Rapping About Rap

I found the article on Eminem very disappointing (“Has He No Shame?,” by Robert Hilburn, May 14). Like a grumpy parent upset with the noise coming from a child’s room, this writer skated on the surface, focusing on people’s reactions to Eminem’s music and giving the authoritative word in the story to Eminem’s manager.

What he should have done is listen closely to Eminem. His music is smart, challenging our race-bound culture to face the crucial issue of class. One of the songs referenced in the article, in which Eminem’s alter ego, Slim Shady, murders his girlfriend in front of his daughter, has the taut power of a David Mamet play. It is an unsparing examination of masculinity, not an expression of it.

Glossy pop like Britney Spears may not offend, but it is exactly that which should worry parents, with its sexualization of children for profit. Eminem is a provocateur, but he is one with humor, wit, talent and a message. You should actually listen to it.

ANNIE WEISMAN

Los Angeles

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Thank you Calendar for yet another cover story on a Gen-X skank who dumbs down culture and conveys nothing but violent and offensive imagery and words. Musical acts such as Eminem prove that artistic expression has truly reached its nadir.

JEFF SOFTLEY

Los Angeles

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While I do not know the demographics of your readership, I would guess that as few as half of 1% have the slightest interest in “rap music,” a classic oxymoron. The so-called music is the incessant drum beat accompanied by a juvenile rhyme delivered in an arrogant, “Man, am I clever” style. Often misogynistic and violent, rap is trash under the guise of art, and encouraged by devoting serious criticism to the genre.

MARVIN HAAS

Banning

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Eminem is the best white rapper around. Like Dr. Dre said, that cat is tight.

ADRIENE BENNETT

Hawthorne

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The title of your article “Has He No Shame?” makes me wonder: For giving so much undeserved attention to this loathsome phenomenon, could the same question be directed at the Los Angeles Times?

AL RAMRUS

Pacific Palisades

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I’m so glad Bob Hilburn explained to us why we shouldn’t call Eminem the Elvis Presley of rap. Let’s see . . . self-described white trash who raps about mindless violence, misogyny, murder, child abuse--one who proclaims “anything is possible as long as you don’t back down” and then makes whatever lyrical changes are required to conform to retailers’ guidelines of acceptability.

Gentlemen, please.

MORT WENAM

Studio City

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There were a few pieces of information that were excluded from Hilburn’s article. First, Eminem was supported and basically raised by Marky & Jeff Bass, founders of WEB Entertainment. They continue to have Eminem signed to WEB Entertainment. Not only that, but FBT Productions, also owned by them, produced 85% of the first album and various tracks on the new album. I feel they were represented poorly in the article, for they are a huge part of the reason Eminem is who he is today.

Second, Eminem was not solely discovered by Dean Geistlinger. While working for Interscope Records, we both attended the 1997 Rap Olympics, received a demo from Eminem--the demo that was eventually passed on to Jimmy Iovine, co-founder of Interscope--and the rest is all she wrote. I have since left Interscope, although I am still an A&R; consultant to Tom Whalley, who is the label’s president.

EVAN K. BOGART

BAT Management

Beverly Hills