Post Written By: Chris Stein
In class this week we watched a movie about Long Beach students who, with the help of a teacher Erin Gruwell, achieved something they could've never achieved before. The students of Woodrow Wilson High School transitioned from disobedient gang members to loquacious erudite students who journaled and documented their life on the streets in order to give themselves a better chance at success in life. In America, we have seen a parallel to this in the modern music culture, most prominently in hip-hop and rap. I personally see the movie 8 Mile as a relative parallel to Freedom Writers. Mathers's home life as a high schooler was seldom stable, and he wrote his own lyrics to rap songs on the radio while spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades even though he was extremely interested in English.
Taking to the streets, Marshall Bruce Mathers III showed off his rap skills in open mic contests in a west 8 Mile hip-hop shop and caught the attention of various rap groups. Eventually after gaining a reputation in the underground rap world, Eminem went official, signing with the Bass brothers, recording his debut album Infinite. Following this, Eminem released his debut EP, the Slim Shady EP, which fought the attention of Dr. Dre, one of the most prominent figures in music at the time. Just like Erin Gruwell helped her students become the "Freedom Writers," Dr. Dre took in white rapper Eminem, helping him produce his first major-label album The Slim Shady LP, which went triple platinum by the end of the year. Gaining momentum, Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP and the Eminem Show, both of which have been certified 10x platinum since their release.
