CATHY HUANG

"I told the world, one day I would pay it back.

Say it on tape and lay it, record it, so that one day I could play it back."

 Eminem's music and lyrics combine together to represent a piece of his history and life. Being a fan of his for 5 years, I'm clearly aware of how much obstacles he had to overcome to reach the fame he has today. The biggest mentor and "savior" that made his dreams possible was Dr. Dre, whom believed in his talent and looked past stereotypes that automatically labelled Eminem as a unworthy white rapper. The debt and respect he owns to Dr.Dre is obviously unmeasurable-"But I can never repay you, what you did for me is way more."


  This song is a very emotional one talking about their mutual trust and friendship to each other, assisting one another through troubled times. "All I know is you came to me when I was at my lowest. You picked me up, breathed new life in me. I owe my life to you." This is obviously expressing Eminem's gratitude, that he came for him at a time of hitting rock bottom. He was "saved" by Dre, who saw his potential and believed in him when no one else did.  'Cause no one sees my vision....doubt startin' to creep in, everyday it's just so grey and black"-he was looking for a breakthrough, searching for someone to grant his dream of being a rapper. The second chorus is about the rough time Dr. Dre's going through, as his son died from overdose not long ago. Dre "needs a doctor" to help him stay back on track again. "It hurts when I see you struggle"- he's not himself and Eminem wants to remind him that he was "supposed to be a mentor." Mentors don't weakly second guess themselves; they're born a leader. Dre needs to trust himself, get over his obstacles, and come back with more vengeance than ever despite his personal struggles. 


"You risked your career for me, I know it as well as you....Nobody wanted to f-ck with the white boy..." He reminds Dr.Dre that he's a rap legend, who has accomplished and helped others so much. He needs to gather himself together, be back to how he was- "but I ain't giving up faith, and you ain't giving up on me." Eminem expresses he'll always be there, until the last moment. "All I see is Slim ...f-ck all you fairweather friends" This is about the fake friends he had, and his frustrations with the music industry; that had at one point betrayed him-"backwards producers, I'm back bastards.... packing up my bags and as I leave, I'm guranteed they'll scream" Dre's expressing that Eminem is the only loyal artist he signed on the label, who didn't betray or leave when he needed help.  They can always depend on each other. This song is about the gratitude Eminem feels toward the man that started his career, without him he would be nothing "it was you who believed in me, let's tell the truth." In turn, his belief in Dre will never falter no matter what he's going through. 

This has been my absolute favourite move out of the entire year. Mindblowing, fantastic, and beautiful are just a few words to describe it. In fact, Natalie Portman probably be came one of my favourite actresses. Today, me and my friend decided to do her "black swan" makeup from the final scene. I did the black swan and she did the white swan.

I just finished watching the music video of this song now. I've been looking forward to it for a week! Since I just got into 30 STM music, I don't understand much about the background/history/style of the band. There's only one thing for certain- their music is really emotional and powerful. The lyrics all mean something deep & symbolic, I can't describe how unique it is. My favorite song so far is-Hurricane. After watching the music video, I didn't understand all the components of it, but I did grasp the emotions & chapters with the meaning "birth,life,death". From what I grasp, it's about morality and battling our inner demons- from "tell me would you kill, to prove you're right" and "do you really want me dead, or alive to torture for my sins?" If any of you read "Hamlet" from Shakespeare, there's a scene when Hamlet has a opportunity to seek revenge on his enemy, but decides against it when he sees him praying for forgiveness. This goes back to the concept that during the earlier times, it was believed if you prayed before you died, your soul would go to heaven. In the end, Hamlet kept his enemy alive to save for another time to send his soul to hell when he sinned.  I love artists like this, who use a varieties of art forms & symbolisms to express meaning. It's truly excellent, despite the amount of nudity,sexual content, and violence in it. But then again, there are far worse content in other music videos these days- so I don't understand why this is considered banned. This video is a masterpiece!