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Not Afraid: The Evolution of Eminem
The sequel to the New York Times bestseller Whatever You Say I Am, chronicling the last 20 years of rapper Eminem's life, based on exclusive interviews with the artist, his friends, and associates
In 1999, a former dishwasher from Detroit named Marshall Bruce Mathers III became the most controversial and polarizing musical artist in the world. He was an outlier, a white artist creating viable art in a black medium, telling stories with such verbal dexterity, nimble wit, and shocking honesty that his music and persona resonated universally. In short, Eminem changed the landscape of pop culture as we knew it.
In 2006, at the height of his fame and one of the biggest-selling artists in music history, Eminem all but disappeared. Beset by nonstop controversy, bewildering international fame, a debilitating drug problem, and personal tragedy, he became reclusive, withdrawing to his Detroit-area compound. He struggled with weight gain and an addiction to prescription pills that nearly took his life. Over the next five years, Eminem got sober, relapsed, then finally got and stayed clean with the help of his unlikely friend and supporter, Elton John. He then triumphantly returned to a very different landscape, yet continued his streak of number one albums and multiplatinum singles.
Not Afraid picks up where rock journalist Anthony Bozza's bestselling Whatever You Say I Am left off. Capturing Eminem's toughest years in his own words, as well the insights of his closest friends and creative collaborators, this book chronicles the musical, personal, and spiritual growth of one of hip hop's most enduring and enigmatic figures.
In 1999, a former dishwasher from Detroit named Marshall Bruce Mathers III became the most controversial and polarizing musical artist in the world. He was an outlier, a white artist creating viable art in a black medium, telling stories with such verbal dexterity, nimble wit, and shocking honesty that his music and persona resonated universally. In short, Eminem changed the landscape of pop culture as we knew it.
In 2006, at the height of his fame and one of the biggest-selling artists in music history, Eminem all but disappeared. Beset by nonstop controversy, bewildering international fame, a debilitating drug problem, and personal tragedy, he became reclusive, withdrawing to his Detroit-area compound. He struggled with weight gain and an addiction to prescription pills that nearly took his life. Over the next five years, Eminem got sober, relapsed, then finally got and stayed clean with the help of his unlikely friend and supporter, Elton John. He then triumphantly returned to a very different landscape, yet continued his streak of number one albums and multiplatinum singles.
Not Afraid picks up where rock journalist Anthony Bozza's bestselling Whatever You Say I Am left off. Capturing Eminem's toughest years in his own words, as well the insights of his closest friends and creative collaborators, this book chronicles the musical, personal, and spiritual growth of one of hip hop's most enduring and enigmatic figures.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 5, 2019
62 people are currently reading
739 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Bozza
22 books28 followersAnthony Bozza is living the life many only dream about. As the bestselling author of seven books, including the autobiographies of Slash, Tommy Lee, Artie Lange and Tracy Morgan, Bozza has both the ear and the trust of rock and pop culture royalty. He is currently co-writing Wyclef Jean’s autobiography as well as publishing up-and-coming authors and cutting edge non-fiction via his Igniter Literary Group, an imprint of Harper Collins’ It Books. Bozza co-founded Igniter with fellow bestselling author Neil Strauss.
Bozza’s writing career began with an internship at Rolling Stone, where he did the usual fact-checking and assistant work that comes with the job. But his knowledge and love of music quickly let to his big break after a friend turned him on to a then-unknown white rapper called Eminem. Bozza championed Eminem, singing his praises to his editors a year before he was even signed to a record deal. In 1999, when Rolling Stone decided to do a cover story on Slim Shady’s debut release, they assigned Bozza, who made the most of the opportunity. That defining portrait of Eminem led to six other cover stories, numerous features and countless articles over Bozza’s seven year tenure at the iconic magazine. During that time he also wrote and edited the “Random Notes” section, following in the footsteps of legendary culture critics like writer-director Cameron Crowe as well as MTV’s Kurt Loder. By 2002, Bozza had done it all, so he left Rolling Stone to focus on writing books, but by no means has he lost his love for the music scene and how it speaks to and reflects the state of our society.
His cover stories and multiple features on Eminem evolved into Bozza’s first book, Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem. It was deemed a “compelling” investigation of the “Shadyification of America” by New York Times’ critic Janet Maslin and became an international bestseller. The book wisely focused not only on Eminem himself, but on how his success as a white rapper spoke to the state of race and culture in America. From there, Bozza has never looked back. He collaborated with Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee, then Guns n’ Roses guitarist, Slash, on their respective autobiographies, Tommyland and Slash - both bestsellers. He went on to work with comedian Artie Lange, whose autobiography Too Fat to Fish debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list and remained on the list for 22 weeks. Bozza’s next two books were Why AC/DC Matters and I Am the New Black, the autobiography of 30 Rock and SNL star Tracy Morgan. Bozza has written for magazines and newspapers worldwide, including Spin, Maxim, The New York Times, The Guardian/Observer (U.K.), Q, Mojo, Paper, Nylon, Blender and Radar, and continues to do so as often as possible.
