The Three 8 Mile Battles
Three battles at the end of the 8 Mile movie made Jimmy Smith aka B. Rabbit a reputation in the rap arena. A real challenge for Jimmy Smith who was left with no voice at the beginning of the movie: a typical case of stage fright.
People who are not very much into hip hop need to realize the importance of a rap battle; rap battles can be compared to battles we have to face in real life. Words used in a freestyle or a rap battle are like a sword, they expose your opponent in a total nudity. When you get verbally ripped off, it is your turn to show your teeth and to use your verbal weapons in order to weaken your adversary. It's a matter of honor, you have to expose and verbally annihilate your enemy in order to make him look bad or ridiculous in front of the crowd that expects your answer with impatience. You can feel this kind of fever in 8 Mile when the crowd shouts : « What? What? » which means that it is your turn to respond.
Eminem perfectly knows the importance of a battle:
" That's one thing that I want this movie to get across, is that people who live in this world of hip-hop -- how seriously we take this, how seriously we take our music and battling and the sport of it and the competition and everything."
Losing a battle is terrible in an aspiring rapper's mind. Since the time he was unable to spit any word on stage, Jimmy Smith had been humiliated by Alex who had cheated on him with Wink. He had been knocked out by the Free World leaders in real life.
He had to take his lyrical revenge and prove his skills - also in order to keep his honor safe.
Three battles will help Jimmy to build his reputation.
Lickety Split battles B Rabbit on the « whiteness » of his music. He enumerates numerous white artists like Vanilla Ice and Elvis. He wants to prove that Jimmy's music is bad rap or even worse, no rap at all. The reference to Willie Nelson who -by the way- makes country music is intented to ridicule Jimmy. The only reference to a black artist is Tina Turner in a weak position, when she gets beaten up by her husband. He also points out his mistakes and the mistakes of his friend like Cheddar Bob!
« Yo, this guys a choke-artist
Ya catch a bad one
Ya better off shootin ya-self wit Popa Doc's handgun
Climbin up this mountain, ya weak
I leave ya lost witout a paddle, floatin shit's creek
You ain't Detroit, I'm the D
You tha new kid on the block, bout to get smacked back to the
boone-docks
F**kin Nazi, this crowd ain't ya type
Take some real advice
And form a group with Vanilla Ice
And what I tell ya
Ya better use it
This guy's a hillbilly this ain't Willie Nelson music
Trailer trash
I choke ya till ya last breath
And have ya lookin foolish like Cheddar Bob when he shot
his-self
Silly Rabbit, I know why they call you that
Cuz you follow Future, like he got carrots up his asscrack
And when you act it up, that's when you got jacked up
And left stupid like Tina Turner when she got smacked up
I crack ya shoulderblade
You'll get dropped so hard that Elvis will start turnin in his
grave
I don't know why they left you out in the dark
Ya need to take your white ass back across 8 Mile to the trailer
Park. »
In the first battle, Bunny Rabbit battles his opponent on his sugarcoated music style that questions his masculinity and his music style that looks like it was aimed at a 100% female audience. The first sentence is hilarious:
« This guy raps like his parents jerked him? »
The great majority of a hip hop battle audience is usually composed of men:
« He sounds like Eric Sermon
The generic version
This whole crowd looks suspicious
It's all dudes in here
Except for these bitches? »
He goes on making fun of the Free World leaders:
« That's ok, you look like a fuckin worm with braids
These leaders of the Free World rookies
Lookie, how can 6 dicks be pussies? »
He also makes himself look in a positive light, he enforces his role as a fighter and shoots at his enemy in a funny way. Lickety is too slow to follow Rabbit's rapid flow:
« Ya they call me Rabbit
This is a turtle race
He can't get wit me spittin this shit
Wickedy Lickety shot
Spicious spickety split Lickety
So I'ma turn around wit a great smile
And walk my white ass back across 8 Mile? »
Bunny Rabbit conquered the crowd. But he had to battle Lotto.
Second round. Second fight.
