Whatever You Say I Am [Hardcover]

Anthony Bozza (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

Eminem's rise to stardom was far from easy. After being born in Kansas City and travelling back and forth between KC and the Detroit metropolitan area, Eminem and his mother moved into the Eastside of Detroit when he was 12. Switching schools every two to three months made it difficult to make friends, graduate and to stay out of trouble. Rap, however, became Eminem's solace. Battling schoolmates in the lunchroom brought joy to what was otherwise a painful existence. Although he would later drop out of school and land several minimum-wage-paying, full-time jobs, his musical focus remained constant. Eminem released his debut album, "Infinite", in 1996, but after being thoroughly disappointed and hurt by the response it received, Eminem began working on what would later become the "Slim Shady" EP - a project he made for himself. Featuring several scathing lines about local music industry personalities as well as devious rants about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of hip-hop's difficult-to-please underground. By presenting himself as himself, Eminem and his career took off. Soon after giving the Rap Coalition's Wendy Day a copy of the "Infinite" album at a chance meeting, she helped the aspiring lyrical gymnast secure a spot at the Coalition's 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, where he won second place in the freestyle competition. During the trip, Eminem and his manager, Paul Rosenberg, gave a few people from Interscope Records his demo and he made his major radio debut on the world famous "Wake Up Show" with Sway and Tech. Realizing that this was the opportunity of his lifetime, Eminem delivered a furious medley of lyrics that wowed his hosts and radio audience alike.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The demand for all things Eminem is big, and rock journalist Bozza aims to fill in the gaps with some personal notes of his own. Culling from his own past interviews with the often-reviled rapper, Bozza's portrait begins four years ago, when he first met and interviewed 27-year-old Marshall Mathers III. He stumbled upon a young man growing into his fame and struggling with the demons of his past life. Eminem's music-propelled by Dr. Dre's beats and Mathers's own controversial lyrics-gave rise to a new era. But it was before this big break, before the awards, movie offers and protests, that Bozza met and connected with Eminem. The two would become irrevocably linked-Bozza gained prominence after writing a remarkable in-depth piece on Em for Rolling Stone, which took the cover and helped catapult the artist to superstardom. It is Bozza's relationship with Eminem that lends credibility to this bio, as well as his ability to fold personal reminiscence into longer analytical sections on Eminem's life, the Detroit rap scene and pop culture. Bozza's unprecedented access to Mathers then and now has given rise to one of the only fully honest accounts of the now brilliant star.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The sine qua non of white rappers gets star treatment by Rolling Stone-r Bozza. Eminem's "sense of timing and image management are nothing short of exceptional," you see, and he "lives in the world he dreamed of . . . when he birthed [musical alter ego] Slim Shady," which is supposed to be a compliment to Eminem's grasp on reality. Still, this is a serious enough book, crammed with facts and the musings of its subject. Yes, it is legend-making stuff, urgently delivered and pretty constantly giving the subject more than his "props" as Bozza dotes on the oh-so-awesome importance of the Great White Rapper's every act. But as the rap analog of Elvis (the white guy who sounds black), Eminem commands a huge audience, and as they did with the King, informed observers (the critics) debate his musical value and import. Oh, what the heck, get the book, display it, and reel in some of the highly prized YA breeder-male demographic. Hey, it's only rock and roll (and they like it). Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0593051882
• ISBN-13: 978-0593051887
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,015,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Title Is Misleading But Good For Rap Historians, December 18, 2005

By 

Irishgirl (Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem (Paperback)

I was so excited when I received "Whatever You Say I Am" for Christmas last year. Now, almost a year later, I've finally gotten through the final pages.

Why did it take so long you might ask? Well for starters, it was all I could do to keep my interest going. This is NOT an EMINEM BIOGRAPHY. I repeat, this is NOT an EMINEM BIOGRAPHY. The subtitle of this book is called "The Life And Times Of Eminem." While Anthony Bozza does a fine job of creating a book about the history of rap and how Eminem has influenced rap, it's culture and overall society, I soon figured out after reading chapter after chapter thick with rap's roots, that Bozza forgot to include Eminem's life in the book. Each chapter I started, I kept anticipating.....oh maybe this is the part where we get to see Eminem's life, influences, etc. But after reading yet another chapter of rap history such as with historical MC's like Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, I realized I was wrong again, and had to psych myself up to keep reading. It just got a bit boring after a while.

Also, I am a slow reader in general, but reading this book made me look like a speed demon before. It was truely agonizing at times trying to absorb what I just read. I cannot tell you how many times I had to go back and re-read Bozza's long, flowery-worded sentences laden with so many commas, you had to literally look back to see where the pause was and where the next statement began.