Never one to rest on his past success, Bozza is in the midst of his next collaboration, this time with Wyclef Jean of the Fugees, a story that will be both uplifting and heartbreaking in light of the recent tragedy in Jean’s home country of Haiti. Bozza has also sought out new and exciting challenges as co-publisher of Igniter Literary Group, which will be distributed by Harper Collins’ It Books. The imprint’s first release, The Last Living Slut: Born in Iran, Bred Backstage, will redefine the rock groupie memoir upon its release in June 2010. Igniter’s next title, The Man Behind the Nose, is the autobiography of Larry “Bozo the Clown” Harmon and will be released in August 2010. And as if all that weren’t enough, Bozza is shopping a TV show that will feature him in the field, chasing down interviews with pop culture’s most notoriously elusive and difficult subjects.
Bozza lives in New York City.
Bozza’s writing career began with an internship at Rolling Stone, where he did the usual fact-checking and assistant work that comes with the job. But his knowledge and love of music quickly let to his big break after a friend turned him on to a then-unknown white rapper called Eminem. Bozza championed Eminem, singing his praises to his editors a year before he was even signed to a record deal. In 1999, when Rolling Stone decided to do a cover story on Slim Shady’s debut release, they assigned Bozza, who made the most of the opportunity. That defining portrait of Eminem led to six other cover stories, numerous features and countless articles over Bozza’s seven year tenure at the iconic magazine. During that time he also wrote and edited the “Random Notes” section, following in the footsteps of legendary culture critics like writer-director Cameron Crowe as well as MTV’s Kurt Loder. By 2002, Bozza had done it all, so he left Rolling Stone to focus on writing books, but by no means has he lost his love for the music scene and how it speaks to and reflects the state of our society.
His cover stories and multiple features on Eminem evolved into Bozza’s first book, Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem. It was deemed a “compelling” investigation of the “Shadyification of America” by New York Times’ critic Janet Maslin and became an international bestseller. The book wisely focused not only on Eminem himself, but on how his success as a white rapper spoke to the state of race and culture in America. From there, Bozza has never looked back. He collaborated with Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee, then Guns n’ Roses guitarist, Slash, on their respective autobiographies, Tommyland and Slash - both bestsellers. He went on to work with comedian Artie Lange, whose autobiography Too Fat to Fish debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list and remained on the list for 22 weeks. Bozza’s next two books were Why AC/DC Matters and I Am the New Black, the autobiography of 30 Rock and SNL star Tracy Morgan. Bozza has written for magazines and newspapers worldwide, including Spin, Maxim, The New York Times, The Guardian/Observer (U.K.), Q, Mojo, Paper, Nylon, Blender and Radar, and continues to do so as often as possible.
Never one to rest on his past success, Bozza is in the midst of his next collaboration, this time with Wyclef Jean of the Fugees, a story that will be both uplifting and heartbreaking in light of the recent tragedy in Jean’s home country of Haiti. Bozza has also sought out new and exciting challenges as co-publisher of Igniter Literary Group, which will be distributed by Harper Collins’ It Books. The imprint’s first release, The Last Living Slut: Born in Iran, Bred Backstage, will redefine the rock groupie memoir upon its release in June 2010. Igniter’s next title, The Man Behind the Nose, is the autobiography of Larry “Bozo the Clown” Harmon and will be released in August 2010. And as if all that weren’t enough, Bozza is shopping a TV show that will feature him in the field, chasing down interviews with pop culture’s most notoriously elusive and difficult subjects.
Bozza lives in New York City.
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January 10, 2022THIS BOOK HAD ME LIKE SKIM SHADY
October 3, 2023
"If you do what we do and you get that break and become a successful artist, you go through the honeymoon phase. At that point you’re so popular and the public is so in love with you that you can take a shit on a fucking cookie, and everybody will love it. Enjoy that, because after the honeymoon is over, you actually have to stand up and make something that tastes good.
That was the true test, and Marshall passed it..."
~LL Cool J.
Not Afraid had its moments, but in the end, left a bit to be desired... It is the sequel to his 2003 book Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem, which I just read before starting this one. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the writing here any more than I did the previous book.
Author Anthony Bozza is a New York City-based writer and journalist who has written extensively for Rolling Stone and other magazines. Apparently, he had closer access to the rapper than any other journalist or author.
Anthony Bozza and Marshall Mathers:
The book opens with a decent preface; written by LL Cool J. He drops the quote at the start of this review. The book ends with an epilogue by Marshall's long-time manager Paul Rosenberg. Unfortunately, a slow intro follows the preface, which was a harbinger of the rest of the writing to follow.
