Running head: The Calm Before the Storm 1

The Calm Before the Storm

Scott M. Barnes

Arizona State University

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Abstract

One of the main points of our first amendment right is having the ability to say what we want or

in Lameman’s terms the freedom of speech. Our forefathers had come to this conclusion

centuries ago to make sure the leaders of the new country would not come to a state of tyranny as

it was once before. The state of this amendment has been put into a fragile state with the current

president of the united states as he tries to censor anything that goes against his rule; as with

everything people come to fight against things they do not like and at times celebrities will

become part of the fight in this case Eminem had stepped in. Eminem brought us a diss track that

in a way said the things about trump that we were all thinking on how he will ruin the country

and that he doesn’t care about the real issues.

Keywords: Trump, fight, freedom

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The storm by Eminem is what could be considered a cypher or freestyle which was

recorded towards the end of the 2017 year, it being a diss to Donald Trump (current President).

This wouldn’t be the first time Eminem has shown his distaste for a president and going to rip

on the president as in 2004 with the release of “Mosh” which hade dissed former President

George W. Bush. Those who know about Eminem he is someone to not care what he says or to

whom he says it to being in his music or in person with a rap sheet of disses ranging from ja-

rule to Mariah Carrey To sum up the entirety of the freestyle Eminem brought up several

discussion points throughout the first year of the which will be brought up later on into the

Rhetorical analysis. After listening to the song off the bat you can tell Eminem hates trump both

as a person and as a president, through policies and his opinions being subject points. Giving us

reasons why not to like him or support him even giving his fans a choice in choosing to be his

fan or a trump supporter.

To start the actual analysis with pathos, by the lyrics used and the way he recites them

seem to be able to bring out an anger we all have deep down towards our “president” and how

different groups of America act towards him with aggression or love, such as “The Wall” which

was one of his big initiatives “He’s gonna get rid of all immigrants… He’s gonna build that thing

up taller than this”(Eminem 2017) in what would be an exaggerated southern accent to depict a

redneck, which in recent news reports thousands of families being ripped apart just for

example. As well as the possibility of him almost causing WWIII and him not giving a care in the

world while giving credit to past president Barack Obama for his job as president compared to

Trump “But we better give Obama props…That’ll probably cause a nuclear holocaust and while
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the drama pops and he waits for sh*t to quiet down He’ll just gas his plane up and fly around ’til

the bombing stops”(Eminem 2017) which is trying to state he is not a true leader and he is

trying to lead us to stray.

For a final piece of pathos throughout the past year the NFL has been in trumps frying

pan about the taking a knee for the national anthem as “When he attacks the NFL” by saying

NFL players should be punished or fired for exercising their freedom of speech, I personally

don’t care whether they stand or kneel and so does Eminem with again showing his hate for

Trump “We love our military, and we love our country But we f*cking hate Trump”(Eminem

2017) as you may know everyone believes that if the NFL players who kneel during the anthem

do not respect or care about our men and women in the armed forces, but I beg to differ for

example the idea of kneeling was brought up by a former football player and green beret Nate

Boyer who thought to keep on the protest but be with your team instead of isolating yourself

and also in some situations military personal will kneel in, the first time he knelt Nate was

standing right next to him to show his support.

The president was sworn into office in last year (2017) and has tried to make certain

laws and policies implemented, the for most part many people did and still don’t agree with

him. With the civil unrest in our country with immigrants and the mass shootings he would

rather cling to such little things that are so insignificant it had caused uproar and along came

Eminem with a song that basically calls him out for everything. This timing couldn’t be any

better on having us all stand against someone who is not fit for office let alone being the

president.
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In an article published by USA TODAY Eminem goes on to peak on Trumps rhetoric and I

quote as “disgusting” and “divisive” and saying a turd would be better as president then trump.

