Eminem Grows Up

Eminem built his rep on beef. Whether the world’s favorite white-boy was waging war with Source Magazine mastermind Benzino, Ja Rule and The Inc., or his own mother, the emcee’s forked tongue-lashings knew no bounds.

The Encore, Em’s latest offering, promised to provide an equal amount of trademark lyrical libel, but as it dropped on Nov. 12 (or was downloaded in the preceding weeks) the world was introduced to a new-and-improved welter weight, Slim Shady.

Gone are Mr. Mather’s days of glorifying grudges to sell records. With a new perspective and an outstretched hand, Em’s new lexicon is preaching unity over quarrel.

“Usually the innocent people that really ain’t got much to do with it-besides affiliation-end up getting hurt or killed,” Eminem told MTV.

Um, but wait-if Em doesn’t hate anyone, what the hell is he going to rhyme about. Puuuuuppies? Greeeaaattt. His homies in Detroit are probably are really amped to hear that.

The Curse of R. Kelly

Speaking of ruckus, good old R. Kelly just can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble.

On the heels of completing collaboration with Jay-Z, dubbed Unfinished Business, the duo embarked on a nationwide tour. Kelly’s infamous bane quickly followed.

Kelly walked off stage at the Madison Square Garden after fearing that two men in the audience (cohorts of the Jigga) were brandishing weapons. Later in the evening, Kelly claims that he was confronted by members of Jay-Z’s entourage and assaulted with pepper spray.

R. Kelly’s fear that Jay-Z was attempting to “sabotage” his success led Kelly to drop off the tour and file a $75 million suit with New York’s state Supreme Court. (Hey, give the guy a break-he’s still paying legal fees for that whole “golden shower” thing.) Claiming that the Jigga and his associate’s threats of violence turned the tour into a “nightmare,” Kelly is seeking $15 million in compensatory damages and $60 million in punitive damages from Jay and Atlanta Worldwide Touring. Dubbing the remaining dates of the tour Jay-Z & Friends, Jay-Z enlisted the likes of Mary J. Blige, P. Diddy, Kanye West and Slick Rick to fill Kelly’s spot. In other unrelated news, nobody was too broken up about the turn of events. Weird.