Eminem vs Moby

It is no secret for anybody that Eminem doesn’t like Moby at all. Not only that he doesn’t like his music, but he can’t stand Moby as a person either.
When Eminem doesn’t like somebody, he has the honesty to express it publicly, which is a rare thing in the music industry.

That’s what he expressed in an interview with Radio 1 :

“I don’t give a fuck who gets mad at me, I hate techno music, I’m sorry but I can’t stand it. Like, when I used to be on drugs it used to blow my high and like now that I can’t be on drugs it blows my high even worse. So just for the record, I hate techno music, so no matter how good Moby is, it’s not going to change anything.”

The feud between Eminem and Moby began when Moby expressed about the talented rapper at the 2001 Grammys and spoke out against his lyrics :

« The weird thing is that I actually do think that Eminem has skills as an MC, but it disturbs me that he glorifies homophobia and misogyny in his songs, especially seeing as his listeners are, for the most part, very impressionable 10-year-old boys. “I won’t be dissing him back (given the fact that my skills as an MC are terrible), … but I will say, as I said before, that musicians need to assume a certain artistic responsibility when their fanbase is very, very young.

“From my perspective, any music that glorifies abuse, misogyny, homophobia or racism is disturbing, but especially so when it’s targeted to a fanbase of 10-year-old boys. If you’re reading this, Eminem, thanks for the dis. No hard feelings from me. “

Of course Eminem has skills as an MC, but his lyrics need to be understood. Eminem listeners are not only 10 year old boys. In fact, Eminem’s audience is composed of various people from different social classes. Moby has certainly read Eminem’s lyrics, but he didn’t get their hidden sense. His words belong to typical stereotypes I’m fighting against.
And what probably angered Eminem is the fact that Moby brought back all those stereotypes which are due to a total misunderstanding of the artist.
Eminem retaliated against Moby in his well known and appreciated song « Without Me » :

“And Moby? You can get stomped by Obie
You thirty-six year old baldheaded fag, blow me
You don’t know me, you’re too old, let go
It’s over, nobody listens to techno”

And when Eminem interprets the song on stage, Moby gets “killed”. Or should I say: a Moby impersonator gets symbollically “killed” on stage while he flows in the air as a spaceman, to the greatest delight of the fans.

At the 2002 VMA Awards, Eminem won 4 awards all for “Without Me”:
-Best Video Of The Year – Without Me
-Best Male Video – Without Me
-Best Rap Video – Without Me
-Best Direction In A Video – Without Me (Director: Joseph Kahn)

Mtv’s pupeeter of Insult Comic Dog, Robert Smigel’s words against Eminem while sitting next to Moby were more than provocative:
[Eminem] should lighten up… I mean, my mom was a bitch too, but I don’t go writing songs about it. –Triumph

Moby was afraid for the safety of the puppet more than of his own safety when Eminem reacted badly and that actually sounds funny:

”I was more concerned for Triumph’s well-being. If Eminem wants to pick on someone, fine, pick on me, but don’t diss the dog-puppet. Triumph the dog-puppet is my hero. That’s the sole reason that I went to the VMAs. ‘Cos I love that little dog-puppet.”

Eminem reacted badly against Moby, calling him a lady and flipping the bird. In fact, the incident occured not because Eminem is deprived of any sense of humor, but because he had no idea of who Triumph was. Nobody had told him about what was going on, so Eminem thought the puppet was fabricated by Moby. Mr Smigel thought that his intervention would have a funny effect:

“They paired me with Moby, and I was like, ‘If I do Moby, it would be great to go from him to Eminem, since Eminem hates Moby.’ And they’re like, ‘Great, great, we’ll set you and Moby down near Eminem right before the bit. And I’m like, ‘O.K., are you going to tell Eminem?'”
“‘Ahhhh, he’s got a great sense of humor. He’s going to love it. Eminem, he’s funny!’ And, of course, he had no idea who Triumph was. He thought I was some puppet Moby had fashioned to torment him.”

At the 2003 VMA Awards, Eminem humored the past event while destroying a puppet of the crank yankers.
While he was receiving his” best male award”, Eminem got boeed and he thought Moby was booing him too:

“Sorry, that li’l Moby girl threw me out of my zone for a minute. Keep booing, li’l Moby-girl. I will hit a man with glasses.”
He apologized later on while receiving the best video award.

Moby pretends that it is untrue:

“And I do feel the need to clarify one last little point. When Eminem accepted his award I was not booing. Ironically enough, I was clapping because that seemed like the polite thing to do. Everyone around me was booing him, but I was sitting there politely clapping. I don’t know why he accused me of booing him, because for what it’s worth I certainly was not. Ok, that’s it.”

Eminem also called Moby a “pussy” and theatened to beat him up:

“The truth is that I honestly, in all sincerity, thought that the whole Eminem thing was done in some semblance of humor until Eminem called me a pussy(that was off camera) and then threatened to beat me up. I think that Eminem is talented and interesting but I’m kind of stunned at the anger that he has for me seeing as I’d never met him up until last night.”

Unfortunately, Moby should know that he cannot force Eminem’s sympathy. Like anybody of us, he will always find people who like him or some others who dislike him. His comments on Eminem’s are are pointless, though. As you probably know, Eminem’s lyrics are not to be taken literally.
Moby seems to respect Eminem as an artist, but he doesn’t seem to get his lyrics. But he’s far from the truth when he states some of his fantasies:

“He shoots me on stage, he dresses up like me in the video, talks about having sex with me in his song. I’ve figured it out. He has a crush on me. And at some point he found out that I was straight and he’s so upset and hurt, the fact that he has this unrequited crush on me, that’s why he’s so upset. I’m just waiting for Eminem to come out of the closet.”

He is crazy to think Eminem could have a crush on him. Matter of fact: Eminem can’t stand him.

When Moby got attacked at Paradise Club in Boston after a concert, some Eminem fans were suspected, but nobody can prove those people were actually Eminem fans:

“I am hardly the most physically threatening person . If anyone sees me in the next couple of weeks and I have some big bruises or stitches on my face, well at least you know why. I’m not angry, I don’t feel vindictive. I just hope that at some point in these guys’ lives they come to realise that hurting other people is wrong.”

If some fans of Marshall are involved, I would describe their behavior as plain stupid. Those are the kind of fans who usually give Eminem a bad name. But still, the rapper is not responsible for his fans crazy behavior if they happen to be involved in the incident.

I do appreciate Eminem for his honesty. He has the sincerity to show when he dislikes a person, which is something rare in a society where hypocrisy is priviledged before honesty. My request towards Marshall Mathers is following :

« Don’t ever change. Keep being yourself. We fans love you for that quality in particular. »

To quote Mr Vontese from Los Angeles about the 2002 MTV Awards:

“Eminem is an outstanding performer who is constantly booed and put down for being real. I was really upset that everyone at the awards loved him one minute and turned on him the next for being himself. Don’t follow the crowd. Love him or leave him the fuck alone! Keep being you, Em.”