He goes on to say how he wouldn’t care if he loses half his fan due to his opinion on trump

because he feels as he stood up for something that was right (Sara 2018). Eminem doesn’t hold

anything back in the freestyle and we can really see it; his disses and insults don’t go without

reason with most of his work he is giving his opinion and doesn’t care what people think of

them. The trump era is not helping the country and is trying to distant the people from each

other, while not focusing on any real issues; and that is all he is trying to show the country that

is true and to not be brainwashed by it all.

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References

Moniuszko, S. M. (2018, January 29). Eminem keeps slamming Donald Trump, saying he
doesn't care if he loses half his fans. Retrieved from
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/01/27/eminem-slams-donald-
trump-turd-would-have-been-better/1072034001/

Eminem – The Storm (2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher Verse). (2017, October 10). Retrieved
from https://genius.com/Eminem-the-storm-2017-bet-hip-hop-awards-cypher-verse-lyrics

Eminem ''The Storm" Anti Donald Trump Freestyle (Lyrics Video) (2017 BET Cypher Hip-Hop
Awards). (2017, October 11). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXGZJk0nQs4
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Footnotes

[Intro]

It's the calm before the storm right here

Wait, how was I gonna start this off?

I forgot… oh yeah

[Verse]

That's an awfully hot coffee pot

Should I drop it on Donald Trump? Probably not

But that's all I got 'til I come up with a solid plot

Got a plan and now I gotta hatch it

Like a damn Apache with a tomahawk

I'ma walk inside a mosque on Ramadan

And say a prayer that every time **** talks

She gets her mou— ahh, I'ma stop

But we better give Obama props

'Cause what we got in office now's a kamikaze

That'll probably cause a nuclear holocaust

And while the drama pops

And he waits for shit to quiet down, he'll just gas his plane up

And fly around 'til the bombing stops

Intensities heightened, tensions are risin'

Trump, when it comes to givin' a shit, you're stingy as I am

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Except when it comes to havin' the balls to go against me, you hide 'em

'Cause you don't got the fuckin' nuts like an empty asylum

Racism's the only thing he's fantastic for

'Cause that's how he gets his fuckin' rocks off and he's orange

Yeah, sick tan

That's why he wants us to disband

'Cause he cannot withstand

The fact we're not afraid of Trump

Fuck walkin' on egg shells, I came to stomp

That's why he keeps screamin', "Drain the swamp!"

'Cause he's in quicksand

It's like we take a step forwards, then backwards

But this is his form of distraction

Plus, he gets an enormous reaction

When he attacks the NFL so we focus on that in–

–stead of talkin' Puerto Rico or gun reform for Nevada

All these horrible tragedies and he's bored and would rather

Cause a Twitter storm with the Packers

Then says he wants to lower our taxes

Then who's gonna pay for his extravagant trips

Back and forth with his fam to his golf resorts and his mansions?

Same shit that he tormented Hillary for and he slandered

Then does it more

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From his endorsement of Bannon

Support for the Klansmen

Tiki torches in hand for the soldier that's black

And comes home from Iraq

And is still told to go back to Africa

Fork and a dagger in this racist 94-year-old grandpa

Who keeps ignorin' our past historical, deplorable factors

Now if you're a black athlete you're a spoiled little brat for

Tryna use your platform or your stature

To try to give those a voice who don't have one

He says, "You're spittin' in the face of vets who fought for us, you bastards!"

Unless you're a POW who's tortured and battered

'Cause to him you're zeros

'Cause he don't like his war heroes captured

That's not disrespectin' the military

Fuck that, this is for Colin, ball up a fist!

And keep that shit balled like Donald the bitch!

"He's gonna get rid of all immigrants!"

"He's gonna build that thing up taller than this!"

Well, if he does build it, I hope it's rock solid with bricks

'Cause like him in politics, I'm usin' all of his tricks

'Cause I'm throwin' that piece of shit against the wall 'til it sticks

And any fan of mine who's a supporter of his

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I'm drawing in the sand a line, you're either for or against

And if you can't decide who you like more and you're split

On who you should stand beside, I'll do it for you with this:

Fuck you!

The rest of America, stand up!

We love our military, and we love our country

But we fuckin' hate Trump!