Bozza covers a super cringey freestyle Eminem did for the 2017 BET awards, where he goes off on a TDS-inflicted rant. In all honesty, I pretty much stopped paying attention to him after this, as he seemed to become more and more partisan, and his raps started becoming laden with low-resolution political screechings. I also found it supremely ironic that an artist who made millions of dollars and an entire career by being a supremely obscene, obnoxious shock to the system could be so easily triggered by a politician. This, after he spent decades lashing out at politicians who were triggered by his words. We have gone a full 180. Sadly, I think the irony would be lost on him...
The author drops this quote about his relationship with Eminem, and his career:
The book picks up where the last one left off, circa ~2003, with Eminem riding high at the pinnacle of his career. Unfortunately, sitting on top of the game is a hell of a demon that not many people are able to deal with. Typically surrounded by yes men and other assorted sycophants, there is often no one around to help the artist curb their excesses.
Newly divorced, and unsure of where to go forward, Marshall retreated inside his mansion and began a life of overindulgence that would ultimately see him almost die.
In this quote, Bozza reveals the extent of Eminem's drug addiction:
The book also spends a bit of time talking about the loss of Marshall's best friend DeShaun Dupree Holton (aka Proof). Someone who was there right from the beginning every step of the way, Proof ended up being shot inside a shady bar late one night after an altercation over a game of pool.
Unfortunately, there is an absolutely baffling torrent of white guilt included in the book. There are pages upon pages of long-winded nonsense about "cultural appropriation" regarding white people doing rap music. It sounds like the author basically says that white people shouldn't be making rap music.
There is also a huge chunk of writing about white "privilege" - in both rap music, and life; in general. The author felt it was necessary to spend a large chunk of this book on examining Eminem's "white privilege."
It's interesting that all the talk of cultural "appropriation" only goes one way; to chastize white people for partaking in other cultures. When it's the other way, it's called "inclusion" and "diversity," and celebrated.
Which brings us to the bigger issue here: Why tf was this nonsense even included here in the first place? Why does a book on Eminem have so much of this crap in it??
And what white "privilege" did Eminem have exactly?? He grew up poor as fuck, in a single-parent household with no father, moving from home to home, being raised by an alcoholic and drug-addicted mother. She kicked him out of the house countless times. He got constantly bullied in school, with one incident putting him into a coma and giving him a traumatic brain injury. He failed the 9th grade 3 times, and left high school permanently. His close childhood companion, his uncle Ronnie, killed himself when Eminem was 19. He worked long hours as a dishwasher and short-order cook for minimum wage for years. His apartments were broken into countless times, and he had everything he owned stolen from him multiple times. He was drug addict, his wife cheated on him, gave birth to another man's child, and his best friend was murdered. Some great "privilege" there, Bozza. What a moron FFS. I can't stand nonsense like this...
Marshall Mathers ascended up to the pinnacle of his craft through sheer grit, practice, determination, and being at the right place, at the right time. His music was unlike the music that anyone else was putting out. I would also argue that his skill level is also far above any of his peers. He put together rhymes and lyrics that none of his contemporaries could match. And he teamed up with a credible industry head (Dr. Dre) and emerged with an exciting sound, right when rap as a genre was peaking in pop culture. A time when a new generation of kids started tuning in (including white kids). And that they found something relatable about the authenticity of Eminem's stroy has nothing to do with a "privilege" of any kind. To write off this rags-to-riches underdog story as nothing more than "white privilege" is just slippery dishonesty.
********************
Not Afraid did not meet my expectations at all. And the heavy inclusion of white guilt and leftist nonsense left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
2 stars.
That was the true test, and Marshall passed it..."
~LL Cool J.
Not Afraid had its moments, but in the end, left a bit to be desired... It is the sequel to his 2003 book Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem, which I just read before starting this one. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the writing here any more than I did the previous book.
Author Anthony Bozza is a New York City-based writer and journalist who has written extensively for Rolling Stone and other magazines. Apparently, he had closer access to the rapper than any other journalist or author.
Anthony Bozza and Marshall Mathers:
The book opens with a decent preface; written by LL Cool J. He drops the quote at the start of this review. The book ends with an epilogue by Marshall's long-time manager Paul Rosenberg. Unfortunately, a slow intro follows the preface, which was a harbinger of the rest of the writing to follow.
Bozza covers a super cringey freestyle Eminem did for the 2017 BET awards, where he goes off on a TDS-inflicted rant. In all honesty, I pretty much stopped paying attention to him after this, as he seemed to become more and more partisan, and his raps started becoming laden with low-resolution political screechings. I also found it supremely ironic that an artist who made millions of dollars and an entire career by being a supremely obscene, obnoxious shock to the system could be so easily triggered by a politician. This, after he spent decades lashing out at politicians who were triggered by his words. We have gone a full 180. Sadly, I think the irony would be lost on him...
