Magazine Accuses Eminem of Racism

NEW YORK – The Source (search) magazine has Eminem (search) on the defensive over a decade-old song that calls black girls "dumb" and depicts them as gold diggers.

In the latest chapter of the Source's campaign against Eminem, Source principals David Mays and Raymond Scott held a press conference to play the recording. It features Eminem, who is white, saying things like: "Black girls are dumb, and white girls are good chicks."

There also is another brief song in which a rapper, who the Source says is Eminem, uses the n-word.

The tape was provided to the magazine by "three white hip-hop fans from Detroit who were peers of Eminem in the early '90s, at the time of the recording," the Source said in a press release Tuesday.

Eminem acknowledged that he made the song deriding black women. He said in a statement it was "something I made out of anger, stupidity and frustration when I was a teenager."

"I'd just broken up with my girlfriend, who was African-American, and I reacted like the angry, stupid kid I was. I hope people will take it for the foolishness that it was, not for what somebody is trying to make it into today."

Regarding the n-word, Eminem's publicist, Dennis Dennehy, told The Associated Press on Thursday: "We haven't heard the first tape and can't confirm whether it's him."

Although Mays and Scott expressed outrage at the tapes and called Eminem a racist, black rappers often depict black women in far less flattering terms, and have made the use of the n-word a common occurrence.

Of course, Eminem is white, as is Mays.

The beef between Eminem and the Source began when Scott and Mays accused Eminem of exploiting hip-hop culture. They claimed that Eminem receives preferential treatment because of his race, a charge later refuted by Jay-Z (search) and other top rappers, who cited Eminem's considerable skills.

Scott, who records under the name Benzino, attacked Eminem on several songs. Eminem responded with songs claiming that Scott had targeted him to pump up the anemic sales of his poorly received albums.

The Source published a poster in February 2002 featuring a cartoon of Scott holding Eminem's decapitated head.

Eminem has a history of inflammatory and derogatory comments about women, gays, and just about everyone else in between, including his mother and his ex-wife. His comments about women and gays drew the ire of women's rights groups and gay activists when his "The Marshall Mathers LP" was nominated for album of the year at the 2001 Grammys.

Of late, however, Eminem seems to have toned down his bitter words, and has gained more acceptance. Besides winning several Grammys, he won an Oscar this year for his song "Lose Yourself" from his semi-autobiographical movie "8 Mile."