EMINEM MAKES US
FACE THE "DARKNESS"

Along with his brand-new album, Music to Be Murdered By (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope), Eminem has released a powerful new video, “Darkness,” which is bound to prompt some intense conversation.

Before we say anything else, we urge you to watch this piece all the way to the end.

Like a lot of Eminem’s work, “Darkness” is a look inside the mind of a desperate man. But once it becomes clear who that man is and what he’s about to do, the stakes become infinitely higher. And by the end, it's very clear where the artist stands.

We won’t sugarcoat it: Those who’ve witnessed the eruption of violence, particularly at big events, will find it especially painful to watch. But Eminem, whose live appearances are mainly at festivals, is framing the conversation this way because it affects him and other artists directly. It’s going to spark a lot of controversy, but Em has a crucial point to make about guns in our culture, mental health intervention and the “new normal” we’ve been forced to accept by the political dynamics of America.

Sometimes it takes a fearless artist to make us face something this devastating. "Darkness" is likely to provoke outrage, which is its intention. But if you're more outraged by the portrayal of these issues in art than the issues themselves, you're truly missing the point.

Once again, please be sure to watch to the end.