The Popularity of Auto Tune and How Good Rappers Like Eminem Avoid it

The use of technology to alter one's voice to either sound better, or to achieve a more unique sound, also known as auto tuning, has taken pop culture by storm. There are many different uses for auto tuning throughout the music world. Some artists, like T-pain, use it to create a unique sound. Some Famous Artists like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill use it to make their voices sound perfect.((http://www.worldlingo.com) A more respectable artist is one who uses Auto Tune in to create a unique sound, not hide their shortcomings. Eminem is one of these respectable artists. He has never used auto tune in a serious manner. Instead he shows his disapproval for auto tune by using it sparingly to poke fun at those who use it so religiously. For example, in the song "My Mom" , Eminem screams out "MY VALLLLLIUM" in an auto tuned voice to disregard the serious aspect of it.

By screaming out something inappropriate, Eminem belittles the pop singers' use of auto tune as too serious. Eminem possesses the true talent needed to sell his voice, whether it be rapping or singing as the medium. To stay away from auto tune when it ins such an easy alternative to working hard shows that Eminem not only has true dedication to his music, but more importantly to his fans who only expect the best quality from him. This level of dedication will help him sell records more than any auto tuned perfect voice would. A T-pain album might get good press for being so funny because of all the auto tuning, but a serious artists like Eminem can create good press (or controversy) just through his own talent. The true nature of Eminem's raps demand nothing but respect from the rest of the rap world. Vibe magazine went as far as to call Eminem the "greatest rapper alive".( http://www.mtv.com) Without the distractions of auto tune in his work, the music becomes the focus. Eminem can create this quality of music without any crutches. The point in all this being that if you can't create quality music without using technological "steroids", then you shouldn't be an artist at all.