I'm talking in an everyday speaking sense...in lyricism, slang and everything that goes along with it is accepted/expected/preferred.
But he's too worried about fitting in with "da hip hop culcha" to do so. I'm convinced a LOT of other rappers could as well, both black and white. Not only are the urban accents a BLATANT put on in an effort to be accepted by "da hip hop community," so is the use of Ebonics.
Note in that Howard Stern interview how quickly he responded to Stern's mocking of "I had went to X school" with, "what is it, I had GONE?"
Also note how in the intro to "Who Knew" he starts out saying, "who woulda knew?" a few times...only to eventually say, "who would have known?"
What a faker.
Does anyone honestly believe he doesn't know the common rules of standard American English? Especially NOW?
If there's one thing that bothers me about Eminem (well, aside from the awful pill era music and the shitty post-Relapse music), it's that. Somebody needs to lead the charge in ending the "you must be a wigger/hood rat to be riiilllll hip hawp, sunn" era. He'd be the ideal candidate.