He's a brilliant producer. The oft-told story goes that Dre came across Eminem's demo tape on the floor of Interscope label chief Jimmy Iovine's garage, but it wasn't until Eminem took second place in the freestyle category at the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles that Dre signed him. We're pushing buttons. Wait for the next record. But I see Eminem's popularity as an expression of whites seeking a degree of knowledge about their world.
Rap is the pop music of our time.
Dre, Snoop and Eminem are preeminent pop musicians. He brings to light the same things the news media brings to light. But I'll say Em is an equal-opportunity offender. It's not like he has something particularly against gays. Anybody that jumps up and down about this should be able to distinguish between the popular art and the actual acts of violence.