The author drops this quote about his relationship with Eminem, and his career:
"As someone who knew Marshall Mathers way back when, who carefully chronicled his rise and most essential years and has ever since always watched his evolution, I found this moment to be significant. I saw the seeds of something that, to be honest, I’d almost written off. I never dismissed Marshall as an artist, but I had put him on pause. I’d listened carefully to every one of his records and was up to date on all his movements, but I’d noticed a shift in his work artistically that I understood but was not always riveted by. Over the course of the past fifteen years, since I wrote Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem, Marshall went through ups and downs equally as traumatic as his childhood. He reaped the benefits of commercial and artistic success, but he also suffered greatly, losing his best friend; going through divorce, remarriage, and redivorce with Kim; and almost succumbing to his chemical demons.
Yet somehow, through downward spiral and rebirth, he carved out a niche that went beyond his skills as a lyricist and rapper. He created a sound whose origin story could be heard in his early work but that had come into its own. It was as emotional and confessional as early tracks like “If I Had” and “Rock Bottom,” but sleekly crafted and reimagined as shots aimed more for the charts than the heart. And they worked. They really did: “Love the Way You Lie,” “The Monster,” and “Not Afraid” all peaked at number one, as had Recovery, Marshall Mathers LP 2, Relapse, and Revival. All those albums and all those singles are great and equal to what had initially caught my ear. Personally, I’ve always been more engaged by the wise-ass rhymes in “Drug Ballad,” the blistering sing-song ferocity of “Kill You,” and the songwriting genius of “Stan.” That was Mr. I Just Don’t Give a Fuck, the word-obsessed rebel with an endless clip of rhymes to fire and nothing to lose."
The book picks up where the last one left off, circa ~2003, with Eminem riding high at the pinnacle of his career. Unfortunately, sitting on top of the game is a hell of a demon that not many people are able to deal with. Typically surrounded by yes men and other assorted sycophants, there is often no one around to help the artist curb their excesses.
Newly divorced, and unsure of where to go forward, Marshall retreated inside his mansion and began a life of overindulgence that would ultimately see him almost die.
In this quote, Bozza reveals the extent of Eminem's drug addiction:
"...His abuse reached its apex in 2007, when Mathers bought methadone from a dealer in an effort to curb the stomach problems that were beginning to plague him from consuming, by his account, up to thirty Vicodin and forty to sixty Valium per day. “My everyday regimen would be, wake up in the morning and take extra-strength Vicodin. I could never take more than one and a half because it tore up my stomach lining. So I’d take the one and a half and it’d kind of be Vico-din throughout the day. Then, as evening crept up, around 5:00 or 6:00, I’d start with a Valium or two, or three, or four. And every hour on the hour, I’d pop four or five more. The Ambien would put me over the top to go to sleep. Towards the end, I don’t think the shit ever put me to sleep for more than two hours . . . two, three times a night, I would get up and take more.”
The book also spends a bit of time talking about the loss of Marshall's best friend DeShaun Dupree Holton (aka Proof). Someone who was there right from the beginning every step of the way, Proof ended up being shot inside a shady bar late one night after an altercation over a game of pool.
Unfortunately, there is an absolutely baffling torrent of white guilt included in the book. There are pages upon pages of long-winded nonsense about "cultural appropriation" regarding white people doing rap music. It sounds like the author basically says that white people shouldn't be making rap music.
There is also a huge chunk of writing about white "privilege" - in both rap music, and life; in general. The author felt it was necessary to spend a large chunk of this book on examining Eminem's "white privilege."
It's interesting that all the talk of cultural "appropriation" only goes one way; to chastize white people for partaking in other cultures. When it's the other way, it's called "inclusion" and "diversity," and celebrated.
Which brings us to the bigger issue here: Why tf was this nonsense even included here in the first place? Why does a book on Eminem have so much of this crap in it??
And what white "privilege" did Eminem have exactly?? He grew up poor as fuck, in a single-parent household with no father, moving from home to home, being raised by an alcoholic and drug-addicted mother. She kicked him out of the house countless times. He got constantly bullied in school, with one incident putting him into a coma and giving him a traumatic brain injury. He failed the 9th grade 3 times, and left high school permanently. His close childhood companion, his uncle Ronnie, killed himself when Eminem was 19. He worked long hours as a dishwasher and short-order cook for minimum wage for years. His apartments were broken into countless times, and he had everything he owned stolen from him multiple times. He was drug addict, his wife cheated on him, gave birth to another man's child, and his best friend was murdered. Some great "privilege" there, Bozza. What a moron FFS. I can't stand nonsense like this...
