EMINEM

Americans’ sense of geography never ceases to amaze me, particularly rappers. When I lived in their midst, they constantly referred to me being from London even though I had a thick northern accent.  According to standard rap geography, England has no cities except London and Ireland and, if you are a more educated rapper, Manchester. Poor Eminem must have been told that he was playing to the city of Edinburgh (where, as true Scot savages, we all live in tents and wear tribal make-up and mud).  No, it’s not Edinburgh, somebody shouted. So then it became Glasgow – a sea of muddy folk.

But who really cares? Eminem’s music has done more for global harmony, provided more jobs and cashflow (having sold 80 million albums) and better race relations than any geographically and politically correct educated fool.  And most people over here are just as ignorant; they don’t really get the whole East coast/West Coast thing, believing hip hop was birthed in sunny California and Beverly Hills. Plus his sense of disorientation is understandable as the whole scene was surreal: a recently cleared turquoise and orange sky, an infinity pool of people, flags and faces and Scottish accents rapping your rhymes back at you from the depths of the mud. It was like some weird sci-fi movie.

D12 were unquestionably outrageous – both in dress and performance. Thankfully, nobody wore a kilt or sported a tartan bandanna but there was, of course, the ubiquitous shower cap and huge bellies.  Eminem, dressed in black t shirt, gilet, long shorts and baseball cap with doo rag, appeared to be truly enjoying himself and working hard.  He positively leapt on stage like some indefatigable Tigger and his tongue really is that razor sharp as he spat out each rhyme. In a softer voice, he made reference to his own time of addiction and depression, talked about an event  when he ‘lost it’ in Amsterdam and exchanged verbally with the crowd. His whole performance was more honest than any show of his I’ve seen previously. This was a show undoubtedly for the fans: running through latest albums, to hits like 'Stan' , 'The Way I Am' and ending with 'Lose Yourself', it felt more like a big 'thank you' than some show to impress the critics. But then he's now someone with nothing to prove - apart from to himself.  He just seemed more relaxed, less defensive without losing any of his venom and energy. The audience were totally in his hands and there were around 60,000 x 2 middle fingers in the air at his request plus lots of dodgy hip hop dancing and head nodding. Probably one of the biggest songs was 'The Way I Am' with the whole chorus recited back. But this was nothing compared to 'Stan' which took on a whole other life form.

If Eminem was only doing one show in the UK this year, he chose wisely. The Scots adore Eminem and only the T in the Park crowd are crazy and passionate enough to fully appreciate the mad maestro. We can forgive him his poor geography because Eminem's world goes beyond it.