Eminem recorded “Perspective” – a powerful statement on music and race for Royce’s new album “The Allegory”.
Serving as a transition to “Black people in America” this track offers the perspective of Eminem as a white person who has a unique position in hip-hop, being singled out by both races and working hard to make a difference.
Here are his words supported by Royce’s beat:
But you’ve got people of all races like coming together and helping shape this from the ground up
So now you got little white kids growin’ up with black idols
And you got black kids growin’ up with white idols
And you got- it’s just this whole mixing pot
Nothing has brought more races and more people from all different walks of life together than hip-hop
No music has done that, I don’t think anything has done that as much as hip-hop has
So, in the same token, I can understand the frustration being that, you know, damn near every form of music, period, was created by black people
So, you got Chuck Berry, you got Rosetta Tharpe
And rock n’ roll is starting to get some attention, but then along comes Elvis
And people are acting like, “Oh my God I’ve never seen this before”
You’ve seen it before, but you might not have seen a white person do it to this level
So now, he sells the most records and people are callin’ him the king of rock n’ roll, right?
But, on the flip side of the coin, if I’m a black kid, growin’ up in, let’s say the 60s, 70s, 80s, whatever right
And I’m lookin’ at TV and nobody looks like me and it’s very stereotypical and I’m lookin’ at fuckin’
I’m lookin’ at toys and everything is white, the fuckin’ action figures are all white
The fuckin’ superheroes are all white
Like maybe there’s one or two black superheroes mixed in there with mostly white
I don’t know how I’d grow up and not have a chip on my shoulder
On the other flip side of that coin
We don’t get to choose our parents, we don’t get to choose what color we’re born
It’s more about, at that point it becomes, “You’re born here, you are what color you are, you’re what nationality you are”
And it’s what you do with it, right
To make a difference
To make a difference
To make a—
To make a difference
Listen to the track below:
