Eminem is the most successful artist of the 21st century. His Marshall Mathers album sold an incredible 1.76 million copies in its first week, which is the highest first-week sale for a solo artist in history. While there are hundreds of runner-ups, Eminem is leading the way as the poster boy of moral depravity in the music industry today. In tragic hypocrisy, the mainstream media claimed to lament the loss of lives as a result of the Columbine massacre, and in the next breath praised the creativity of corrupters of youth like Eminem. Sadly, just a year after 12 students and a teacher were unmercifully gunned down at Columbine High, Eminem rapped about his dream of pulling off another massacre at Columbine and murdering still more students. Consider the lyrics to his song, “I’m Back,” from his Marshall Mathers album:

"I take seven [kids] from [columbine] and stand ’em all in line. Add an AK-47, a revolver, a nine, a Mac-11 and this ought to solve this problem of mine. And that’s a whole school of bullies shot up all of the time, ’cause I’m Shady…"

On this very song, Eminem speaks of his influence on others through his music:

"I take each individual degenerate’s head and reach into it, just to see if he’s influenced by me, if he listens to music, and if he feeds into this sh**, he’s an innocent victim, and becomes a puppet on the string…"

Incredibly, at the Grammy’s, following the Columbine Massacre, Michael Green, the President of the Recording Academy, claimed that music was a great influence on the youth of the Country, but was never a cause of teen violence. On this very night, Eminem would receive awards for his violent music. Eminem’s label, Interscope, conveniently edited out the word Columbine before his Marshall Mathers album came out as though it were a cuss word and left in Eminem’s desire to kill several students. It is incredible that the world has become so jaded by the perpetual onslaught of filth from the cesspool of the entertainment industry, that Eminem could put out an album a year from such a tragedy as Columbine, while the families are still healing, and have unprecedented success.

Spin magazine claims that Eminem "wrestles with the ramifications he knows he has on his listeners." An artist rapping about killing more children at Columbine is hardly wrestling with the wicked influence he is having on others. In defense of his song about glorifying killing more students at Columbine, Eminem declares that:

"nobody ever looked at it from the f—– point of view of the kids who were bullied…"

This is like saying "nobody ever looked at the Holocaust from the standpoint of Adolf Hitler." Incidentally, Klebold and Harris did not go after kids who supposedly bullied them, but were themselves bullies of the worst sort and went after Christians and innocent young ladies. Among those slain were innocent boys and girls, including eight high profile Christians on the Columbine campus. From the audio recordings we have obtained that Klebold and Harris made before the massacre, we have their own testimony that they were going after Christians and they even mentioned Rachel Scott by name, along with her "Christianity." Eminem justifies his own bullying and right to victimize others because he had a supposedly tough life. Eminem, though, has lived like a king compared to the great majority of those who live on our planet who have nothing or next to nothing to eat and are dying of various diseases. Eminem’s evil diatribe is filling the airways, and as a result, tens of millions of young people are being influenced by his cancerous thoughts. While his venomous lyrics will not produce ten million Dylan Klebold’s or Eric Harris’ overnight, it will produce chilling effects, to say the very least. Even a few thousand little boys turning into Klebold’s and Harris’ is far too many. While tens of millions of young people will not plan to wipe out other children at their schools as a result of Eminem’s music, millions will become more and more desensitized to the concept of mass murder, and the fallout will somehow be manifested in their lives. Music, like no other influence known to man, can have an effect on human consciousness. Rolling Stone admitted:

"A song or an album can change your life; a great concert will change it on the spot."

Tori Amos, who said that Lucifer sits at her piano and helps her with her music, said:

"Music is the most powerful medium in the world because of the frequencies. You’re hitting places in people that remind them that they are more than just this functional being."

Science writer and composer, Robert Jourdain, wrote in his book, Music, The Brain And Ecstacy:

"Music seems to be the most immediate of all the arts. …Music possesses us. …It really is as if some ‘other’ has entered not just our bodies, but our intentions, taking us over."

World-renowned musicologist, David Tame, has said, "Music is the language of languages." Tame went on to declare:

"It can be said of all the arts, there is none that more powerfully moves and changes the consciousness."

Medical Dr. and brain specialist, Richard Pellegrino, who is a consultant to the entertainment industry, wrote an article for Billboard Magazine, about the power of music. Dr. Pellegrino speaks of the incomparable power of music upon the human brain, stating that music has the uncanny power to:

"…trigger a flood of human emotions and images that have the ability to instantaneously produce very powerful changes in emotional states."

Pellegrino went on to declare:

"Take it from a brain guy. In 25 years of working with the brain, I still cannot affect a person’s state of mind the way that one simple song can."

