In Carrie Copeland’s eyes, the recent Grammy nominations of acclaimed and controversial rap artist Eminem presents the wrong side of society.
“It’s a sad day in society when we honor such bigotry with an award instead of regarding it as a hate speech, which it is,” the interdisciplinary humanities senior said of the Detroit native’s lyrics.
It seems many nationwide agree.
The Recording Academy, which hands out the nation’s most prestigious music awards, has logged thousands of e-mails and phone calls from people angry about the four nominations for Eminem, who in his music has referred to “fags,” fantasized about raping his mother and talked of killing his wife.
Michael Greene, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, said he knew the nominations may cause conflicts.
“We’re going to catch a lot of flak for this, there’s no question,” he said Monday. “But you’ve really got to view this in the context of art being a pretty extreme medium sometimes.
“We’re viewing this recording as something that’s important, but something that we certainly don’t condone: The themes that run through it.”
“The Marshall Mathers LP” sold 7.9 million copies nationwide, and has received praise from critics. He’s nominated for four Grammys, including the Album of the Year. Green said his organization is recognizing the artistry of the music, not the artist himself.
But Copeland says he shouldn’t be recognized.
“Someone who is as popular as Eminem has a responsibility to his listeners because his view is being spread pretty far,” she said.
Eminem won two of the three awards he was nominated for in the 1999 awards ceremony. But many groups now won’t condone the 2001 Grammys.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation issued a statement saying, Eminem’s music is inseparable from its content, which members say advocates “violence against lesbians and gay men” and sends “explicit messages that endorse hatred.”
Meanwhile, MTV has chosen to air 17 commercial-free hours of celebrities reading accounts of hundreds of hate crime incidents from throughout the nation.
The marathon follows MTV’s original movie “Anatomy of a Hate Crime,” the story of the vicious murder of 21-year-old gay college student Matthew Shepard, which airs at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. The movie kicks off MTV’s year-long “Fight For Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Discrimination” campaign. MTV, which has been criticized for airing Eminem’s videos and others with similar messages, will continue to play videos by artists like Eminem.
MTV declined to comment on whether its 17-hour-long, commercial-free stance against hate crimes is related to Eminem’s Grammy nominations.
Meanwhile, some MSU students say that although they may not agree with the rapper’s lyrics, he should not be excluded from critic praise.
Kinesiology sophomore Emily Teneyck said she agrees with the decision to allow him to be honored.
“He should still get the nominations because I really don’t think his lyrics have affect on peoples actions, which is usually what their concern is,” she said.
Artists such as Sheryl Crow and R&B singer Toni Braxton presented at the announcement of the Grammy nominations Wednesday and have said they support the decision to nominate Eminem.
Both agreed that, regardless of the content, it’s a great sounding album. The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards will be held Feb. 21 in Los Angeles.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Dan Julian can be reached at julianda@msu.edu
