The Three 8 Mile Battles

Home
>
Music & MP3
>
The Three 8 Mile Battles

Three battles at the end of the 8 Mile movie made Jimmy Smith aka B. Rabbit a reputation in the rap arena. A real challenge for Jimmy Smith who was left with no voice at the beginning of the movie: a typical case of stage fright.

People who are not very much into hip hop need to realize the importance of a rap battle; rap battles can be compared to battles we have to face in real life. Words used in a freestyle or a rap battle are like a sword, they expose your opponent in a total nudity. When you get verbally ripped off, it is your turn to show your teeth and to use your verbal weapons in order to weaken your adversary. It's a matter of honor, you have to expose and verbally annihilate your enemy in order to make him look bad or ridiculous in front of the crowd that expects your answer with impatience. You can feel this kind of fever in 8 Mile when the crowd shouts : « What? What? » which means that it is your turn to respond.
Eminem perfectly knows the importance of a battle:

" That's one thing that I want this movie to get across, is that people who live in this world of hip-hop -- how seriously we take this, how seriously we take our music and battling and the sport of it and the competition and everything."

Losing a battle is terrible in an aspiring rapper's mind. Since the time he was unable to spit any word on stage, Jimmy Smith had been humiliated by Alex who had cheated on him with Wink. He had been knocked out by the Free World leaders in real life.

He had to take his lyrical revenge and prove his skills - also in order to keep his honor safe.

Three battles will help Jimmy to build his reputation.

Lickety Split battles B Rabbit on the « whiteness » of his music. He enumerates numerous white artists like Vanilla Ice and Elvis. He wants to prove that Jimmy's music is bad rap or even worse, no rap at all. The reference to Willie Nelson who -by the way- makes country music is intented to ridicule Jimmy. The only reference to a black artist is Tina Turner in a weak position, when she gets beaten up by her husband. He also points out his mistakes and the mistakes of his friend like Cheddar Bob!

« Yo, this guys a choke-artist
Ya catch a bad one
Ya better off shootin ya-self wit Popa Doc's handgun
Climbin up this mountain, ya weak
I leave ya lost witout a paddle, floatin shit's creek
You ain't Detroit, I'm the D
You tha new kid on the block, bout to get smacked back to the
boone-docks
F**kin Nazi, this crowd ain't ya type
Take some real advice
And form a group with Vanilla Ice
And what I tell ya
Ya better use it
This guy's a hillbilly this ain't Willie Nelson music
Trailer trash
I choke ya till ya last breath
And have ya lookin foolish like Cheddar Bob when he shot
his-self
Silly Rabbit, I know why they call you that
Cuz you follow Future, like he got carrots up his asscrack
And when you act it up, that's when you got jacked up
And left stupid like Tina Turner when she got smacked up
I crack ya shoulderblade
You'll get dropped so hard that Elvis will start turnin in his
grave
I don't know why they left you out in the dark
Ya need to take your white ass back across 8 Mile to the trailer
Park. »

In the first battle, Bunny Rabbit battles his opponent on his sugarcoated music style that questions his masculinity and his music style that looks like it was aimed at a 100% female audience. The first sentence is hilarious:

« This guy raps like his parents jerked him? »

The great majority of a hip hop battle audience is usually composed of men:

« He sounds like Eric Sermon
The generic version
This whole crowd looks suspicious
It's all dudes in here
Except for these bitches? »

He goes on making fun of the Free World leaders:

« That's ok, you look like a fuckin worm with braids
These leaders of the Free World rookies
Lookie, how can 6 dicks be pussies? »

He also makes himself look in a positive light, he enforces his role as a fighter and shoots at his enemy in a funny way. Lickety is too slow to follow Rabbit's rapid flow:

« Ya they call me Rabbit
This is a turtle race
He can't get wit me spittin this shit
Wickedy Lickety shot
Spicious spickety split Lickety
So I'ma turn around wit a great smile
And walk my white ass back across 8 Mile? »

Bunny Rabbit conquered the crowd. But he had to battle Lotto.
Second round. Second fight.

