Soundtrack of My Life

Song: The Way I Am
Artist: Eminem
Album: The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

Trust me when I tell you that this is hard for me to say:

Eminem is the epitome of everything that is wrong with Hip Hop today. The saddest thing is that it didn't have to be that way and this song is a shining example for what could have been.

Remember when Em was fierce?

Yeah, he dropped a hooky, fun track each time out, but then the rest of the albums would have these dark and moody joints like this. This was a monster, a colossal middle finger to doubters and haters and everyone who didn't like Marshall the way he was...

And then he changed.

Now every song is about shaking your ass or popping bottles. I mean shit, he did a video with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog sniffing people's asses for chrissakes.

What happened to the Eminem who gave white boys like me who grew up loving true hip hop a beacon to point to as our guy?

He sold out.

Thankfully, the talented, angry legacy he left behind lives on in this track...