Singing For Satan---Part 4

This week I continue my once-per-month series of posts regarding an informal study I undertook in the early 1990s regarding rock and pop music. The purpose of my study (and the background to it) can be read in the first installment of August 7, 2017. If you have not read that post, I strongly encourage you to do so before reading this installment. I will only repeat here the seven (7) evil elements that pervade today's music:

1. Violence/Murder/Suicide
2. Nihilism/Despair
3. Drug and alcohol glorification
4. Adultery/ Fornication and sexual perversion
5. The occult
6. Rebellion against lawful superiors
7. Blasphemy against God, Jesus Christ in particular, and the Church

 The exposing of the bands/artists continues.

Eminem

 Without question, the undisputed king of rap/hip-hop is Eminem (b. Marshall Mathers III in 1972). From his humble start in music during the mid-1990s, Eminem became the best selling artist of 2000-2010, having sold an incredible 47.4 million albums in the United States alone, and he is listed as #83 in Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time." He was born to a dysfunctional family. His father left home when he was young, and his mother Debbie (whom Eminem despises), raised him. Eminem spent most of his youth growing up in a very poor, predominantly African-American community in Detroit, referred to by some as "8 Mile" because of 8 Mile Road that separates the poor from the rich. 8 Mile would become the title of his box office smash movie in 2002, basically telling his story. He derives his stage name from his initials, "M and M." Recently, Eminem made headlines when he denigrated U.S. President Donald Trump at the BET Hip-Hop Awards with a profanity filled rant he called "The Storm." 

I took an interest in Eminem when he started and followed his career. He is one of the most vile, obscene, anti-Christ artists in the world. He embodies all seven of the evil elements in today's music. He is friends---and collaborated with---open Satan worshipper Marilyn Manson. WARNING! The lyrics of this artist are extremely vile and disturbing. I've censored them as much as possible.

Channeling A Demon

 His first album in 1996, Infinite, didn't do too well, and some suggested that since he was Caucasian, he should try rock and roll music and not attempt to make it in the overwhelmingly African-American hip-hop genre. His burst into fame came after he created an "alter-ego" he named "Slim Shady." In Spin magazine's cover story ("The Devil and Mr. Mathers..."), the rapper admits that he encountered an "entity" in his bathroom mirror which identified itself as Slim Shady. When Slim Shady started writing his lyrics, he became a superstar. In his song My Darling, he raps about his encounter:

And the dark shall emerge from the fiery depths of hell
Then swallow the shell, all the hollow who dwell
In the shadows of all who are willing to sell their souls
For this rap game and it g-g-goes
One-two-three, chk-chk, one-two-three
Chk-chk, one-two-three, that ain't the hook, now follow me
There's nothing else for me to say, my public adores me
Everybody bores me, they're just so corny
So at night before I sleep, I look in the mirror
The mirror grows lips and it whispers: "Come nearer!"...

He then tells of the price he had to pay. Slim Shady speaks to him as follows:

You remember that night you, prayed to god (sic)
You'd give anything to get a record deal, well Dre signed you
This is what you wanted your whole life Marshall, right through
Look at this house, look at these cars, I'm so nice, wooo!
Oh, but you didn't know, fame has a price too

Just a publicity stunt? According to Marcia Dawkins' biography, Eminem: The Real Slim Shady, Some scholars believe that Eminem uses his music to dramatize a deep and intense spiritual battle. He admits as much in "Must Be The Ganja" (2009) where he confesses he can identify with both the Dalai Lama (good) and Jeffery Dahmer (evil). As he seeks deeper spiritual commitment, Marshall Mathers, the redeemed or spiritual Everyman wrestles against the sinful Slim Shady persona. In Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta's God, Ebony A. Utley suggests that the Slim Shady persona is downright demonic. Utley writes that, 'In the introduction to the Slim Shady EP, a foreboding voice not unlike the one attributed to the Devil in 'My Darling' taunts Eminem even though he repeatedly states, 'I thought I killed you,' 'What do you want from me?' and 'Leave me alone." (pg. 81; Emphasis mine). The Dalai Lama is evil, leading souls to Hell, and so is Dahmer for obvious reasons. There is no one Eminem identifies with who is truly good. Dawkins writes, "In fact, as Slim Shady, Eminem is known for being at odds with everything sacred and being passionate about anything profane." (pg. 79).

