Date: Nov. 18, 2003

Eminem's lyrics became the subject of scrutiny when The Source produced recordings that contained several instances of him rapping with racial slurs. On the first, which was allegedly recorded in 1993, a pre-fame Eminem is heard rapping: "All the girls I like to bone have big butts/ No they don't, 'cause I don't like that n***er shit/ I'm just here to make a bigger hit."

On the second track, recorded in '88, Marshall Mathers spits, "Blacks and whites, they sometimes mix/ But black girls only want your money, 'cause they dumb chicks."

Eminem responded to the tapes and their implication that he was racist by arguing that he was only 15 when the songs was recorded. "Ray Benzino, Dave Mays and The Source have had a vendetta against me, Shady Records and our artists for a long time," he said a statement. "The tape they played today was something I made out of anger, stupidity and frustration when I was a teenager. I'd just broken up with my girlfriend, who was African-American, and I reacted like the angry, stupid kid I was. I hope people will take it for the foolishness that it was, not for what somebody is trying to make it into today."