Like his fellow Lickety Split, Lotto comes with a strong racial argument, which appears to be a bad strategy:

« Huhhh huhhh
I'll spit a racial slur honkey sue me
This shit is a horror flick
But a black guy doesn't die in this movie
Fuckin wit Lotto dog you gotta be kiddin
That makes me believe, you really don't have an interest in livin
You think these niggas gone feel the shit you say? »

His hatred of Jimmy as a white man clearly appears in his whole speech. Jimmy fully counters his attack in the second part of his verse:

« Matta fact dog, here's a pencil
Go home, write some shit, make it suspenseful
And don't come back until somethin dope hits you
Fuck it
You can take the Mic home wich you
Lookin like a cyclone hit you
Tanktop screamin, "Lotto I don't fit you"
You see how far them white jokes get you
Boys like, how Vanilla Ice gone diss you?
My motto:
Fuck Lotto
I get the 7 digits from ya mother for a dollar tomorrow? »

Bunny Rabbit makes the battle become more lyrical as he criticizes Lotto's writing ability:

He also definitely shuts his mouth about the « white jokes ».

Third and final round: Bunny Rabbit vs. Papa Doc.

Bunny Rabbit has managed to get rid of two of his enemies. He feels better about himself and has gained some confidence.

He now rallies the crowd from the 313:

« Now everybody from the 3-1-3
Put ya muthafuckin hands up and follow me
Everybody from the 3-1-3
Put ya muthafuckin hands up
Look look? »

People from the Detroit ghetto are proud to belong to the 313 area calling code. People from the 313 are supposed to be cool unlike the people from the 810 area.

Jimmy's strategy is intelligently worked out. He perfectly knows his worst enemy, who-by the way- doesn't raise his hand:

« Now while he stands tough
Notice that this man did not have his hands up
This Free World's got ya gased up
Now who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? »

He knows that he's a gangsta wannabe. There is nothing « ghetto » nor « gangsta » in him :

« 1, 2, 3 and to the 4
1pac, 2pac, 3pac, 4
4pac, 3pac, 2pac's, 1
Your Pac, he's Pac, No Pac's, None? »

But Bunny Rabbit's best strategy is his huge honesty and it will pay off in the end. He doesn't hide what he is nor his mistakes:

« I am white
I am a fuckin bum
I do live in the trailer wit my mom
My boy future is an Uncle Tom
I do got a dumb friend named Cheddar Bob who shoots himself in his leg with his own gun
I did get jumped
By all 6 of you chumps
And Wink did fuck my girl
I'm still standin here screamin fuck the Free World! »

Then Rabbit reveals Papa Doc's intimate and hidden secrets to the crowd:

« But I know somethin about you
You went to Cranbrook, that's a private school
What's the matter dog you embarrassed?
This guys a gangster? His real name's Clarence
And Clarence lives at home with both parents
And Clarence parents have a real good marriage
This guy don't wanna battle, he's shook
Cuz ain't no such things as Half Way Crooks!
He's scared to death
He's scared to look
At his fuckin yearbook
Fuck Cranbook?»

Jimmy's great force lies in his total honesty. He is not ashamed of living in a trailer park and even proud to be « white trash »:

« Fuck a beat, I go acapella
Fuck a Popa Doc, fuck a clock, fuck a trailer fuck everybody
Fuck yall if you doubt me, I'ma piece of fuckin white trash I say it proudly
And fuck this battle I don't wanna win, I'm outtie
Here, tell these people somethin they don't know about me? »

Papa Doc is left totally unweaponed and speechless. Happy end for Rabbit who eventually wins his fight for recognition.

These 3 rap battles from 8 Mile also teach us a lesson about real life: don't try to play yourself. Be honest, accept yourself with your imperfections, your failures, your mistakes, but always be yourself.

I do teach English and German at public schools. I am an Eminem biographer and a freelance music journalist.

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Georgia Sen. Chambliss wins re-election in runoff (AP)

AP - Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss handed the GOP a firewall against Democrats eager to flex their newfound political muscle in Washington, winning a bruising runoff battle Tuesday night that had captured the national limelight.

Rice arrives in India in wake of Mumbai attacks (AP)

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday as part of a U.S. effort to ease tensions in the region after a three-day terrorist attack killed 171 people in India's financial capital.

