Eminem is bringing his 'faggot' laced lyrics to New Zealand to headline a rap festival at Auckland’s Western Springs in February. The Rapture slot will be the first-ever New Zealand show by the megastar, who has been lauded by critics by roundly criticised by GLBTI groups for his latest track Rap God. It includes a line about breaking "a motherf*cking table over the back of a couple faggots and crack it in half". He also states: “Little gay-looking boy / So gay I can barely say it with a straight face-looking boy / You witnessing massacre like you watching a church gathering taking place-looking boy / 'Oy vey, that boy's gay,' that's all they say looking-boy / You take a thumbs up, pat on the back, the way you go from your label every day-looking boy.” UK gay rights charity Stonewall says the song's content is "outdated and deeply offensive", and claims the rapper is "stuck in the last century". The rapper infamously performed with Elton John at the 2001 Grammy Awards in response to critics of the apparent homophobia in his music. Advocacy group GLAAD was not convinced, maintaining Eminem's music was "hateful." When challenged by Anderson Cooper on his use of the word faggot in 2010, Eminem claimed it wasn’t about homosexuality. "That word was thrown around so much, you know? Faggot was, like, it was thrown around constantly, to each other, like in battling, you know what I mean?" he asked, before insisting that he doesn't hate gay people. "I don't have any problem with nobody, you know what I mean. Like, I'm just whatever." Asked whether he needs to take responsibility for his words, Eminem put the onus on parents to censor their children's lives.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 21st October 2013 - 8:59am