+616 Eminem is comparable to Shakespeare in the sense that their works were both made as entertainment for the uneducated, but upon further inspection, they contain intelligence beyond their time, amirite?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

No... Shakespeare wrote great plays, Eminem just talks fast.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

In their time the plays were considered vulgar entertainment.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

just talks fast? i think you need to listen to some real eminem, if you think that's all it is...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Just because he is not your style doesn't mean he isn't as special, or more special than Shakespeare.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

eminem has more rhymes on relapse alone than shakespeare ever had

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Shakespeare will be remembered but Eminem will not.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You don't know that....

by Anonymous 13 years ago

it's very predictable

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You can't prove it...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How exactly is it predictable? Hitler is remembered for the Holocaust, Shakespeare for his writings, Beethoven for his music. Most of the most famous people now, lived in ridicule and poverty during their time. However after they die, people come up with an excuse to remember them. Why can't we celebrate life, while the person is still alive?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Eminem was actually on the list of top 100 artists of all time, which was voted on by some of the biggest musical artists of the day. He will be remembered.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Could you please send me a link to this?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

um it was a vh1 thing. I watched it on tv so im not sure of the link. its probably on their website though.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't think so cos in senior English, we study Eminem and his lyrics more than shakespeare

by Anonymous 4 years ago

Eminem is gay. Shakespeare is a genius.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If you want to get technical, Shakespeare was probably gay, too.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Romeo and Juliet was for his male sex slave...who died, therefor the reason to it being a tragedy.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Fuck these comments, Eminem is like a white Tupac.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It's funny that people actually believe what this post says.What the hell is wrong with you

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Eminem and Shakespeare are on par. Both average mid-20% 'hard words' in their works. ... However, when it comes to unique words per work Eminem outperforms Shakespeare. On average, Em's works have 42% of unique words whereas Shakespeare only has about 15% unique words.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

are you mildly retarded?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I love how all these people are talking shit about Eminem without even even listening to his music. And by music I don't mean that shit he put out earlier this year, I mean stuff from his prime (1999-2002). Actually listen to his first 3 albums and then you'll be comparing him to Shakespeare, too.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How can you prove that none of these people have listened to his earlier stuff?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I think his recent stuff is better than his early songs... Just my opinion, though.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Ayyo, my pen and paper cause a chain reaction So get your brain relaxing Cause Shady the maniac is back in action My rhymin skills got you climbing hills Infinite, the SS EP, and the SS LP are amazing. I fuck with women who got HIV Don't you wanna grow up to be just like me? I got genital warts and it hurts when I pee Don't you wanna grow up to be just like me? I fucking love Eminem.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

yeah.. don't ever compare eminem to shakespeare.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

wow eminem is awesome..."shake that ass" is hilarious;) byw shakespear plays ... you cant even understand them

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Eminem's work contains very little meaning beyond the surface, and he mostly raps about his own life. No subtlety, no craftiness. Maybe some half-assed similes, but mostly just a collection of clichés. I've never listened to an Eminem song and felt inspired. People who think he's all that probably just don't know any better. Compared to today's mainstream rappers I guess he's okay, but he doesn't stand up against past geniuses.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Who makes you the judge of that? Do you think that's how people felt about Edgar Allan Poe during his lifetime? I mean most people we consider geniuses now were under appreciated during their time. In every generation, there is someone exactly like you who expresses those same words about someone else, and you know what? Sometimes that person is right and sometimes that person is wrong. Only time will tell

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Eminem is not under appreciated. Every time his name is mentioned, there always seem to be people fawning over how "deep" and "meaningful" his lyrics are. I suspect that the only reason they feel that way is because the only other rap they've heard is complete bullshit, so they're ready and willing to cling to even the most base "meaning" they can dig up from a Eminem song. Maybe if those same people listened to the work of A Tribe Called Quest or Common, they might wake up and realize the real potential of rap music.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I listened to a few songs by A Tribe Called Quest and Common, and they seem good, but not much more or less meaningful than anything else I've heard, and personally I enjoy listening to Eminem more. :P

