Eminem’s New Video- Corny or Legit?

He’s got a new CD on the way, so Eminem’s latest video, “We Made You,” follows his traditional blueprint for early singles. Like “Just Lose It,” “Without Me,” “The Real Slim Shady,” and “My Name Is,” it’s a quick-paced, mainstream-accessible track that takes on defenseless pop culture figures. Whereas in the past he’s gone after folks like Moby, The Spice Girls, and N ‘Sync, this time he spoofs Jessica Simpson, Kim Kardashian, Sarah Palin and others. Though the videos are always funny, the marks always feel a bit too easy, and one wishes Em would have the balls to target, say, other rappers. (Can you imagine how hilarious it would be if he mocked Lil Wayne, T-Pain and Kanye West?) The other common thread in the videos is Dr. Dre, who has played Shady’s adversary, his shrink, his love interest, and, in one of “We Made You”’s funniest bits, his Starship Enterprise commander.

For the song, Em trots out that weird, high-pitched cadence he occasionally raps in, which sounds something like a British 14-year-old. It’s not as much fun as “Crack A Bottle,” in my opinion, but the video’s production quality is high and the concept is clever. The assembled characters - who also include Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan and her (ex?)girlfriend Samantha Ronson - are competing for the affections of Em-as-Bret Michaels on a Rock Of Love type show.

How does “We Made You” stack up against Eminem’s other early singles? Pretty well, actually. It’s a far superior effort to “Just Lose It,” whose impersonations - Pee Wee Herman, Michael Jackson, Vanilla Ice - were already decades outdated when it came out. “The Real Slim Shady” holds up a little better, with Kathy Griffin starring as a One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest-style psychiatric nurse. The low-budget “My Name Is” is a trip to re-watch nowadays; Em dresses up like Johnny Carson and does his golf impression. “Without Me” is a parody of comic books, with a Dick Cheney barb thrown in for good measure. What strikes me about all these videos is how visually interesting they all are and how far Em is willing to go for a laugh; he doesn’t hesitate to don drag, puke, or fry himself in the electric chair.

One wonders how much longer a man who is now 36 can keep pulling off this type of high-octane youth-culture satire, and suspects he will probably keep doing it until another creative, silly emcee with his finger on the pulse of pop culture comes along. (That could be a while.) In any case, I’d bet that these videos will be watched for decades, and eventually serve as time capsules of their eras. Sure, people in the future won’t know who the hell Primus or Tom Green or Fred Durst are, but they’ll get a good sense of our goofy ’90s and ’00s celebrity landscape.