Marshall Mathers ascended up to the pinnacle of his craft through sheer grit, practice, determination, and being at the right place, at the right time. His music was unlike the music that anyone else was putting out. I would also argue that his skill level is also far above any of his peers. He put together rhymes and lyrics that none of his contemporaries could match. And he teamed up with a credible industry head (Dr. Dre) and emerged with an exciting sound, right when rap as a genre was peaking in pop culture. A time when a new generation of kids started tuning in (including white kids). And that they found something relatable about the authenticity of Eminem's stroy has nothing to do with a "privilege" of any kind. To write off this rags-to-riches underdog story as nothing more than "white privilege" is just slippery dishonesty.
********************
Not Afraid did not meet my expectations at all. And the heavy inclusion of white guilt and leftist nonsense left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
2 stars.
June 24, 2020
I grew up listening to Eminem and still enjoy his music today. This book was a mixed bag. On the one hand, I learned a few things about Eminem and his history that I didn't previously know, which helped bridge some gaps in my thinking. On the other hand, Bozza is often highly opinionated and won't let you forget Eminem's past controversial lyrics and is keen on telling you which albums are better than others. Some of the opinionated rants seemed out of place for the subject matter.
April 25, 2021
از اونجایی که فن امینم هستم دیدم بد نیست این کتاب رو بخونم و منی که خیلی با کتاب های بیوگرافی حال نمیکنم حداقل اینو بخونم.
انتظارم از یه کتاب بیوگرافی خوب بی طرف بودن اون کتاب و شنیدن چیزاییه که من طرفدار(خواننده) نمیدونم. ولی به راحتی میتونم بگم 90 درصدشو میدونستم و کاملا مشخصه که نویسنده فن امینم هست.
نظرات شخصیش رو خیلی جاها به عنوان فکت میگه و مصاحبه های اختصاصی خوبی هم نداره. انگار تیکه های روزنامه و مجلات رو بریده و چسبونده به هم.
جدای از این ها اصلا کتاب بدی نیست و مخصوصا اگه کسی اطلاعات کمی داره و میخواد در مورد امینم و اطرافیانش و به کل موزیک رپ اطلاعاتش بیشتر شه کتاب خوبیه.
انتظارم از یه کتاب بیوگرافی خوب بی طرف بودن اون کتاب و شنیدن چیزاییه که من طرفدار(خواننده) نمیدونم. ولی به راحتی میتونم بگم 90 درصدشو میدونستم و کاملا مشخصه که نویسنده فن امینم هست.
نظرات شخصیش رو خیلی جاها به عنوان فکت میگه و مصاحبه های اختصاصی خوبی هم نداره. انگار تیکه های روزنامه و مجلات رو بریده و چسبونده به هم.
جدای از این ها اصلا کتاب بدی نیست و مخصوصا اگه کسی اطلاعات کمی داره و میخواد در مورد امینم و اطرافیانش و به کل موزیک رپ اطلاعاتش بیشتر شه کتاب خوبیه.
March 23, 2020
The author got way off topic too many times. I didn't feel like this was a book about Eminem, it was full of facts about so many other things that weren't interesting. I could go pages before he would reference back to Eminem. It was wordy and repetitive.
November 2, 2021
I am a massive Eminem fan and was looking forward to reading this book but it was a disappointment. The author constantly goes off subject and rambles on about other artists. I wanted to read a book about Eminem not about tonnes of other people and little snippets about Eminem.
February 9, 2024
This book was OK. A good portion of it talked about other rappers, and the author left the impression that, with the exception of eminem, white people shouldn't be allowed to rap. The rest of the book was OK, nothing special.
May 4, 2020
In a nutshell: A deep dive into what the author calls the "second act" of Eminem's career, "Not Afraid" is a solid piece of long-form music journalism.
Pros:
-Plenty of quotes and interviews to back up the information presented.
-Does not solely focus on Eminem, but also takes a look at hip hop as a whole, the impact of overnight fame and what it means to be a white rapper in a genre created by African Americans.
-Concise and accessible. "Not Afraid" covers 15 years of Eminem's life in less than 300 pages. It was easy to sit down and read a few pages or several chapters at a time. This was the first music-biography I've ever read, but I had no problem keeping up, and nothing got too technical.
Cons:
-The author is clearly a fan of Eminem, but his bias sometimes crosses the line into overdramatic, cheesy territory.
-Multiple instances of gatekeeping rap music and rap fans. "True rap fans look forward to..." "Real hip hop heads would never think..." etc, etc.
-This book definitely needed another read-through from a copy editor. A couple misspelled words I can forgive, but misspelling the names of multiple musicians in a book about music? That's not acceptable. Kanye was spelled "Kayne" at one point. Ridiculous.
All in all, "Not Afraid" was an overarching and enjoyable look at the last decade and a half of Eminem and his music. It wasn't perfect, but I liked it enough that I'll probably check out the author's first book about Eminem, "Whatever You Say I Am." And I'll certainly be reading more music books as well.
Pros:
-Plenty of quotes and interviews to back up the information presented.
-Does not solely focus on Eminem, but also takes a look at hip hop as a whole, the impact of overnight fame and what it means to be a white rapper in a genre created by African Americans.
