’ve watched beefs go on in Hip-Hop where guys are ready to go to war with each other and hold grudges for years, but this is way worse and some people are ready to dismiss it. My mother is Black, my sister and my two daughters, so when he talks about Black women, there is no forgiving him.”