This is startling when one also realizes that young people are by far the most susceptible to the effects of music. Newsweek Magazine writes of the importance of what they refer to as the "tween" years (between 8 – 14) and the tremendous amount of neurological growth that takes place at this juncture of a person’s life:

"Under the best circumstances, these can be difficult years. It’s a time of tremendous neurological growth, comparable only to the period just after infancy…"

Many rock stars have admitted the effect they are having on their fans through music. Adam Yauch, of the Beastie Boys, has stated that their lyrics:

"ended up having a lot of really negative effects on people…when you’re creating music, it has a tremendous influence on society."

Eminem states in his song, “Marshall Mathers”:

"I think I was put here to…destroy your little 4-year-old boy or girl."

Frank Zappa, who was quite antichrist and said that when he saw a fish on the back of someone’s car he identified them as the enemy, also admitted to the incredible power and influence rock music has over the human race. In an article he wrote for Life Magazine he stated:

"The ways in which sound affects the human organism are myriad and subtle. The loud sounds and bright lights of today are tremendous indoctrination tools."

In Spin magazine’s cover story on Eminen (The Devil & Mr. Mathers…) they refer to the "spirit of slim shady" that Eminem, the rapper, encountered while in the bathroom. Apparently, Eminem is allowing an evil spirit, which identifies itself as Slim Shady, to channel perverse lyrics through his body and influence the young impressionable masses.

In his song, “Guilty Conscience,” Eminem runs through a series of scenarios with different characters fighting between their consciences and the choice of robbery, rape, kidnapping and murder. The voice that encourages them to do evil is identified as Slim Shady’s. The conscience laments, "Don’t even listen to Slim…he’s bad for you…" The song ends with the apparent victory of the demon Slim’s voice over that of the conscience. While Spin Magazine reported that he first met the spirit of Slim Shady when he was in the bathroom, in his song, “Low, Down, Dirty,” he writes about "Hearing voices in my head while these whispers echo, ‘Murder Murder Redrum" (redrum is murder backwards). In his song, “Amityville,” on his Marshall Mathers album, he revels in the influence he exerts over his audience as he influences the kids to fill the mosh pit and hurt each other:

"Throw on ‘Guilty Conscience’ at concerts and watch mosh pits till mother——s knock each other unconscious…"

Eminem realizes that he is a role model to millions of lost youth, and he plays the part to the hilt. He admitted:

"I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think I was a role model to kids…because whether you like it or not, if a kid is buying your CD, he’s looking up to you."

In his song, “Role Model,” he exclaims:

"You can try this at home, you can be just like me…Follow me and do exactly what the song says: smoke weed, take pills, drop out of school, kill people and drink… Now follow me and do exactly what you see."

Eminem admitted:

"When I was growing up, I wanted to rap about s— people were scared to rap about. Some people will say stuff just for shock value. But if I’m thinking it, I’m gonna say it. I make a lot of my own personal business public."

Of his web site, Slimshadyworld, Eminem makes the following revealing statement:

"This is the 1st opportunity to have complete creative control on something outside of my music. It is going to be some crazy entertaining s— and I hope the fans will love it. This will show a more humorous side of me in comparison to the serious stuff on the album."

Satan has long cloaked his desires in humor to make his lies more palatable, but we know that Eminem takes "serious" much of his "stuff on the album" . Eminem is aware that he must ride a tight rope between acting like he takes much of the content in his lyrics quite seriously and abdicating responsibility. Rappers are constantly under the scrutiny of their fans that worry that they are commercial sellouts and are not in some way wedded to their lyrics in their real life circumstances. This is why Mark Bass who helped Eminem produce the Marshall Mathers album, became somewhat defensive when trying to explain the rock element to Eminem’s rap album. He claimed that as artists, they were really hip-hop and that they live the hip-hop lifestyle. "We are fans of hip-hop. We live it. But we touch on the rock thing." We should also note that the millions of children who are being brought up on this immoral filth are not given any clear guidelines to follow in separating reality from fiction. Of course when the body bags are being counted, rap and rock stars are guilty of scurrying into the crevasses like so many cockroaches when the lights come on, i.e. KMFDM, Rammstein, etc. While they may escape judgement in the liberal society that tolerates such evil, they will not escape the eternal fires of hell at the great white throne judgement, unless they turn from their sin to Jesus Christ! In yet another of Eminem’s songs, he sings about slitting his wife’s throat, stuffing her in the trunk of his car and then dumping her off a bridge into the water. So sick is this song that he uses baby talk to manipulate his baby girl to help him dump her off the peer:

"Wake up sweepy head we’re here, before we pway, we’re gonna take mama for a wittle walk along the pier. Baby, don’t cry honey, don’t get the wrong idea mama’s too sweepy to hear you screamin’ in her ear (ma-maa!) That’s why you can’t get her to wake, but don’t worry, da-da made a nice bed for mommy at the bottom of the lake. Here, you wanna help da-da tie a rope around this rock? (yeah!) We’ll tie it to her footsie then we’ll roll her off the dock. Ready now, here we go, on the count of free…One… two… free… WHEEEEEE! (whoooooshhhhh)There goes mama, spwashin in the wa-ta. No more fightin’ wit dad, no more restraining order…give her kisses bye-bye, tell mama you love her."

