Why Eminem’s BET Hip Hop Awards Freestyle Was A Major Win For America
Why Eminem’s BET Hip Hop Awards Freestyle Was A Major Win For America! The 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards aired on Tuesday night (October 10) and following Eminem’s monster freestyle, social media blew up with colorful opinions on Em’s verbal crucifixion of Donald Trump. While many applauded Slim Shady for his ability to crush his opponent (in this case, #45), there were some who scoffed at his performance, claiming he took the easy route and simply regurgitated what black MCs have been saying for years. (For example, YG and Nipsey Hussle’s 2016 anthem “Fuck Donald Trump.”)
Yes, that’s partly true, but Em’s freestyle was still a major win for Hip Hop and more importantly, for America.
Here’s why — for one, it got a white guy like Keith Olbermann to shut up and listen for a second. Prior to Em’s freestyle, Olbermann — author of Trump Is F*cking Crazy (This Is Not A Joke) — admitted he had his doubts about rap.
On Tuesday night, Olbermann wrote via Twitter, “After 27 years of doubts about rap I am now an @Eminem fan. Best political writing of the year, period.”
And while it’s disappointing that it took a white MC to make someone like Olbermann wake up, at least he’s finally listening.
From bars about Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem protest and Trump on the verge of causing a “nuclear holocaust” to racial injustice and gun reform, Em spit with such conviction on a variety of hot button issues, that it clearly caught everyone’s attention, including so-called “liberal” white Americans who lack an understanding of the very topics Em was dissecting during the nearly five-minute freestyle.
