Eminem - The 'Anger Management' Tour Review

Guess whos back?

These three little words commenced Eminem's Anger Management Tour in Detroit (Eminem's hometown) dubbed over the intro portion of the song 'Square Dance'. The crowd begin to erupt as Eminem is seen riding an on-stage Ferris Wheel down to the stage he is about to perform on. The stage is set up like a carnival and appears to have taken its inspiration from 'The Eminem Show' to which a number of songs performed are accredited to.

The late Proof (a member of d12) takes to the stage in order to aide in performing a number of hit songs such as "Business" and "White America" with Em giving a mind blowing experience to the thousands of fans in the crowd. Through-out the songs, carnival type acts are going on in the background for e.g. Fire-twirlers; jugglers; sword eaters; midgits on rollerblades etc which I think personifies the full experience. Fireworks are also used at the end of selected songs for extra effect which further exemplifies the high production value of this concert, quite literally giving you more bang for your buck.

After dishing out other hit songs such as "Kill You" (the intensely vicious song about Eminem's ex-wife) and "When The Music Stops", D12 takes to the stage to contribute a few songs of their own. The five piece (Bizarre; Kon Artis; Proof; Kuniva and Swift) shred up the stage with three of their biggest hits (Pimp Like Me; Fight Music and Purple Pills). The crowd goes wild as they sing lyrics such as "I don't spit game, no longer than my name // then when my chain hang, my nuts do the same" with audience members hanging on their every word often singing along during the chrous. A number of hit songs follow further establishing Eminem's place within the subculture, (Stan; The Way I Am; Soldier; Cleanin' out my Closet; and Forgot About Dre) songs lyrically impressive which hold true to this day before more fireworks go off and a darkness surrounds the arena.

Eminem takes to the stage with Obie Trice to perform probably my least favourite song throughout the tour "Drips", a song about sexually transmitted diseases. After Drips he takes the time to thank his fans before a voice comes from down stage. He climbs down a firepole to a Dina Rae (a female singer) shouting "Please save me, Superman" which starts off another one of Eminem's hit singles "Superman". Which leads to an explosive performance with Dina Rae singing the chorus. As "Superman" ends "Drug Ballad" starts with Dina Rae still aiding in the chorus. For some reason the crowd gets real excited during this section of the concert. Acrobats are in the background during this song doing all songs of tricks. As the song finishes, Eminem still has the full attention of the audience, Proof revs the crowd up even more by praising Detroit before Eminem breaks into one of his older songs "Just Dont Give A F***" before getting the crowd to spark up glowsticks as they transistion into "Sing For The Moment". Which is one of my favourite parts of the show and further exemplifies Eminem's influence within the subculture.

A brief skit follows showing Moby someone to which Eminem has had beef with in the past getting shot by Obie Trice before breaking into "Without Me". During this set, fat women wearing skimpy clothes take the stage and dance - I felt a little sick watching the fat jiggle before my eyes but found the humour in it. Eminem says goodnight to the audience and all the lights go off.

The crowd roars before a man comes out on stage dressed as a carnival runner dressed in a suit aided by a purple hat and bow-tie. He gets the crowd revved up one again before Eminem comes out for an encore performance of "My Dad's Gone Crazy". The lights are going mental and so is the crowd. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this concert and I think the majority of songs were evidence of his pure talent and rapping abilities.

I would rate his performance in this show as 9/10. The show was taped just after his career peaked following The Marshall Mathers LP and just before it dropped on his album Encore. I think this concert will stand in time as one of the best performances he has given and I think his true fans will acknowledge that. The ambience was spectacular and displayed the cult following his songs and lyrics truly have. Eminem, I take my hat off to you.

Bloggystyle sits down with underground rapper 'Ill Slim'

Today I had the dubious pleasure of sitting down with a member of the Australian rapper Ill Slim. I pressed the hard questions to Adelaide rapper and got a further insight to the scene. I tried to upload the soundfiles but it didnt work so the transcript is as follows. Enjoy!

Bloggystyle: Ill Slim, its a pleasure.

Ill Slim: As always.

Bloggystyle: Would you care to share with Bloggystyle's readers your involvement in the OzHipHop community?

Ill Slim: Well... to succeed in this industry its all about getting the music downpack, getting a name for yourself; showing respect to the existing players in the scene and building up publicity.

Bloggystyle: What do you do apart from writing and recording?

Ill Slim: I try to involve myself personally in promotional events in the underground; I try to keep my fans content so they stick by me; I try to be seen with the big players in the high places to keep my profile out there. I also post regularly on an OzHipHop forums board to keep in scene, of which many people have high respect for me.

Bloggystyle: How long have you been rapping for?

Ill Slim: Ive been an OG since ive been fourteen years old. So for the past six years ive been living; eating and breathing this scene.

Bloggystyle: I believe you are the frontman behind the rap crew 'Genes', how is that going for you?