Eminem wrote another song called “Stan” about an imaginary fan that is inspired by Eminem’s lyrics and views him as his role model and ends up killing his girlfriend in a similar way that Eminem envisions killing his wife. Stan writes Eminem a series of letters that go unanswered at first, and then does the dirty deed. Eminem finally returns a letter, but it is too late:

"Dear Slim, I wrote you but you still ain’t callin’…I got a room full of your posters and your pictures, man… My little brother…He’s only six years old…. you’re like his f—– idol. He wants to be just like you man, he likes you more than I do…I can relate to what you’re sayin’ in your songs…I even got a tattoo with your name across the chest. Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds…My girlfriend’s jealous ’cause I talk about you 24/7… I hope you hear it, I’m in the car right now. I’m doing 90 on the freeway. Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka, ya dare me to drive…See Slim, {screaming} shut up b—-, I’m trying to talk. Hey Slim, that’s my girlfriend screaming in the trunk. But I didn’t slit her throat, I just tied her up, see I ain’t like you. ‘Cause if she suffocates, she’ll suffer more, and then she’ll die too. Well, gotta go, I’m almost at the bridge now. Oh s—, I forgot, how am I supposed to send this s—out? {screeching tires, crashing sounds, car splashes into the water}…[letter to Stan from Eminem] Dear Stan, I meant to write you sooner Stan, Why are you so mad? Try to understand that I do want you as a fan. I just don’t want you to do some crazy s—. I seen this one s— on the news a couple weeks ago that made me sick. Some dude was drunk and drove his car over a bridge, and had his girlfriend in the trunk and she was pregnant with his kid. And in the car they found a tape but it didn’t say who it was to. Come to think about it…his name was…it was you. D—!"

In yet another song called “Kim,” which is supposed to be a prequel to his song about slitting his wife’s throat, he raps about catching his wife cheating on him and then brutalizing her with graphic sound bites of domestic abuse:

"Sit down b—-! You move again, I’ll beat the s— out of you/ Don’t make me wake this baby/ She don’t need to see what I’m ’bout to do/ Quiet b—-/ Why you make me shout at you…"

In an interview with Eminem by MTV News, Eminem talked about how his wife, Kimberly Mathers, was sickened by the song “Kim”: "We were both sitting in the car," Eminem said:

"and she just looked over at me, and I said, ‘You don’t have anything to say?’ She was like, ‘You’re f—ing crazy’…So I think it disturbed her a little bit. She don’t want to listen to the song. But, you know, that was the way I felt at the time."

The song proved to be eerily prophetic of Eminem, as it struck too close to home for his wife Kim. Nine hours after Eminem was brandishing a gun in the face of an associate of rival rappers, Insane Clown Posse, at a car stereo store, he found his wife kissing another man outside a Detroit nightclub. Eminem proceeded to pistol whip John Guerra, who she was kissing, repeatedly across the head before the man was able to flee. After being pistol whipped by Eminem, Guerra said that Eminem’s wife had kissed several people in the parking lot goodnight and then, "she gave me a kiss and the next thing I hear is, ‘Gun! Gun! Gun’" Guerra stated that Eminem stuck the gun only inches from his face and threatened to kill him, "I truly believe he was going to kill me. He was in such a rage." Guerra further lamented, "I actually lived through a nightmare and survived a nightmare, I’m still shaking. I have a hard time sleeping." Guerra was beat on for a while with the pistol, and then fled before further harm was done. All of this goes to demonstrate that Eminem’s lyrics are too close to reality to not be taken seriously by his fans. Teri VanHorn reported after an interview with the rapper that:

"But while the rapper’s career has soared, recent events in his personal life have featured all the volatility and turmoil of, well, an Eminem song…There are obvious similarities between Eminem’s alleged actions that weekend and some of the content on the Marshall Mathers album. The rapper disses Insane Clown Posse in a crude skit, while he angrily accuses his wife of cheating on him in "Kim," which ends with him, choking her to death."

VanHorn goes on to state that:

"Some of the new album’s lyrics are based on real experiences, Eminem says, while some are purely fictional and others are a combination of fact and fiction. He says many of his rhymes are intended to push listeners’ buttons."

