HUNGERING

Countdown To Grammys: Eminem

By Elizabeth C.

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT EMINEM HAS MELLOWED, but the Detroit rapper who rose to fame giving voice to rape fantasies and maternal hatred has tempered his offstage rage. Yet his music is still fired by anger and emotional rawness even as he's become an elder statesman of rap who gives a standout performance every time he steps on stage.

This year we've seen him once again working out his addictions to sick love in his fiery hit Love The Way You Lie, and his addiction to drugs in his Not Afraid, the second rap song ever to debut at No. 1 on Billboard. Both songs are off Eminem's seventh album Recovery, which has been nominated as Album Of The Year. Love The Way You Lie, his exploration of domestic violence sung with Rihanna, is up for Song Of The Year and Best Rap Song, while the critically praised Not Afraid is in the race for Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song. Rolling Stone said the song "delivers rhymes that are typically acrobatic – and typically heavy-handed. But the anger has a gathering quality."

Eminem has dragged us along his emotional trip with him, and I've gotta admit, I've liked the way it hurt.