Eminem was rapping directly into that proximity. For the black kids in the hood, he gained a type of credibility for the ruthlessness and carelessness with which he regarded human life, particularly his own. We understood nihilism, and a desire for exit. We understood anger, angst, bitterness, and the rage that fueled it. What we didn’t understand was a way to express what we understood and walk away unscathed. Eminem’s fantasies often involved the blood of people who were living, and it must be funny to be on the other side of a fantasy about death.
