Ask any of my peeps and they'll tell you that I'm a huge Eminem fan. I could write a thesis on why I would consider him to be the greatest rapper of all time, although general consensus is that he's #3, behind Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac (two of his idols, incidentally). I think he's very creative, extremely talented lyrically (both in writing and delivery), and actually quite funny. He writes some powerful and thought-provoking narratives ("Stan" for instance), and also displays a very angry, caustic vibe on some tracks which is great music to vent to. If you're not a hip-hop fan you probably wouldn't understand and likely would be turned off by the apparent misogyny, homophobia, and violence in his lyrics. If so, I don't blame you, but this post probably won't interest you at all.

Although his latest album, Encore, was perhaps not his best, it still has a number of stand-out tracks. Among them is an amusing little ditty (in my opinion) called "Ass Like That". The song features Eminem rapping in a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog-inspired voice while parodying a variety of topics and linking it all with a chorus that highlights particular celebrity females and how he's never "seen an ass like that."

For those that don't know, Eminem had a bit of a disagreement with Triumph at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. Triumph was interviewing the artist Moby and asking him about the line in Eminem's "Without Me" in which the rapper refers to him as a "36 year old bald headed fag" (the two don't get along, obviously). Triumph attempted to get Eminem to comment on this and was shut down by him and his bodyguards. Apparently, Mr. Mathers doesn't take too kindly to puppets.

But, apparently Em and Triumph have quashed their beef for the video of "Ass Like That". The insult comic dog appears throughout the video, many times being manipulated by Eminem himself. Triumph was quick to clarify the situation, however:

"Let's get one thing straight: I used a stunt double for all those scenes. I would never let Eminem put his hand up my ass. But we never had a real beef. I've always admired his talent and his smooth white hair, which reminds me of a beagle's nutsack. And Em was just confused at the VMAs that night, as he had never seen the Conan O'Donnell show. And who can blame him? It's like staring at your own poop for a whole hour--without getting to eat it."

Never one to back away from a chance to take a potshot at anyone, he added:

"I can't believe that he's obsessed with me after all this time. I think he's jealous because I'm black. But seriously, it's been three years [since the VMA incident]. The guy needs to work on his timing. Like that 'Mosh' video [in which Eminem urged people to go out and vote against George W. in the 2004 presidential election], coming out in, what, November? That's sure going to hurt Bush in 2008. I keed Eminem, I wish him luck with his new anti-Milosevic video."

The point of me sharing all this with you, if there is one, is that the aforementioned video debuted a couple of weeks ago. I saw it the other night and found it to be quite amusing. It goes back and forth between live actors and puppets, some of which are characters from the Comedy Central prank phone call show Crank Yankers (on which Eminem has made an appearance). I particularly enjoyed Em's intentional bad dancing, the puppet versions of Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, and the intro/outro segments by Triumph (voiced by Robert Smigel) which are classic. Oh, and the Olsen Twin puppets will give you nightmares.

You can watch the video on Yahoo! here.
You can watch it on AOL's music page here.
You can read the lyrics just about anywhere on the 'Net, but these seem mostly correct.

Yea, it's puerile, but I like it.

Incidentally, for something completely different I recommend checking out the video for another single off the same album entitled "Mockingbird". This is a very well-written and heartfelt song to his daughter, Hallie, and niece Laini. He talks about his regrets over missing her growing up due to a host of reasons (stardom being one), his failures as a father and a provider, and how although him and her mother (Kimberly Scott/Mathers) couldn't make things work between them, she shouldn't worry and "Momma's gonna be all right". It's quite touching, and I find the following lines particularly revealing:

I remember back one year when Daddy had no money
Mommy wrapped the Christmas presents up
and stuck them under the tree
and said some of them were from me
'cause Daddy couldn't buy 'em
I'll never forget that Christmas
I sat up the whole night cryin'

The video is even more revealing: it is composed of clips coming from home videos made by the family and Eminem himself. He watches these all alone and flips through a scrapbook that, from what I read, his daughter made for him. A good song for both fans and non-fans alike.

You can watch it on Yahoo! here
You can watch it on AOL's music page here.
And here are the mostly correct lyrics.

Tags: Eminem, Music, Rap, Video