Dan Reynolds Without Using Her/His Name Let's EMiNeM know He is Outraged By The Throwing of The Anti Gay Slur "F"
 |
| Scott Legato/Getty Images
Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons holds a gay pride flag during their Evolve World Tour 2018 at DTE Energy Music Theater on June 21, 2018 in Clarkston, Mich.
|
In the wake of the surprise drop of Eminem's Kamikaze on Friday (Aug. 31) -- his new album featuring a track that hurls a homophobic slur at Tyler, the Creator -- many are justifiably outraged at the rapper's choice of words.
Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons is one of them, and he's using Twitter to take a stand against the employment of such "hateful" language. Though he doesn't call out Eminem by name on the social media platform, he addresses the slur the rapper used, f----t, and makes it perfectly clear that he has no tolerance for any phrase that "contributes to hate and bigotry."
"it’s never ok to say a word that is filled with hate," he writes. "I don’t care what year you were born in or what meaning it has to you. if it contributes to hate and bigotry then it is hateful. period. there is never an ok time to say the word f----t I don’t care who you are."
Reynolds drives the point home in a reply to his tweets, directly referring to "The Fall," the song in question: "I’m very familiar with all his music and the backstory with Tyler. This isn’t the first time it has been used by him and it never has been thoughtful. It’s gross and demeaning in its context."
Eminem Has to Hold Accountable, Like we All Are
The night of Aug. 30, Eminem dropped a 13-track surprise album. The project, titled Kamikaze, set Twitter ablaze for taking shots at a long list of other artists and personalities. But amongst the barbs, chatter on social media began to center around lines directed at Tyler, the Creator, that were characterized by many as homophobic.
On “The Fall,” Eminem raps “Tyler create nothin’, I see why you called yourself a f----t, bitch / It’s not just ‘cause you lack attention, it’s ‘cause you worship D12’s balls, you’re sacrilegious.” Having bleeped out the slur f----t from the track, he goes on. “If you’re gonna critique me, you better at least be as good or better, get Earl the Hooded Sweater / Whatever his name is to help you put together some words, more than just two letters.”
Prior to the lines, the rapper opened the track saying, “You know, everybody’s been telling me what they think about me for the last few months, maybe it’s time I tell them what I think about them.” Combined, many think that the shots at Tyler come as a direct response to tweets from Tyler about Eminem’s “Walk on Water.” When that track came out, the rapper posted “dear god this song is horrible, sheesh how the fuck.” That November 2017 critique has now been responded to in kind.
Criticisms have arisen with Eminem’s lyrics, specifically around his insinuation of the word f----t, widely agreed upon as a slur towards gay men. The criticism is not a new one, as the rapper has used it for almost two decades at least—bleeping the word out sonically when everyone understands what’s intended does little to lessen the impact. When questioned about homophobia in the past, Eminem has pushed back, notably in 2013, when he told Rolling Stone: “Those kind of words, when I came up battle-rappin’ or whatever, I never equated those words [with being gay]... It was more like calling someone a bitch or a punk or asshole.” Others, namely Elton John, have come forward to his defense, saying he’s not homophobic.
Fans have similarly flocked to Twitter today, pushing back against accusations of homophobia by pointing out that Eminem was quoting Tyler, who has his own extended history of using the word.
Comments