Like his fellow Lickety Split, Lotto comes with a strong racial argument, which appears to be a bad strategy:
« Huhhh huhhh
I'll spit a racial slur honkey sue me
This shit is a horror flick
But a black guy doesn't die in this movie
Fuckin wit Lotto dog you gotta be kiddin
That makes me believe, you really don't have an interest in livin
You think these niggas gone feel the shit you say? »
His hatred of Jimmy as a white man clearly appears in his whole speech. Jimmy fully counters his attack in the second part of his verse:
« Matta fact dog, here's a pencil
Go home, write some shit, make it suspenseful
And don't come back until somethin dope hits you
Fuck it
You can take the Mic home wich you
Lookin like a cyclone hit you
Tanktop screamin, "Lotto I don't fit you"
You see how far them white jokes get you
Boys like, how Vanilla Ice gone diss you?
My motto:
Fuck Lotto
I get the 7 digits from ya mother for a dollar tomorrow? »
Bunny Rabbit makes the battle become more lyrical as he criticizes Lotto's writing ability:
« Matta fact dog, here's a pencil
Go home, write some shit, make it suspenseful
And don't come back until somethin dope hits you
Fuck it
You can take the Mic home wich you
Lookin like a cyclone hit you
Tanktop screamin, "Lotto I don't fit you »
He also definitely shuts his mouth about the « white jokes ».
Third and final round: Bunny Rabbit vs. Papa Doc.
Bunny Rabbit has managed to get rid of two of his enemies. He feels better about himself and has gained some confidence.
He now rallies the crowd from the 313:
« Now everybody from the 3-1-3
Put ya muthafuckin hands up and follow me
Everybody from the 3-1-3
Put ya muthafuckin hands up
Look look? »
People from the Detroit ghetto are proud to belong to the 313 area calling code. People from the 313 are supposed to be cool unlike the people from the 810 area.
Jimmy's strategy is intelligently worked out. He perfectly knows his worst enemy, who-by the way- doesn't raise his hand:
« Now while he stands tough
Notice that this man did not have his hands up
This Free World's got ya gased up
Now who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? »
He knows that he's a gangsta wannabe. There is nothing « ghetto » nor « gangsta » in him :
« 1, 2, 3 and to the 4
1pac, 2pac, 3pac, 4
4pac, 3pac, 2pac's, 1
Your Pac, he's Pac, No Pac's, None? »
But Bunny Rabbit's best strategy is his huge honesty and it will pay off in the end. He doesn't hide what he is nor his mistakes:
« I am white
I am a fuckin bum
I do live in the trailer wit my mom
My boy future is an Uncle Tom
I do got a dumb friend named Cheddar Bob who shoots himself in his leg with his own gun
I did get jumped
By all 6 of you chumps
And Wink did fuck my girl
I'm still standin here screamin fuck the Free World! »
Then Rabbit reveals Papa Doc's intimate and hidden secrets to the crowd:
« But I know somethin about you
You went to Cranbrook, that's a private school
What's the matter dog you embarrassed?
This guys a gangster? His real name's Clarence
And Clarence lives at home with both parents
And Clarence parents have a real good marriage
This guy don't wanna battle, he's shook
Cuz ain't no such things as Half Way Crooks!
He's scared to death
He's scared to look
At his fuckin yearbook
Fuck Cranbook?»
Jimmy's great force lies in his total honesty. He is not ashamed of living in a trailer park and even proud to be « white trash »:
« Fuck a beat, I go acapella
Fuck a Popa Doc, fuck a clock, fuck a trailer fuck everybody
Fuck yall if you doubt me, I'ma piece of fuckin white trash I say it proudly
And fuck this battle I don't wanna win, I'm outtie
Here, tell these people somethin they don't know about me? »
Papa Doc is left totally unweaponed and speechless. Happy end for Rabbit who eventually wins his fight for recognition.
These 3 rap battles from 8 Mile also teach us a lesson about real life: don't try to play yourself. Be honest, accept yourself with your imperfections, your failures, your mistakes, but always be yourself.
I do teach English and German at public schools. I am an Eminem biographer and a freelance music journalist.
More Resources
Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting
More Music Information:
Related Articles
How to Find Musical Ideas
The Russian Composer Igor Stravinsky once said: " A good composer does not imitate; he steals."I think what he meant by this is that it's OK to use a technique developed by another and make it your own.
Composing for Dummies
When most people hear the word composer, they automatically think of classical composers like Mozart or Beethoven. This is the point where many "would be" composers freeze up because they tell themselves that their music could never be as good.
Your First Guitar
Congratulations, you just bought you first guitar! Now that you've met the love of your life and made that big commitment, you're probably excited about building a good relationship with your new partner. But where do you begin? You've just come home from the music store with this beautiful, mysterious stranger, or perhaps even rescued an abandoned orphan from the flee market or pawn shop.