While Spin magazine reported that he first met the spirit of Slim Shady when he was in the bathroom, in his song, Low, Down, Dirty, he sings about "Hearing voices in my head while these whispers echo, 'Murder Murder Redrum" (redrum is murder backwards and made famous in the movie The Shining, where actor Jack Nicholson portrays a writer whom is driven insane by demonic forces).

In his song Guilty Conscience, Slim Shady battles with different characters encouraging them to commit robbery, rape, kidnapping, and murder. In one stanza, a man finds his wife cheating with another man, and Slim Shady advises:

F*** that sh**, you just caught this bi*** cheatin'
While you at work she's with some dude tryin to get off?!
F*** slittin' her throat, CUT THIS B****'S HEAD OFF!!! (Profanity censored by me).

In The Monster, Eminem raps:

Cause I need an interventionist / To intervene between me and this monster… / Keep knocking, nobody’s home, I’m sleepwalking / I’m just relaying what the voice in my head’s saying / Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just friends with the.

Rihanna then sings the hook: I’m friends with the monster that’s under my bed \ Get along with the voices inside of my head.

Finally, Eminem writes in Demon Inside that what he is doing comes from demons and will land him in Hell:

I’m possessed by evil demons that torture me while I’m sleeping \ I keep dreaming of death and I’m hearing people screaming \ The devil’s spirit’s trapped inside me and I want it out… \ It got silent, then all these voices said \ ‘Come follow me into the pits of Hell’… \ And told me that’s just for starters, Satan’ll be in to see me later \ To see if I’m interested in being partners.

Tongue in cheek, or a man driven mad by demons as an unbelieving world just  laughs and thinks he's "cool" and to be imitated?

More Violence and Drugs

In his song I'm Back, Eminem praises the Columbine killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, in the following words:

I take seven kids from Columbine, stand 'em all in line /Add an AK-47, a revolver, a nine
A Mack-11 and it oughta solve the problem of mine /And that's a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time /Cause (I'm Slim) Shady, they call me as crazy

Eminem tries to justify the lyrics by saying that no one ever looked at Columbine from the point of view of the kids who were bullied. Yeah. Let's write a song that looks at things from the point of view of Charles Manson or Adolph Hitler. Just because they "have a point of view" doesn't make it accurate, correct, or laudable.

Role Model asks his listeners to emulate him:

You can try this at home, you can be just like me…Follow me and do exactly what the song says: smoke weed, take pills, drop out of school, kill people and drink… Now follow me and do exactly what you see.

He raps about catching his wife, Kim, cheating on him and then brutalizing her with graphic sounds of domestic violence in the song of the same name:

Sit down b****! You move again, I'll beat the sh** out of you/ Don't make me wake this baby/ She don't need to see what I'm 'bout to do/ Quiet b****/ Why you make me shout at you…

The song ends with a vivid fantasy of the rapper slitting his wife's throat:

Don't you get it b****, no one can hear you?/Now shut the f*** up and get what's comin' to you
You were supposed to love me/Now bleed! b**** bleed!/Bleed! b**** bleed! bleed!

Conclusion

Foul-mouthed, demon possessed Marshall Mathers channels demonic forces to propel him to fame while dragging others to Hell. Those who scoff at his being possessed, consider this; do you want teens listening to this garbage? It desensitizes them to murder, domestic violence, profanity/vulgarity, drug and alcohol abuse, and a host of other evils (including spiritism). In his song Who Knew? Eminem mocks those who claim to be surprised at the negative influence of his music:

Cause I never knew I, knew I would get this big. I never knew I, knew I'd affect this kid. I never knew I'd, get him to slit his wrist. I never knew I'd, get him to hit this b****

Pray for Marshall Mathers that he might turn to Christ and His One True Church, receive exorcism, and be rid of Slim Shady. If you listen to his garbage music, when the demon influences you, you won't be able to say, "Who Knew?"