Ill Slim: In all rap groups there is always conflict between members as to who is more important within the crew. At this stage I am probably considered the frontman of the crew, I am certainly the most recognised and well known. We have all had our problems though, at the moment a member of ours has been sent to lockup. One of the dangers of being in the scene is easy access to illicit substances and sadly this sometimes leads to substance abuse and to cut a long story short he basicly got himself into a bit of trouble and their have been big repercussions because of that. Apart from that, sales are getting up there and we are paving the way to stardom.

Bloggerstyle: My sources have told me that the death of another OzHipHop rapper has impacted you greatly. I believe he was intially a member of Genes and his death led to you joining. How did he influence you in regard to your life and your rapping style?

Ill Slim: Well, this rapper who I will not name out of respect paved the way for me within the OzHipHop community in the sense that if he was in the picture I probably wouldnt be in the picture. Sure before Genes I was known for my raps, but I think my contribution in Genes is what established me as an artist.

Bloggystyle: Are you currently signed to a label?

Ill Slim: Currently, I am an independant artist which means at the moment I am really just trying to get my name out there. There has been some interest expressed from a few big names which I dont need to name. One may rhyme with pony, but nothing is definate yet.

Bloggystyle: I heard a sampler of Genes' upcoming 'The Storm' LP, what is your favourite song off this currently?

Ill Slim: It would have to be 'Honey In The Skank' which was a retaliation diss track against a certain un-named rapper. So me and the rest of the crew got together and dropped this lyrical bomb on this no name who tried to diss us and we pretty much humiliated him on the OzHipHop forums to which the song was leaked.

Bloggystyle: Im going to name drop here. I know the song was a retaliation track to Dee-enay's 'Money In The Bank' to which you focused your disses on his sister. What happened with Dee and who else have you had beef with?

Ill Slim: Well Dee-enay has been the main one, he ended up getting two of his friends to drop diss tracks on us aswell but I don't know if I'd count them as separate beefs. Basically he was having ago at the whole Genes' crew as well as one of our well known affiliates Joel Turner and not to mention Figgkidd aswell. It was our duty as figures in the industry, we can not take it. Otherwise we will be seen as Dee-enay's bitch and we can not have that for our image. Ever since we put it to him heavy, he has backed off and must of realised he is not going to win which was just another success for the Genes' crew.

Bloggystyle: How was collaborating with Joel Turner on the track 'David Nicholas Arnold'?

Ill Slim: Yeah Joel is a professional he knows his stuff; his beat-boxing is second to none and not only that he is a really cool guy. He has got standards and he would never sell out. Apart from that he was down to earth and a nice guy and it was just a good chance to collaborate with him.

Bloggystyle: How would you describe your style of rapping?

Ill Slim: I tend to steer clear of the 'violent' attitude some rappers have. We generally just rap about what life for us is and experiences that have influenced us in our travels. Some people arnt going to like it, thats always the way. But if you give the true fans what they want to hear, they will stay true. Adelaide aint Detroit or Compton, I can't relate to that.

Bloggystyle: On that note, we will leave you to your work. Thanks and the best of luck with the new album. For more news on Ill Slim and his affiliates hit up the Australian Hip Hop Forums at ozhiphop.com/forum

Akon "Konvicted" of lying about his troubled past?

Akon's reputation is in "trouble" when The Smoking Gun last month published an article accusing the hip hop / r&b artist of fabricating his criminal past (of which a majority of his songs relate to). The star who has collaborated with the likes of Eminem; Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent allegedly served a three-year jail sentence for Grand Theft Auto and also claims to have been big into dealing drugs to celebrities.

The article produced by The Smoking Gun produced information regarding these allegations were challenged by court records and detectives who dealt with Akon's case. The article states in correlation with the records and interviews that Akon has only ever been "konvicted" of a single felony to which he received three years probation for possessing a gun. The article goes on to further state that he did infact spend time in prison however it was for stealing a BMW and the charges were dropped shortly after - not the extensive track record he claimed to have had.

Akon recently in an interview with MTVnews didn't deny the claims and wrote it off as simply an attempt to belittle his reputation as an artist. He states that the accusations if anything helped him as an artist and refused to comment further about the matter leaving it an open topic for discussion.

His plans to release his next album 'Double Jeopardy' have been delayed until further notice.

Gangster Rap Made Me Do It

Ice Cube entered the year with a new album and a fresh new single entitled Gangster Rap Made Me Do It. The video (below) lashes out at claims that people who listen to violent music or gangster music will live a 'violent' or 'gangster' way of life.



Enjoy!

Eminem - The 'Anger Management' Tour


The following is a YouTube video of a 2002 show, Eminem and his entourage performed in Detroit, Michigan entitled the 'Anger Management' tour. I will be critiquing this and posting my review of it in days to come. This show was eventually cut short in Europe due to Eminem suffering from exhaustion and an addiction to sleeping pills.

Enjoy!