-Concise and accessible. "Not Afraid" covers 15 years of Eminem's life in less than 300 pages. It was easy to sit down and read a few pages or several chapters at a time. This was the first music-biography I've ever read, but I had no problem keeping up, and nothing got too technical.
Cons:
-The author is clearly a fan of Eminem, but his bias sometimes crosses the line into overdramatic, cheesy territory.
-Multiple instances of gatekeeping rap music and rap fans. "True rap fans look forward to..." "Real hip hop heads would never think..." etc, etc.
-This book definitely needed another read-through from a copy editor. A couple misspelled words I can forgive, but misspelling the names of multiple musicians in a book about music? That's not acceptable. Kanye was spelled "Kayne" at one point. Ridiculous.
All in all, "Not Afraid" was an overarching and enjoyable look at the last decade and a half of Eminem and his music. It wasn't perfect, but I liked it enough that I'll probably check out the author's first book about Eminem, "Whatever You Say I Am." And I'll certainly be reading more music books as well.
January 7, 2020
It was okay. Bozza says some things that are false and at times is overly opinionated. He claims that Em’s “The Storm” BET freestyle was completely off the top of his head, and claims that Encore was lyrically more sophisticated compared to MMLP and The Eminem Show (claiming that they were more melodic), which in my opinion is the exact opposite of the truth. I thought that Marshall’s lyrical skill suffered, while the melodies picked up for what the concepts lacked on Encore. Bozza completely lost me in the fourth chapter, which basically just shits on any white rapper that is not Eminem. Some of what he says might be true, but for the most part this is where I realized that the book should be taken with a grain of salt. There are some interesting things that even Eminem fans might learn from this book, but overall It was just an okay read.
January 6, 2020
This was more like a long synopsis on the history of rap and hip hop, the music industry, and a review of all media snippets Eminem has given. Em is apparently a private person, but I feel like I learned little about him personally. The author traces back through Em’s work and correlates it with what was going on in his life. There isn’t much first person going on here.
I love the topic but the book was eh.
I love the topic but the book was eh.
August 31, 2020
The tone of the book is almost quite representative of his songs, brash and straight forward but unlike his songs, this was not great. The first quarter of the book is something I wouldn't call fresh but it has bits of new information, at least new to me about Eminem's troubles with drugs and especially the loss of a close friend Proof. It briefly talks about some of his albums and his alter ego Slim Shady and the kind of style he brought into his songs. 4th chapter on white rap was a bit dragged on, more like a diss chapter against people. As much as I enjoy Em's diss songs, this chapter felt way too dragged. I didn't count but at least fifty singers would have been mentioned in that single chapter just as a purpose for dissing. The rest of the book was about one album after another, partly containing lyrics and what they meant, although it might be informative, it was a boring to be honest. Would rather suggest people read first three chapters and then the end of the book and it would probably be the best parts of this book you'll read. A little let down to be frank.
January 14, 2020
It was more of a lecture on rap. Didn't really give any real insight into Eminem.
August 26, 2020
Eminem is the greatest, been a fan since day one ❤
August 16, 2024
I love Eminem
June 3, 2021
The book Not Afraid The Evolution of Eminem written by Anthony Bozza is an autobiography that follows the life long fame of Marshall Mathers. This book starts from the beginning of Eminem’s life all the way through the start to his fame while working with other artists. Non-fiction is very different from all the other books I have read. I have always been a fan of Eminem and his music so when I saw this at the bookstore, I knew I had to read it.
Born and raised in Detroit, Marshall Mathers became the most controversial music artist in a short period of time. He was a former dishwasher who struggled with many issues such as personal trauma to drug use. This book goes into detail about how he started writing poems then later on to his raps. It shows the meaning behind some of his lyrics and what other artists he worked with.
The ending of this book was not perfect but still very enjoyable to read. I learned a little more about Eminem and his personal life. Some parts of the book were very opinionated. There were song and album reviews by the author which were also very opinionated but were interesting. This book did seem much like an autobiography at times. My favorite part was just the book overall. There were many interesting chapters of the book that I did not know about Eminem.
My personal opinion of this book is that for a while it was very enjoyable to read and kept my interest. After some chapters there was not as much detail and almost a little boring. It was still overall a great autobiography. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Eminem or the rap industry. A similar book to this is another autobiography of Eminem called Whatever You Say I Am written by Anthony Bozza.
Born and raised in Detroit, Marshall Mathers became the most controversial music artist in a short period of time. He was a former dishwasher who struggled with many issues such as personal trauma to drug use. This book goes into detail about how he started writing poems then later on to his raps. It shows the meaning behind some of his lyrics and what other artists he worked with.
