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Remember way back in early 2010 when everyone was talking about Lady Gaga's alleged penis, scrutinizing photos of her in various leotards for signs of un-feminine bulges? And how Lady Gaga mocked this ridiculousness by admitting that yes, she was indeed a hermaphrodite, and then proceeding to wear leotards that even the most skilled "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestant would be hard-pressed to pull off convincingly.
So, it seemed most of the world has learned some sort of lesson from this (aka: STOP CARING) and moved on. Except for Eminem.
"Tell Lady Gaga she can quit her job at the post office/She's still a male lady" he taunts on "A Kiss," a HIGHLY NSFW track off his upcoming Bad Meets Evil collaboration album with Detroit rapper Royce Da 5'9".
Now, I know Em's had a history of poking fun of pop stars, but the reference seems a bit out of touch, the cheesy "mail/male" pun sounds something my dad might come up with, (were he a white rapper), and insulting someone by essentially calling them transgendered is hate-speech and does nothing to alleviate the impression that Eminem has promoted bigotry against the LGBT community in his lyrics.
I know picking a fight with a celebrity (and a label mate!) is a time-honored attention-grabbing technique, but Eminem is an accomplished artist who should be above such tactics. Especially since we've seen a spiritual turnaround by him on songs like "Not Afraid."
So far neither Eminem nor Royce Da 5'9" have responded to MTV's requests to comment on "A Kiss."
Meanwhile, I'm sure the wronged party is off somewhere polishing her gold records and planning how to turn this around to teach everyone a lesson about tolerance, burnishing her own image in the process. Gaga 1, Eminem 0.