Holy fuck that made me Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there.
I am the voice of all white people everywhere from the bottom of the Marianas Trench to the top of K2. I speak for the vaulting racial spirit of whites and near whites across the span of time and space and various dimensions.
All sentient creatures everywhere should love Eminem for rhyming"Slim Shady" and “Imitating”.
Please keep in mind that this thread is from nearly 9 1/2 years ago. Opinions early in the thread may have changed quite a bit.
I’d like to applaud the people who just answered the frickin’ question without dissecting it, criticizing it, or taking some sort of umbrage to it. 
I’ll answer it although I’m probably outside the target demographic of the OP.
I was adopted (and appear Caucasian), yet went through a period of about 7 years in the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s where rap was my favorite genre of music. My interest in it had faded by the time Eminem hit the scene. I was never a fan of Dre’s solo efforts and initially viewed Eminem as a bit of a sideshow freak (worth taking a minute to consider, but ultimately laughable). I later learned to appreciate a small percentage of his tracks, as well as his rhyming talent on a general level. His voice has always grated on my nerves to a certain extent; I have a hard time getting past that with all the music I hear.
Eminem has rejected white culture for black, so our opinion doesn’t matter. Just as black people’s opinions about Neil deGrasse Tyson don’t matter.
Speaking of, what DO white people think of Neil? I think he killed Pluto because it was a front runner for the Black Planet we fear is out there. A brave move and I praise him for giving me peace of mind at night.
Everyone is being so politically correct here. This is what I think as a fairly experienced rap listener (white guy).
Eminem is hardly a groundbreaker. He is more of an exception than anything. He is routinely ranked as one of the greatest rappers of all time and a respected rap magazine ranked him #1 all time a few years ago, though I disagree. I would rank him top 10-15 which is incredibly high.
His lyrical peak circa 1998-2004 was unbelievable. The way he intertwined humor, wordplay, controversial lines for the pure purpose of pissing people off, storytelling, and ability to get the audience to emphasize with him was world class.
He is well known for out-rapping Jay-Z on the track “Renegade” which is on The Blueprint, possibly Jay-Z’s best album. His verse on the updated version of “Dead Wrong” is considered almost as good as Biggie’s, though I disagree. There are many other examples.
Here is a video of Eminem having a cypher with Black Thought of The Roots (one of the best) and Mos Def (also one of the best): BET Awards 2009 Re Cap Eminem and more - YouTube
I’d say he holds his own. The fact that Jay-Z’s recent Yankee Stadium concert was headlined with Eminem tells you something about people’s opinions of him. Jay-Z does not waste his time with people who are not talented. It took Kanye a long time before Jay-Z accepted him as an equal.
As to some questions from earlier: Black people’s respect in rap is very important for a rapper, even if he is white. “Street cred” is as important as the music. Rap is a genre that despite what all the sissies like to say, is about showing “how big your dick is”. If you are not respected, nobody will take what you are saying seriously. Rick Ross has an amazing rapping voice, but lost a large percentage of fans when they learned he used to be a prison guard. Personally, I don’t care. But that is how it is, people like to maintain their fantasies.
But Eminem was the real deal. I think he’s lost a lot of his talent due to age, loss of ambition (I think he stopped caring when he realized everybody finally accepted him), and drug use. Sure he got a lot of attention because he was white and controversial, but he was enormously talented as well.
I think a good comparison to Eminem is Dennis Rodman. Extremely famous when he played for his crazy personality and hijinks. People might think that he was overrated for that, but they don’t realize he was one of the greatest rebounders of all time and won 5 championships on two teams. He’s an obvious hall of famer. So is Eminem.
Ha!
My husband can’t stand Neil deGrasse Tyson. I don’t really know why he hates him so; I think it’s a bit of an irrational thing. I don’t mind him, but I am pretty angry at the guy for killing off Pluto. That was just uncalled for.
I had to laugh: guy was on Bill Maher recently, and his tie featured the Saturn V rocket. Cracked me right up. My sister-in-law recently referred to Neil on that episode as “the guy with the phallic tie.” Cracked me up again.
I’d like a cite from the minutes of the last Black Person meeting.
Nevermind, bad joke…
Neil DeGrasse Tyson is hero in my househould. My husband and daughter both are mad at him still, about Pluto.
This brown (and tragically unhip) person endorses Nzinga’s view: he’s pretty good, but he’s also horrifically overrated.
ETA: Eminem, that is. Not Neil DeGrasse Tyson. In a perfect world, that guy would be all over TV shilling Allstate insurance and Cadillacs.