The ending of this book was not perfect but still very enjoyable to read. I learned a little more about Eminem and his personal life. Some parts of the book were very opinionated. There were song and album reviews by the author which were also very opinionated but were interesting. This book did seem much like an autobiography at times. My favorite part was just the book overall. There were many interesting chapters of the book that I did not know about Eminem.
My personal opinion of this book is that for a while it was very enjoyable to read and kept my interest. After some chapters there was not as much detail and almost a little boring. It was still overall a great autobiography. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Eminem or the rap industry. A similar book to this is another autobiography of Eminem called Whatever You Say I Am written by Anthony Bozza.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2023
The book was ok overall. I found it to be heavily opinionated at times. Some parts I found boring as the author spoke about other hip-hop artists, primarily of the white race, who produced songs around the same time as Eminem. Although the history of hip hop, the contributions and failed attempts of other artists helps paint a picture of Eminem’s true talent and what he was up against, it was too dry for my liking. I didn’t want to read about other artists in depth so I found myself skipping parts because I was bored. So for that reason I couldn’t give it a higher rating. I picked up the book to read about Marshall Mathers not other white rap artists. That was maybe only a chapter though.
Bozza writes about Marshall Mather’s albums (from Relapse onwards), individual songs, samples used and the intent behind them such as paying homage to Rick Rubin and old-school hip-hop. Bizarre reflects on Marshall’s artistic talent to reinvent himself after taking a break to get sober chronicling his musical, personal, and spiritual growth while using Marshall’s own words and insights from some of his closest friends and collaborators. Writes about Marshall’s drug use, recovery, and life afterwards being sober.
Bozza writes about Marshall Mather’s albums (from Relapse onwards), individual songs, samples used and the intent behind them such as paying homage to Rick Rubin and old-school hip-hop. Bizarre reflects on Marshall’s artistic talent to reinvent himself after taking a break to get sober chronicling his musical, personal, and spiritual growth while using Marshall’s own words and insights from some of his closest friends and collaborators. Writes about Marshall’s drug use, recovery, and life afterwards being sober.
March 4, 2021
What a strange biography.
There was Chapter 4 which was self-indulgent dirge dissing other music artists rather than any real analysis or “newsworthy” discussion by the author. Protip: seriously, just skip that entire chapter.
There were the psychological explanations into Eminem’s behaviour and personality by a psychologist who does not treat Marshall Mathers.
There were personal opinions by the author about Eminem’s music and other hip hop acts. Like, maybe go write a personal blog on WordPress?
Album reviews throughout seemed misplaced in a biography and would have been better suited to a Rolling Stone review or somewhere like that.
In terms of biographical information, there simply wasn’t enough. And they were the interesting parts. Snippets from people closest to Eminem was sparing. For a biography on one of music’s most fascinating artists, more of these personal and close insights would have salvaged this book. Maybe.
Finally, I hope the author doesn’t read this review. I’m being quite snarky and I don’t like being mean, but I was disappointed and confused and ... yeah, bored, which explains why I read it in total of three hours, if not less.
Ah well.
Next.
There was Chapter 4 which was self-indulgent dirge dissing other music artists rather than any real analysis or “newsworthy” discussion by the author. Protip: seriously, just skip that entire chapter.
There were the psychological explanations into Eminem’s behaviour and personality by a psychologist who does not treat Marshall Mathers.
There were personal opinions by the author about Eminem’s music and other hip hop acts. Like, maybe go write a personal blog on WordPress?
Album reviews throughout seemed misplaced in a biography and would have been better suited to a Rolling Stone review or somewhere like that.
In terms of biographical information, there simply wasn’t enough. And they were the interesting parts. Snippets from people closest to Eminem was sparing. For a biography on one of music’s most fascinating artists, more of these personal and close insights would have salvaged this book. Maybe.
Finally, I hope the author doesn’t read this review. I’m being quite snarky and I don’t like being mean, but I was disappointed and confused and ... yeah, bored, which explains why I read it in total of three hours, if not less.
Ah well.
Next.
February 8, 2021
This is supposed to be a follow up to later parts of Eminem's life from the same author that wrote Whatever You Say I Am. WYSIA was way more interesting because the author actually talked with Em for it. In this book he interviewed some people close to him so it wasn't the same. They did say some interesting things that I hadn't heard before so it's worth reading for any fan. Also, the author went into great detail about individual songs of his in the second half of his career. That was great. You can definitely tell what a big fan of rap overall the author is. He's knowledgeable. He kind of gives a history of rap overall and tells about many different songs and groups through the years. I would say even someone who isn't a huge Em fan but is a huge hip-hop fan would really enjoy this book.
November 1, 2023
Somehow got my hands on the version that was still being routed / in the works (bought from a used book store). With that said, I'm not sure how much of it changed or remained the same but would have to imagine a good chunk of it.
