More on Eminem/Barry Zito

I wanted to expand a bit more on my Eminem/Barry Zito comparison the other day, but my post was already too long. I feel like continuing it here:
My idea was basically that Eminem's rise to superstardom, fall from grace, and now (apparent) comeback seems to parallel Barry Zito's rise, fall, and now (apparent) comback. Eminem's 3rd album, "The Eminem Show", solidified his place at the top of the music world (not just rap world). I liken this to Barry Zito's huge contract with the Giants. At their respective times, both probably thought they could sort of do whatever they wanted. And now, not until they both have gotten to the right place mentally, can they shine like they once did.
Now, the two cases are not identical of course. Barry Zito's drop-off in talent was monumental. He went from Cy Young candidate, to a pitcher that was literally hurting the team on the field while taking up enourmous monetary resources. It really seemed like he had lost his stuff for good. Eminem's albums following "The Eminem Show" ("Encore" and "Relapse") are still good albums. They are just not (in my opinion)on the same level. BUT, he also had the pill addiction, his friend's murder, divorce, and other legal trouble (?) to deal with. So it sort of seemed like he just wasn't going to be the same. So it seems like Eminem had a steeper hill to climb, but Zito had a higher hill to climb.
But from Eminem's stuff that I've heard recently, we could be headed for an album on the same plane as his older ones, and that would be awesome. And from what we've seen from Zito, he looks like he'll be consistently pretty great for the whole year, and that would be awesome.

As I'm writing this, I'm remembered of a friendly-but-at-times-heated debate I had over a game of beer pong a while back. The two people I was playing against were claiming that Eminem was not a revolutionary artist. My partner and I obviously had to put them in their place. This girl's main point was that since even before Eminem came around, the majority of hip hop music was being consumed by White America. So Eminem really did not open the hip hop world up to a whole new race. While this may be true (I don't know if it is or not), being white is not what makes Eminem great or revolutionary. To be sure, it is an important point. He showed us that yes, white guys can do this, and they can do it with the best of them. But it's Eminem's content itself that makes him a revolutionary artist:
Never before has a lyricist been so self-aware of his surroundings and how he is perceived [in his new single, he says flat out that "Relapse" was "eh" and that he may have overdone that stupid accent].
Never before has an artist let listeners so deep into his own head [thoughts towards his mother and ex-wife, for example].
Never before has someone shared insights into their personal life like he has [his experience as a father, for example].
Just through his music, we know all about his life, how he feels about his life, and how he feels about us knowing all about his life. On top of that, he's socially and politically concious ["Stomp, push, shove, mush, Fuck Bush, until they bring our troops home"], well-informed ["let's do the math, if I was black, I would have sold half"], and refuses to be censored by anyone ["Fuck you Tipper Gore"].
Now, there are plenty of well-informed underground rappers who also do a great job of talking about their feelings. But Eminem's gigantic celebrity adds to the complexity of his life, which was already interesting even before he blew up. And in that way, he's been able to build on himself his whole career. All this while rapping with a clear, smooth, and unique flow.

Case closed.