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah, on second thought those were bad examples. The Roots might have been a more appropriate one. I enjoy the older hip hop songs, though, because on a purely instrumental note, they are so much more textured. Modern hip hop tends to try for a more clean shaven instrumental with not as much emphasis on adding interesting layers. There's nothing wrong with that; it's just an stylistic evolution is all. I just don't enjoy it as much as the "rough around the edges" old school songs.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well no he isn't under appreciated, but still the thing is we don't know about the future. The future might be so shallow that people will look back to this day and think of Eminem as a genious. I'm pretty sure, there were people who said, (during Edgar Allan's time) "Oh Ed? He write's complete bullshit, no one will ever care about his writing" and look at him now. We can't know for certain what will happen in the future

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh, I see what you mean now. Standards change over time.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't understand how you can say that, i listened to tupac, common, biggie, nas, just about any good rapper i can find, while i love them all, i always will name eminem as the best. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8WWaZMboAo he's got a way of saying things, meaningful things in clever ways his songs are often written in a way you could think he's endorsing an issue, when it's just the opposite. every time you listen, you'll find something new.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

actually he is under-appreciated, considering all the technicalities that go into his rhyming, you have no idea how much work he puts into his songs. do you think it's just coincidence that he has one album that tops Lil Wayne's total sales? eminem can and does rap about everything. Maybe if you actually understood lyricism and knew what syllables were all about i could actually have a genuine argument, but you're too stupid to even begin to realize the structures of rap. The fact that you can't dig a meaning out of eminem songs is pretty pathetic.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Little meaning beneath the surface? or maybe you just can't pull that deeper meaning out....ignorance is bliss

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Anyone who says eminem's writing isnt intelligent is clueless. yes, alot of his songs are about his real life experiences, but that in itself is more intelligent than most writing. He also writes about politics and people in the music industry. You just have to dig a little deeper and listen to songs rthat dont get played on the radio.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

He writes about politics and people in the music industry? Holy shit I can see why you think he's a genius...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Hey fuck you. to be honest, I think rap is one of the easiet genres to excel in. All you have to do is write about bitches, hoes, drugs, and sex. He can write about real life things that actually mean something. I didnt say he was a genius but yes some of his songs are intelligent. If you cant see that youre fucking stupid.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Okay intelligent, maybe. But there are thousands of artists who write about life and things that have meaning. In no way does that compare them with shakespeare.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh i know that. I really dont listen to rap, ive just always enjoyed eminem. I listen to a lot of post hardcore and pop punk, where just about every song has a deeper meaning to it, but they arent mainstream bands so they wont ever be compared to shakespeare. Although, i think there are better people they could be compared to.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Rap is one of the easiest genres to excel in? Write about bitches, hoes, drugs, and sex? Haha wow, that's some ignorant thinking right derrr. @731428 (DryTurtle): Shut the fuck up you tool

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I don't think I will actually, And to be honest you seem like the tool here. You've just insulted two people without even trying to say anything relevent about the topic.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

At the point you two are at, nothing I say will matter. You are both arguing while on the same side of the argument.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

So your argument is not to argue? How interesting

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Thats not ignorant thinking. why would i bother checking out rap thats not on the radio if whats famous is that shitty? The only other rapper I actually like is Travie Mccoy because he really does have talent.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Shakespeare had multiple genres about multiple things. Eminem's songs are all about the same crap.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Not really... Lose Yourself, Beautiful, Stan, 'Til I Collapse, When I'm Gone, 3am, Hailie's Song... They're all about totally different things.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Um no Listen to Eminem's album Infinite you'll disagree about him being a lyrical genius. Not even Shakespeare could rhyme as fluently as Eminem and especially not at that same speed. You can't compare the two people because Shakespeare was the most amazing playwright of our generation. While Eminem is just the best Caucasian rapper the world has ever see but that doesn't mean it'll stay the same way. Sadly in our society and day in age more people know about Eminem than they know about Shakespeare and Eminem is still alive. Most geniuses don't get recognized until their death so I'm going to assume that one day Eminem will be remembered and he will be remembered not for being a great rapper but the fact that he was coming from dirt and he became famous through his rapping skill. That should be inspirational to anyone who wasn't born wealthy.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

