Could Eminem have avoided the "gangster" era?

[Blu]

I'm sitting here listening to the 8 Mile Soundtrack and I'm blown away as to how he went from rapping about being a broke trailer park kid to blasting fools with Trick Trick.

Sometimes, I think signing 50 Cent was the biggest mistake Eminem ever made. 50 Cent was the start of his gangster persona, and he could have spent those years (2003-2006) rethinking how he wants to approach the rap game.

I'd much rather have Eminem rapping about Kim or Mariah for the 50th time, instead of spitting the corniest and shittiest lines in all of rap:

I'ma dial 911 like a motherfuckin' punk, fuck that, bla bla
I'mma call that rude boy from Detroit, Trick Trick
Quick come pick me up, bring them guns
Come to the club, meet me out front
There's some chump up in this bitch
Poppin' some junk cause he's drunk
And we may have to fuck his ass up
Cause uh, somethin' smells a lil' fishy
And I don't like the way his boys keep lookin' at me
So homie come get me

What the fuck?? He's literally asking Trick Trick to come and handle his beef...the fuck Em?!

I'm happy for Em, and I'm glad he got out of this phase, but Jesus...I would much prefer this era never happened.

[cheeseburger]

altough that song is pretty dope, I agree to the fullest with you.

[Just Silver]

i liked the song and he wants trick trick cause he doesnt have a gun on him maybe ths other guy does

[12characters]

i liked the song and he wants trick trick cause he doesnt have a gun on him maybe ths other guy does

Still, it's literally the exact opposite of what he was saying a few years back. The fact that he was pretending to be a gangster...just .

Did 50 Cent really influence Em's behavior that much? Or was it just unfortunate they started hanging out when Em was braindead on pills?

His inner 2pac came out tbh tbh

[Just Silver]

maybe trick trick influenced it?

[Eminemeatinm&m]

Did 50 Cent really influence Em's behavior that much? Or was it just unfortunate they started hanging out when Em was braindead on pills?

50 definitely influenced Em's behavior. The thing is, 50 was living the life of a professional hustler/gangster, Em might have took it too serious and tried to adapt.
You can see 50's interviews, he's really a chill guy but when he gets angry he goes the extra mile to make his point (sorta like the mafia), he still steals chains, threatens people...etc even though he doesn't need to do that anymore.

That plus the fact that he signed with Shady at a time when every NY rapper had a beef with him, that caused Em a lot of stress and with the unnecessary involvement of his daughter it could've made him frustrated all the time...thus, the pills.

I remember in a Jay interview, he said that when he hugged Em (back in 02-3 if I remember correctly), he felt a bulletproof vest.

His association with G-Unit, Trick Trick and many other people we might not know about definitely were a factor.

Really, 50 still does shit like that?

[ShadyxEminem]

I can't lie. In his gangsta era, he was buff as shit

[tadpole25]

em's verse on welcome to detroit was kind of like a favor.

kind of like when a woman tells her sugar daddy, "make it quick".

[CanadaPure]

em's verse on welcome to detroit was kind of like a favor.

kind of like when a woman tells her sugar daddy, "make it quick".

According to that one interview with Trick Trick, Em gave him a CD randomly that already had the Em verse and hooks on the beat, sort of as a present. I guess they knew each other for a long time, but Trick never asked for a collab because he didn't want to be on his coat-tails or something.

[ShadyxEminem]

I awkwardly like Eminem's verse in Who Want It

[CanadaPure]

I awkwardly like Eminem's verse in Who Want It

So do I tbh.

Me too.

[UofLCard]

It's not much of a coincidence that Em started his 'do-rag phase' around the time he hooked up with 50 Cent.

altough that song is pretty dope, I agree to the fullest with you.

^^^

[Blu]

Oooh wow! Look at the bitches up in this thread,
Man I'm comin' back with Swift and then we're gettin us some head.

Stay on topic please.

I'll have to warn you next time.

[EminemInsider]

What else was Eminem going to do? He was high on pills during that period. None of this would have happened if he hadn't done 8 mile. Sometimes I'm wondering if it was worth it just to get "Lose Yourself."

Sure, not having Lose Yourself would be a shame, but he may have made up for it with 50 other brilliant songs that we'll never get now.

[Chet Starr]

Cause uh, somethin' smells a lil' fishy
And I don't like the way his boys keep lookin' at me

that always makes me laugh for some reason.

I don't blame the pills or 50 cent. If it wasn't 50, Eminem would of found some other awful rapper, and still emulated the whole "gangsta" image