Is it possible that Eminem went ballistic as a ploy for a publicity boost for his already skyrocketing record sales? "For the average 27-year-old, two felony arraignments in as many days would be a nightmare," Brian Dickerson, a Detroit Free Press columnist, said:

"But in the perpetually pre-adolescent world of rap, where police troubles lend authenticity to the gangster pretensions of puerile misogynists such as Mathers, it’s like winning the lottery twice in one week."

Dickerson went on to call Eminem fans "maladjusted teenagers" who "mindlessly slap down [their] allowance for Mathers’ whiny, faux-macho lyrics." Whether Eminem reacted in an authentic evil manner or whether he reacted in a calculated manner to convince gangster rap fans that he is truly an evil person who acts out what he raps, the net effect is the same. Eminem has sent a message to fans like Stan, he’s not "clowning" around after all, fans can take his lyrics at face value.

In his song "Who Knew" , Eminem raps mockingly about being surprised that his music is having such a negative effect on his listeners:

"Cause I never knew I, knew I would get this big. I never knew I, knew I’d affect this kid. I never knew I’d, get him to slit his wrist. I never knew I’d, get him to hit this b—-"

Eminem’s last album has the wickedest and most suggestive lyrics of all, alluding in at least three songs to school, shootings. Eminem boasted that some "kids look at me…like I’m a god." Apparently this is true, so influenced are some children by Eminen’s rapping that one group calling themselves the South Warren St. Kids wrote a two page letter to George Constance, the Warren city attorney who vowed to prosecute Eminem for his recent rash of violence. The letter made threats of fire-bombing city authorities with bottles filled with gas if charges against Eminem were not dropped immediately. The South Warren St. Kids declared that Eminem is "our Christ" and that "we party in his name." He also said of some of his fans:

"They’re into hurting themselves. They’re cult people, f—— devil worshippers, who say I’m right next to Satan in their thoughts."

The fact that Eminem, with his perverse and violent lyrics, would be the hottest artist in rock or rap in the 21st century is yet another sign of the wicked times in which we live. We were warned in God’s holy Word that human depravity would radically decline prior to Christ return to judge the world:

"Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts…" –2 Peter 3:3

"But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…" –1 Timothy 4:1

"But realize this that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." –2 Timothy 3:1-5, 12-13

God already wiped out the world once in the great flood, and we are warned that the conditions that precipitated the flood will take place before the judgement of the great fire when Christ returns with His mighty angels in flaming fire to judge the world (Matthew 24-25). We are told that just prior to the flood, the thoughts of men were only wicked continually and the world was filled with violence (Genesis 6). Sadly today, with the likes of Eminem, the thoughts of the human race are becoming evil like never before, as demonic beings can now utilize mass media, something they did not have at there disposal prior to the last century. God, in His Holy Word, has warned us that we are not to walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers. We are commanded to meditate on God’s word day and night so that we will be strong like trees planted by the rivers of water. On the other hand, the Scripture goes on to affirm that the wicked will be blown away like so much chaff on the day of judgement (Psalm 1:1-4). Jesus Christ warned that while the good man draws from the good stored up in his heart, the evil man draws from the evil stored up in his heart and produces evil fruit as a result:

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." –Luke 6:45

Basically, this is the principle of garbage in and garbage out or reaping what one sows. If you are storing up the evil lyrics of Eminem or any other artist spewing forth evil rather than the wholesome words which are in accordance with God’s truth, you are sure to see the unwholesome affects in your life. God’s word warns that we are to cast down imaginations that are against Christ and bring all of our thoughts into the captivity of Christ (2Corinthians 10:4-5). Let us obey the following command when it comes to music and movies and every other area of life:

"Finally, brethren, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things." –Philippians 4:8

Perhaps those Christians who have televisions or radios would be wise to tape this Scripture on them and only turn them on when we know that what is coming out of them complies with this verse and the totality of Scripture. If you cannot obey this Scripture because you claim that your TV and stereo are causing you to stumble and you are too weak to overcome the sensual onslaught of temptation that your stereo or TV provides, perhaps you should get rid of these relatively recent inventions. Jesus said:

"And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." –Matthew 5:29

Jesus is usually understood here to be speaking figuratively, as you would still have a right eye to sin with and the ultimate problem as He taught repeatedly is in the heart (Mark 7:21-23). However, Jesus is still understood to be saying that we are to deal radically with the practice of sin and avoid hell at all cost. I believe that we can draw at least this application: If your TV or stereo is causing you to sin, get rid of them, for it would be better to enter heaven without a TV and a stereo than to go into hell fully loaded. May God help us to use modern technology to his glory, and if we cannot, may He help us to do away with it that we may live to His glory and at the final judgement hear the beautiful words, "Well done, My good and faithful servant." –Matthew 25:23