Gates: Military looks to accelerate Iraq pullout (AP)

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled a willingness Tuesday to forge ahead with two key priorities for the incoming Obama administration: accelerating the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

Auditors fault Treasury oversight of bailout funds (AP)

AP - The government must toughen its monitoring of the $700 billion financial bailout to ensure that banking institutions limit their top executives' pay and comply with other restrictions, federal auditors said Tuesday in the first comprehensive review of the rescue package.

2 arrested in alleged torture of teen, who escaped (AP)

AP - A Girl Scout leader and her husband were arrested after an emaciated, terrified and nearly naked 17-year-old showed up at a gym with a chain locked to his ankle, saying he had just fled his captors, authorities said Tuesday.

Divorce rate increases in Marine Corps, Army (AP)

AP - The divorce rate among soldiers and Marines increased last year as military marriages suffered continuing stress from America's two ongoing wars. There were an estimated 10,200 failed marriages in the active duty Army and 3,077 among Marines, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press for the budget year ended Sept. 30.

Newly released Nixon-era memo shows aides dishing dirt on critics (AP)

AP - In Richard Nixon's time, all the president's men fretted about threats on every front: disquiet out on the streets, disloyalty inside the administration and trouble from political opponents who had to be discredited at any cost.

Study flunks 49 states in college affordability (AP)

AP - An independent report on American higher education flunks all but one state when it comes to affordability Â— an embarrassing verdict that is unlikely to improve as the economy contracts.

Beyonce to perform at Essence Fest in New Orleans (AP)

AP - Beyonce is the first artist lined up for next year's Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.

Murphy's tip in lifts Pacers over Lakers, 118-117 (AP)

AP - Danny Granger scored 32 points and led Indiana back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit, and Troy Murphy tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to complete an improbable 118-117 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

Rice arrives in India to ease tension with Pakistan (Reuters)

Reuters - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday as part of urgent U.S. efforts to ease tension between India and Pakistan that has surged over the Mumbai attacks.

South Korea steps up crisis fight (Reuters)

Reuters - South Korea moved on Wednesday to help local banks through a cash crunch gripping the global financial system as central banks around the world were expected to cut interest rates again to support their fast flagging economies.

Automakers' desperate bailout plea gaining support (Reuters)

Reuters - A top lawmaker predicted Washington would approve a bailout for U.S. automakers after they submitted survival plans, and General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC said they needed an immediate infusion of cash to avoid failures.

Obama wrapping up cabinet picks with Richardson (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama moved swiftly toward wrapping up his cabinet appointments on Wednesday with the selection of rival-turned-supporter Bill Richardson as secretary of commerce.

Republicans win crucial Georgia Senate seat (Reuters)

Reuters - Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss easily won a run-off election in Georgia on Tuesday, denying Democrats the chance for a 60-seat "super majority" in the Senate that would have enabled them to pass legislation virtually at will.

Pentagon chief Gates backs Obama Iraq policy (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will stay on under Barack Obama, said on Tuesday he supported the president-elect's Iraq policy but declined to back his proposed timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Oil rises more than $1 (Reuters)

Reuters - Oil rose toward $48 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering from a tumble of more than $100 off July peaks, but the upside could be limited, with further signs of weakening oil demand expected in upcoming weekly U.S. oil data.

Clinton for a Clinton? Senate guessing game begins (Reuters)

Reuters - New York Gov. David Paterson has famous names to choose from in picking a replacement for Sen. Hillary Clinton, including a Kennedy, a Cuomo and even another Clinton, as in the former president of the United States.

Thai protesters abandon airports as flights due in (AFP)

AFP - Hundreds of anti-government protesters packed up and left Bangkok's airports on Wednesday after a crippling siege, as authorities assured angry tourists that flights would resume within 24 hours.

Rice arrives in India after Mumbai attacks (AFP)

AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in New Delhi Wednesday to try and ease India-Pakistan tensions over the Mumbai attacks, as US intelligence blamed a Pakistan-based militant group.

The Three 8 Mile Battles

Music & MP3 Music & MP3