The book is good, nothing out of this world. I enjoyed how Bonza incorporated Royce and LL Cool J, etc I think it helped make the book be what it became. There was a lot of white talk, which is fair to an extent, same with the leftists, at times I think it was overkill but nonetheless made the points needing to be made. At the end of the day, I felt as if I knew a lot of the material talked about so didn't gain too much from this, but would recommend if you're a fan of Em and don't really know his background.
The book is good, nothing out of this world. I enjoyed how Bonza incorporated Royce and LL Cool J, etc I think it helped make the book be what it became. There was a lot of white talk, which is fair to an extent, same with the leftists, at times I think it was overkill but nonetheless made the points needing to be made. At the end of the day, I felt as if I knew a lot of the material talked about so didn't gain too much from this, but would recommend if you're a fan of Em and don't really know his background.
January 8, 2020
Good book
I did not know too much about Eminem before reading this so it was nice to read a book that categorized why Eminem was the top selling musician of the first decade of this century
Unfortunately, the author lacked personal interviews with people close to Eminem and he spent a majority of the book dissecting Eminem lyrics praising his lyricism
Overall though, not a bad book and I would recommend it to anyone who is still wondering how Donald trump won the election (Eminem and trump have a similar fan base though Eminem would never want to be associated with him)
I did not know too much about Eminem before reading this so it was nice to read a book that categorized why Eminem was the top selling musician of the first decade of this century
Unfortunately, the author lacked personal interviews with people close to Eminem and he spent a majority of the book dissecting Eminem lyrics praising his lyricism
Overall though, not a bad book and I would recommend it to anyone who is still wondering how Donald trump won the election (Eminem and trump have a similar fan base though Eminem would never want to be associated with him)
January 20, 2020
3.5. The author had some strong sections, where I learned a fair bit about the history of hip hop and rap. Some interesting insights into Eminem’s life as well, but not nearly enough depth into early Marshall. From what I see in the comments, that’s more this author’s first book (which I can’t seem to find anywhere). Definitely a number of tangents, and a few opinionated, repetitive parts, but overall a good read.
October 10, 2020
REALLY GOOD READ IF YOURE AN EMINEM FAN. THEY EXPLORE HOW HE ALWAYS HONORS HIP HOP AND STAYS TRUE TO THE ROOTS. HOW HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN POLITICAL AND USES HIS MUSIC TO TALK ABOUT THE INJUSTICES THAT ARE GOING ON. HE USES HIS WHITE PRIVILEGE FOR GOOD. TALKED SOME OF HIS ADDICTION AND STRUGGLES. WENT OVER ALBUMS FROM RELAPSE TO KAMIKAZIE. My only complaint is that I wish he had an actual interview with Eminem instead of just taking from other interviews he’s done.
December 15, 2023
I love music and Eminem is one of my favorite artists of all time, I love reading biography books and learning about that person and what has happened in their life. This was an excellent read and I would recommend it to someone who loves Eminem and would like to learn more about him. There were some nitpicky things like how the author gives his opinion on stuff about Eminem a lot and it can get a little buggy but for the most part, it's a very good read.
December 10, 2019
Was expecting a bit more to be honest. Then again, it's a decent book if you're an Eminem fan. The start was a bit slow, but picks up the pace eventually. Halfway through the book, the story goes on a tangent about something else entirely. I felt the last few chapters were the best parts of the books since it focused on some of Eminem's recent work.
October 23, 2020
Bozza is painfully biased and seems to take a hard political correct take on Eminem's music, which seems weird if you've been a fan of Eminem since the Slim Shady LP. His takes on Eminem's music and lyricism is much to be desired, though the retelling of the background to certain events in Eminem's life that led to certain albums was useful.
March 6, 2022
This was well researched and a comprehensive look at Eminem's career. (With a side of too much history of rap).
Love him or hate him, you can't help but respect him and what he's accomplished. I think he is pretty misunderstood based on his controversial lyrics but I appreciate the evolution and self awareness.
Love him or hate him, you can't help but respect him and what he's accomplished. I think he is pretty misunderstood based on his controversial lyrics but I appreciate the evolution and self awareness.
November 22, 2019
Bozza does a good job of tracing Eminem's career and life post Curtain Call while providing context and explaining historically significant factors that contributed to the artist's trajectory. It's a quick read focused on being informative.
February 5, 2020
A comprehensive commentary of the birth and growth of the rap Industry and Eminems enduring legacy in it. The book gave me lots of recommendations too for tracks and albums to add to Spotify. The next will be the prequel which I expect talks more about Eminem s life history
January 8, 2021
The author spends a little too much time analysing the music with a music fan lens, and gushing over the topic. This book shines when the author talks about the impact of Marshall Mathers' actions on others around his relationship with his world.
May 9, 2024
I love Eminem, and this book was very insightful about his rap career, his problems with addiction, his family and personal life. I enjoyed reading this every step of the way, and this was written perfectly. I'm not usually one for biographies, but this one really spoke to me.
5/5
5/5
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