A Shady History

By Rebecca Winters

For all the folks EMINEM has offended over the years--gays, women, his mother--the blond rapper seemed to avoid insulting African Americans. Until, that is, hip-hop magazine The Source dug up some Eminem juvenilia: "Blacks and whites, they sometimes mix/but black girls only want your money 'cause they're dumb chicks" are some of the milder lyrics on the tape. Responding to charges of racism, Eminem issued a statement saying the song was recorded after he broke up with a black girlfriend and "made out of anger, stupidity and frustration when I was a teenager." Hey, man, some of us just kicked our lockers.