Eminem defends use of anti-gay slurs on new album

Eminem famously dealt with controversy over seemingly homphobic lyrics back in his early days, so it's a little weird to see him dodging the same allegations as a 41-year-old (about as weird as it is to hear an artist say "faggot" in their lyrics in 2013), but here we are. The singer used the anti-gay slur in the MMLP2 track "Rap God" and has been taken to task over it. Now, Shady is defending his words claiming that he meant no harm.

"It was more like calling someone a bitch or a punk or asshole,"Em said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "So that word was just thrown around so freely back then. It goes back to that battle, back and forth in my head, of wanting to feel free to say what I want to say, and then [worrying about] what may or may not affect people."

Of course, this willfully ignores the connotations that a gay male is, inherently, a bitch, punk or asshole. And sounds a bit like old, white Southerners attempting to defend their use of "colored" or the N-word because of their upbringing. It's still wrong and it's still uncomfortable.

Em did go on to clarify that he has nothing against the LGBT community.

"Not saying it's wrong or it's right, but at this point in my career - man, I say so much shit that's tongue-in-cheek. I poke fun at other people, myself," he said.

"But the real me sitting here right now talking to you has no issues with gay, straight, transgender, at all. I'm glad we live in a time where it's really starting to feel like people can live their lives and express themselves. And I don't know how else to say this, I still look at myself the same way that I did when I was battling and broke."