Eminem Cultural Memoir

When I started out Rapping I had a really tough time. In a community dominated by Blacks, gaining authenticity and being recognised by other rappers as well as by my audience was a real challenge. In this community, artists have to stand by what you represents and who you are. Self expression and individuality is key to be recognised and have an impact on the community and my audience. I was far from all of this, and even today, my authenticity is still often questioned. When I started out rapping, over 75% of my work was sold to white people. Of course they questioned my place in the predominantly African American community, where most rappers sell all of their works to other African American people. 

Even though at the start I was often not accepted, this soon changed as the hip-hop community and other artists realised that I was not the typical white rapper. My lyrics was different, my stories were different. I was brought up in a low class, poverty stricken white household with only my mother, who used to be a welfare recipient. I never knew my Father. Due to the hardship and violence that i had to go through when I was smaller, I was acknowledged more by the hip-hop community. They seemed to understand what I went through. I used to use my songs to express my socio-economic status to my audience. Even though my hardship, which I faced in the early years in my life, brought me closer to being accepted by the community and having an impact, I was still not fully integrated into the community. 

This however changed when I teamed up with Dr. Dre, who himself is a established and recognised rapper in the community. By having him by my side, on the same team, I finally made an impact on the hip-hop community. People started to listen and liked what I had to say. Dr. Dre had a big impact on my life. Due to him already being a prime figure in the field, I had it easier. With now people actually wanting to listen to what I had to rap about, they liked my music more. They understood my hardship, they acknowledged me as one of them. Once i was fully accepted into this community, my impact on both the community and audience grew larger daily. In incorporated more violence into my songs, as this seemed to be the topic most people in the community wanted to hear about the most. Due to the increased attention towards me from the community, the press and media also started to want to have interviews with me, which again boosted my impact on the community as most of them were broadcasted on TV or Radio, which many people have access to. I believe that marketing myself in the correct way had the biggest impact as I became more well known and thus have had a greater impact on the Hip-Hop community, as well as on my audience.