Eminem’s Lyrical “Genius” Only Grows With His Latest Partnership
For many years, Rap Genius was the go-to place for Heads looking to peep the lyrics to favorite songs, making the website one of the first to cater to the needs of a particular genre demographic. Now they’re just Genius, and their user-submitted arsenal of song lyrics continue to be accompanied by annotations provided by fans and the artists themselves. The annotations give the lyrics contextual meaning, decipher regional slang, provide historical information, and much more, making the relationship between music and fan so much more interactive than what a simple lyrical database can do.
In more recent years, artists have gotten involved in the annotation, reading the content submitted by users on camera and correcting the ones who need it, or agreeing with those who were spot on in their deciphering. Earlier this year, Ice Cube hooked up with Vanity Fair to film his response to Genius’ lyrical annotations of “Straight Outta Compton.” While earlier this year, Eminem annotated and explained some of his most memorable lyrics, he is now stepping it up through a major partnership.
In a move that may forever change the way relationships between artists and fans operate, Eminem has announced that he has partnered with Genius in a multi-tiered arrangement that includes Em’s investing in the site, according to Billboard. The MC will also be annotating any new music he releases himself, something that Nas and Pharrell, and many others have already begun doing. According to Em’s manager Paul Rosenberg, “Genius provides an avenue for fans to dig deeper into their favorite songs, but more importantly, it gives artists a way to communicate their artistic intent directly to those fans. For an artist like Eminem, the intricacies and nuances in his lyrics are very layered and his art is a perfect fit for this type of tool. We’re excited about what this partnership brings for both sides.”
Additionally, Genius and its vast database will reportedly help with lyrics on Eminem’s own site, Eminem.com.
To read the entire story, check out “Eminem To Invest In Genius: Exclusive” at Billboard.com