8 Mile Rap – Are these raps for real?
The 8 mile rap battles are as entertaining as they are unrealistic. The film follows B. Rabbit – which appears to be a slightly altered version of Eminem’s biography – and his rise to rap fame on his Detroit hometurf, affectionately known as “8 Mile.”
In his first rap battle with Papa Doc, B. Rabbit chokes. It’s okay, it’s new, it’s nervous, it’s okay. But still, I’ve seen terrible rappers without an iota of skill spit free styles no matter how nervous they were.
In his first battle outside the lunch truck, Eminem-er, Rabbit- comes with him against a co-worker. By far his best rap line: “You’ve worked on this plant so long … you’re a plant / Look at his boots … they’re starting to take root!” Genius. It’s this kind of delivery that will take this guy far on the 8-mile rap battle circuit.
The next battle is at the 8 Mile local battle championships, where B. Rabbit has to fight his way through two other rappers before shooting Papa Doc. Unfortunately, we don’t really get a chance to see the other battles, which were filmed in one afternoon as additional footage. Basically, we are supposed to realize that these guys are serious.
The first victim is called Lickety Split, seriously. Rabbit makes quick work of him with lines like “Sounds like Erik Sermon … the generic version” and concluding with the same finish line used against him “I’m going to walk with my happy ass through 8 Mile” .
The second and best battle is with Lotto, which comes with the phrase “I feel bad about having to murder that Leave it To Beaver guy.” Rabbit responds with “Ward, I think you were a bit harsh on Beaver / So were Eddie Haskell, Ward and Mrs. Cleaver …” and the best line from the movie “Is it a tank top or a new bra? Look, Snoop Dogg just got a boob job! “
While these two 8 mile rap battles were somewhat credible, most freestyle battles tend to involve the crowd more, the final battle against Papa Doc is ridiculous. B. Rabbit drops some sick verses that go over all the points that can be used against him: namely, that he’s broke, he’s white, and lives with his mother, and apparently Papa Doc is left speechless as the crowd cheers on Rabbit. .
Hey? In the countless rap battles I’ve been in, no one has walked away from a championship round like that. Sure, you get a newbie who drops it in the first round (like Rabbit) but not a seasoned freestyler. No way. And the fact that the crowd didn’t let Papa Doc go up? Again, this would never happen. These people came to be entertained, and what better way to be entertained than to watch the two 8 Mile rap champions battle it out?