Eminem is no stranger to controversy and backlash and the latest rants about his use of confronting violence in his music caused a well-written reply of the rappers to own.
At the Bonnaroo Music and Arts fest earlier in June Eminem rapped and rocked out, including "gunshots," into the sound effects. The crowd got scared and people took to social media to criticize the larger than life Hip Hop star. Of course, they were not really gunshots, but fireworks, which do sound like gunshots, but are used often, and Eminem is not the only one.
Eminem of course known for stirring controversy, thriving in it more so, ignored the comments. Below is a quick snippet of the gunshot sound effect and the crowd's reaction.
Here is the song Kill You which contained the pyrotechnics that scared people. With the controversy just appearing now around the use of loud gun like sounding fireworks, it seems Eminem's reaction is appropriate since there has always been a dark undertone to most of his work.
On Saturday night, June 16, at Eminem's set at the Firefly Music Festival, he used the "gunshot," a number of times during his 75-minute take.
Eminem also supplied his warning, telling the obvious to concertgoers.
If you are easily frightened by loud noises or offended by explicit lyrics you shouldn't be here.
From both sides of the stage, he set the message in the spotlight. This is a sufficient enough reaction from Eminem, of all people.
After people had freaked out from Bonnaroo, Paul Rosenberg, Eminem's manager posted on Instagram:
"Contrary to inaccurate reports, @Eminem does not use gunshot sound effects during his live show. The effect used by Eminem in his set at @bonnaroo was a pyrotechnic concussion which creates a loud boom. He has used this effect — as have hundreds, other artists — in his live show for over 10 years, including previous US festival dates in 2018 without complaint."
Below is just a small slice of the seeming controversy on Twitter, according to WTHR 13.
While many were scared due to, for example, the Las Vegas shootings, which was the largest in modern U.S. history, a shooting did not happen at Bonnaroo or Firefly. The fact shootings do take place at concerts does give the backlash against the fireworks a little weight. But it's Eminem. And that should be warning enough.