I realize that all the background of rap is influential. Bozza talks of the Blues, Sly & The Family Stone and R&B, The first known rap song, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang, famous MC's and the underground rap parties they threw, the controversy of Vinalla Ice, The Beastie Boys, and on and on. Bozza talks of how society has both embraced and despised Eminem after hearing the sides of the rapper, from his devotion to his daughter, his hate against women, his family-man traits, and his hate toward his mother. Bozza disects the reasons why society wants to listen to Eminem and why he changed the world of rap in more ways than just because he is white. Heck, Bozza even gives us the history of Detroit and how the rough and tough industrial city, it's racial barriers, rich suburbs and run-down neighborhoods shaped what Eminem became. This is all well and good, but again, where is Eminem's "Life And Times?"

We don't really even get a hint of Eminem's hard times in life on his way to the top until toward the end of the book. There you'll find a couple pages or so of Eminem's ups and downs with wife/ex-wife Kim, the fued with his mother who supposedly had some stability problems, all the moving around from school to school and home to home, his take on his father who abandoned he and his mother, etc. These pages were some of the most interesting parts of the book and were smooth reading for me, contrary to my staggered reading amongst all the history stuff. But this small section at the back of the book must have been what made the book a so-called biography.

The interviews were good; what there was of them. The main interviews basically follows Bozza and his journey with Eminem through the different parts of Detroit and where Eminem used to live, and you'll read about Eminem recalling what happened here and there. Then you'll also follow them into the old restaurant of home-cooked meals where Eminem used to work and listen to their discussions over pizza and booze. These too were some of the best parts of the book, in that Bozza's descriptions of the places and people around it enable the reader to get right into that actual scene and feel like he/she is a part of it.

But to put it bluntly, I wanted this book because I thought it would be a biography. I wanted to hear about how Eminem grew up on rap, how his upbringing influenced him, some history of the rap battles that he had to perform at to get to the top, the predjudices that he experienced along the way and all the other aspects of the "LIFE AND TIMES OF EMINEM." Bozza mearly just touches on these issues and devotes the rest of the book to how America has influenced Eminem, how Eminem has influenced America, how Eminem mirrors society and how he is in many ways the voice of a generation, the significance of racial issues and how this has shaped the outcome of Eminem's success, and on and on and on. So where is the "Life Of Eminem?" If you take a microscope, you can find bits and pieces.

Bozza has not written the perfect book about Eminem, but the perfect book about rap history and how it has shaped America. Bozza basically weaves rap society and American culture around the controversies that Eminem exhibits. To make a long story short, most of this book is about how a blonde, blue-eyed white guy came into the predominantly black rap world and peaked an interest in society not only because he is a white man in the black rap game, but because he is an authentic white rap artist who grew up with a rough childhood and around the rougher parts of society; mainly Detroit. It's about how Eminem used an upbringing and world of Detroit that he despised to create fuel for a lavish, successful career in the long run.

Overall, if you want a book about rap history, racial issues of rap, how society is influenced by rap and vice-versa, grab this book right now. If you want to know about Eminem; his "Life And Times," you might consider looking elsewhere because you won't find much of it here.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not enough history on Eminem, too much focus on culture, November 11, 2003

By 

Justin C (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem (Hardcover)

I just finished reading this book and I thought that it was well written from start to finish. Unfortunately, I did not get the content I was looking for. I was looking mainly for what Eminem did in the past and what he intends to do in the future. The book I would say was only 2/5ths that. The rest was focusing on hip-hop history. Chapter after chapter was the same stuff over again, but focusing on a different artist of hip-hop. Sometimes there was long stretches of pages that seemed to have no end, while not even mentioning eminem. If your looking for a book on hip-hop culture, this is a good one. If you want a book that shows the life and times of eminem, this book only counts as 2/5ths.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, but it should be called "Rap: 99-2003", June 30, 2005

By 

Jessica Lux (Rosamond, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem (Hardcover)

In the first few chapters, Bozza did an excellent job of putting Eminem in context. It's important to remember what the culture was like in 99 when the Slim Shady LP came out: TLC's No Scrubs was number one, Lauryn Hill and Celine Dion were superstars, as were the Backstreet Boys and Madonna. The culture was different in 2000 for The Marshall Mathers LP, after Columbine and when the presidency was on trial. Then Eminem lived a reality celebrity life until the 2002 release of his movie 8 Mile, which rocketed him into mainstream praise from "older" critics and a huge, diverse, fan base.

I enjoyed the first few chapters of "putting Eminem in context." But then it went on and on and on and on. I have no idea what point each chapter was trying to make. Bozza wasn't telling a linear story of Eminem's career; rather, these are random essays/parts of interviews which could each stand on their own as a magazine piece. There is no benefit to having them gathered as chapters in a book, and reading chapter after chapter about Eminem's place with Dre, DMX, Puffy, rap magazines, Rolling Stone, the VMAs, etc. gets old. This is much less about Enimen than it is about pop culture, rap, and hip-hop from 1999 through 2003. Bozza doesn't even do a very good job making Eminem the unifying theme between all his comments on pop culture.

Bozza did an outstanding job with Tommy Lee on his auto-biography Tommyland. This was his first effort, and it shows that he is a talented magazine writer, but not a biographer. If you want a good read, go pick up Tommyland.