are you saying he wasn't a lyrical genius in infinite? from the song infinite from the album of the same name- "MC's are feeble, I came to cause some pandemonium Battle a band of phony MC's and stand the lonely one Imitator, Intimidator, Stimulator, Simulator of data, Eliminator There's never been a greater since the burial of Jesus Fuck around and catch all the venereal diseases My thesis will smash a stereo to pieces My accapella releases classic masterpieces through telekinesis And eases you mentally, gently, sentimentally, instrumentally With entity, dementedly meant to be Infinite" damn, that's genius if you ask me.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO961JvjPpQ Lyrical genius my ass

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Way to pick what must be the least intelligent song Eminem has... :P Try this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHswvopLf2Q&feature=related

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Thats cuz your picking and choosing, I admit Relapse and the album before that were trash and recovery is decent but listen to Infinite.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

you're an idiot. relapse was his best lyrical album, you are just part of that 95% of the nation that can't look past the accent. Listen to Stay Wide Awake, the second verse is all one huge syllable rhyme. (every sentence rhymes perfectly, syllable for syllable, with "but they can't see what i can see, there's a vacancy in my tummy) But they can't see what I can see there's a vacancy in my tummy It's makin' me play hide n' seek like Jason I'm so hungry She's naked see no privacy but I can see she wants me So patient see I try to be but Gee why does she taunt me Pulls the drapes and she goes right to sleep And I creep right through the front see So blatantly but silently cuz I know that she's sound asleep Who's wakin' me so violently and why is he on top of me He's rapin' me she try's to scream somebody please get him off me He's tapin' me he's biting me he's laughing likes it's funny She's scrapin' me she's fightin' me she's scratching like some dumb freak Escapin' me no dice ya see I might just be Ted Bundy

by Anonymous 11 years ago

yes-lyrical genius. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwyOfqbP8JU

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The rhythm of the words and all that is actually quite good, if you an ignore what it's actually saying... :P

by Anonymous 13 years ago

words from Macbeth: ‘If it twere done when ‘t is done, then ‘t were well It were done quickly.’ “

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yea, because "My Name Is" just practically screams deep and meaningful to me...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

oh sorry i didn't realize the question was based on meaningfulness, oh wait..it wasn't.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It's completely possible to think both Eminem and Shakespeare are/were genius. And saying that they're incomparable doesn't make you any smarter. Eminem is a good musician. His songs are meaningful and intelligent and sometimes even funny. And I'm willing to bet that half the people who believe Shakespeare was a genius wouldn't think so if he wrote the same things in modern English.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Eminem and Shakespeare has something very common together. They both weren't educated. Eminem dropped out of school in the ninth grade. Did Shakespeare even have an education? Look at what they both accomplished in their lives. Some of the best writings ever to have been written in the history of time. Recovery is pure poetry. Each song has a double meaning. And his other albums such as the Eminem Show or the Marshall Mathers LP are incredible albums. Eminem play on words is so incredible. Look at what happened when he left for about five years. Hip hop and rap went downhill. It sucked. Then Eminem came back and BAM! Rap was back again, people had something to listen to. Eminem is one of the greatest writers ever.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

He isn't saying they are similar, he is just comparing the lyricism. Eminem is the most technical rapper of all time, and Shakespeare is the greatest playwright of all time. Eminem's personification, internal, external, inverse, syllable, and just rhyme scheme in general is comparable to the likes of Shakespeare and Poe. They are technically similar, and this does not make there material similar. If you are still arogant enough to say that eminem is a garbage lyricist you are probably either not a fan of rap in general, or you have a strong appreciation for Shakespeare, ultimately making it difficult to compare the two. Lets keep all the bias arguments out of this, alot of these comments are pathetic, subjective, ignorant remarks.

by Anonymous 11 years ago