While Eminem aka Slim Shady is perched on the verge of selling more albums thn anyone in Hip Hop history, he also finds himself under fire from The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation [GLAAD]. This past Thursady they issued a GLAAD Alert which reads as follows:

* Musical gay bashing doesn't sound so good

The Marshall Masters LP, the newest release from hip hop artist Eminem,
carries the warning "Explicit Lyrics." That is an understatement. Eminem's
lyrics are soaked with violence and full of negative comments about many
groups, including lesbians and gay men.

A sample of the lyrics geared toward LGBT community members include:

"You faggots keep egging me on
'Til I have you at knifepoint, then you beg me to stop"

"My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge
That'll stab you in the head whether you're a fag or les
Or the homosex, hermaph or a trans-a-ves
Pants or dress
Hate fags? The answer's yes …"

"Hey, it's me, Versace
Whoops, somebody shot me
And I was out checking the mail
Get it, checking the male?"

While Eminem certainly has the freedom of speech to rap whatever he wants,
it is irresponsible for UNI/Interscope Records as a company to produce and
promote such defamatory material that encourages violence and hatred. This
is especially negligent when considering the market for this music has been
shown to be adolescent males, the very group that statistically commits the
most hate crimes.

GLAAD calls upon UNI/Interscope to stop and think of the consequences of
publishing such material and for it to raise its standards for what
products it produces and what artists it promotes. These standards should
include not helping exalt hatred and violence.

Also, please let Eminem know that he needs to be responsible for the
messages his music sends out. Holding the LGBT community up as a target for
abuse is unnecessary to sell records. He recently told MTV that he does not
hate gays, but his lyrics speak for themselves. Let Eminem know how such
disregard for others can lead to discrimination, physical abuse and even
death. He can be reached through his manager.

Contact: Christina Meloche, marketing, Interscope Records, 10900 Wilshire
Blvd., Suite 1230, Los Angeles, CA 90024; fax: 310-865-7906.

Paul Rosenberg, Eminem Manager, Shady Goliath Records, 270 Lafayette, Suite
805, New York, NY 10012; fax: 212-324-2415.

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It will be interesting to see how Eminem whethers this storm. On one hand, we all know Em offends just about everyone in his new album. Everyone from women's rights groups on down to violence prevention groups can find some sort of lyric within the Marshal Mathers EP to support their claim. At the same time this has always been Em's stylo. The fact that he rolls with Dr Dre who has always been in the midst of controversy from his NWA days to the beating down of TV talk show host Dee Barnes, may send a signal to Em that the more controversy you cause the better for business. Now in the past I've witnessed the Gay and Lesbian community successfully exercise their muscle and political clout against rap acts like Cypress Hill and Turbo B of the Snap. We've already seen them start to push back talk show host Dr Laura Schlessinger with results and concessions. But will they derail Eminem who garners an audience that many say are the most responsible for intolerance and hate crimes, young males. Also where do we draw the line with Em? Will Interscope Records and Em's manager Paul Rosenberg really take GLAAD's protest seriously or will they relish in the controversy knowing that it may generate even more album sales?