In a new track with Ceelo Green titled ‘The King and I’ for the upcoming movie Presley, Eminem restates that he “stole black music.”
Eminem and Ceelo Green have just released ‘The King and I’ for the upcoming biopic Presley which will cover the life and origins of Elvis Presley. During the new track, Eminem retreads the matter of him stealing black music, an issue he has been repeatedly criticized for in the past.
“I stole black music, yeah true,” he raps. “Perhaps used it (For what?) as a tool to combat school/Kids came back on some bathroom shit/Now I call a hater a bidet (Why?)/’Cause they mad that they can’t do shit (Haha).”
“Now I’m about to explain to you all the parallels/Between Elvis and me, myself/It seem obvious: one, he’s pale as me/Second, we both been hailed as kings/He used to rock the Jailhouse, and I used to rock The Shelter/We sell like Velveeta Shells & Cheese (Woo!) (Let’s go!).”
This of course immediately draws parallels to Elvis’ career, as both are white men who were demonstrably successful in a genre of music that was built by black folk. They both heavily owe their success to the people who laid the foundation of the genres they flourished in.
Elvis in particular has drawn criticism for comments he allegedly made in the late 1950’s about black women, “The only thing a Black woman can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes.”
During a 1957 interview with Jet Magazine, Presley denied saying anything of the sort, explaining at the time, “I never said anything like that, and people who know me know I wouldn’t have said it.” Even so, the Hip Hop community historically rejected Presley as the “king of rock n’ roll.”
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Elvis has made public comments on those who came before him and admitted, “he could never hope to equal the musical achievements of Fats Domino or the Inkspot’s Bill Kenny.”
The writer of the previously mentioned Jet Magazine story, Louie Robinson, concluded: “To Elvis, people are people regardless of race, color or creed.”