Interview With Josh Epstein of Vision Music USA
Vision Music USA is a proactive and progressive music service firm with the interest of their clients the driving force that makes them successful. President Josh Epstein and CEO Nick Stamoulis are focused on helping the Independent artists to maintain control of their career by saving them time and their hard-earned dollars.
Ouch, It Hurts When I Sing!
When I first set out to write this article about voice problems in singers, I was looking for two experts from contrasting fields of medicine - "medical" and "holistic". What I found, instead, in the first practitioner that I interviewed, was a delightful mixture of the two.
Music Business Contacts: Music Business Registry connects artists, managers, publishers, producers &
"The difference between success and failure is information," notes Ritch Esra, and he should know. Along with his partner, Stephen Trumbull, Esra is a leading part of the number one most-reliable source of information on "who's who" and "who does what" in the music business.
The King of the Delta Blues Singers - Robert Johnson Still Stands at the Crossroads
Probably the most enigmatic Singer and Guitarist of the twentieth Century is now one of the most revered and respected of all Musicians who make up the Genre of the 'Blues'. I speak of course about the wonderful Robert Leroy Johnson.
Spectral Muses Revisited: The Channeled Melodies of Rosemary Brown
Rosemary Brown (1916-2001) was a middle-aged South London widow, making ends meet as a grade school kitchen assistant, who rocketed to international fame in 1968 through a BBC broadcast recounting her purported collaborations with long-dead composers. These included Liszt, J.
Guitar Players...Get a Balanced Guitar Practice Diet
Do you have a wide variety of things that you practice. Or do you like to binge? (You know.
People are Turning to Meaningful Songs for Emotional and Spiritual Relief:
A New Breed of Aspiring Songwriters Is In The Making. What are the Sacrifices of the Solo Singer Songwriter in Today's Changing Culture?David La Motte and Michael Alan are performing musicians and singer songwriters who share their experiences and insights about the hard work required to earning a livelihood in the music business.
Bluegrass Music - Alive and Well in the Appalachians
One of the Appalachian Mountain region's greatest contributions to the world is Bluegrass music. Born in hills and hollows, Bluegrass is simply mountain folk music with heavy Celtic influences.
Eminem: A Social Commentator
In an interview given to Musik Magazine in 2000, Eminem comments some of his lyrics: 'Please Lord, this boy needs Jesus/Help this child, help him destroy these demons/Please send me a brand new car and a prostitute while my wife is sick in the hospital'. What I'm trying to say is we've got all these preachers going 'Jesus, Jesus! And then they're molesting kids.
Music For Self Improvement
Would you like to pop in a CD and have a better quality of life, and even self improvement? There are three ways you can use music to accomplish this.Music For MotivationPut on energetic music, and even doing housework seems less like work.
How to Construct Chords and Improvise
How To Construct Basic Chords on the PianoThe easiest way to start learning how to build chords is to practice their constructions in the key of C Major. You're just playing all white keys.
Do You Know What a Didgeridoo Is?
Do you know what a didgeridoo is? There are so many things in this life that are unknown to us. I bet you could find out about something outside your normal sphere of vision and experience everyday for the rest of your life and still not get close to knowing about everything out there.
Are iPods Changing the Way We Listen to Music
They're everywhere, and not only are they everywhere, they look cool too. Since its launch in 2001, 10 million have sold and 8 million of those were in 2004.
Play Piano As Fast As Possible!
One of the rules of practicing we all hear over and over is "Be sure to practice slowly." (I'm guilty of this too!) Often the result of this is a feeling of inhibition, which leads to tedium.
A Brief History of Fender Guitars
Perhaps no other guitar maker has touched the hearts of so many players and collectors as Fender. By producing excellent guitars at reasonable prices, Fender has been the instrument of choice for many guitarists throughout the world.
Radio - What's Happened To It?
Remember when radio stations played great music?OK, before you accuse me of sounding like your dad, I'll rephrase that. Remember when radio stations played an exciting variety of music and artists and you never knew what they would play and when?Well my friends if you do remember that, you've probably been around awhile.
Music Bytes - Tips For Saving On Professional Software For Musicians, Part I
If you are outraged by the prices software giants demand for their tools, it's time to check out shareware. Small independent developers often provide similar solutions that cost three to five times less AND you get to try them before paying.