Eminem Pens Ode to Detroit for NCAA Final Four PSA

Many cities are hurting in the recession, but maybe none more so than Detroit. With its backbone — the automobile industry, the subject of recent RS story Motor City Breakdown — teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Detroit has been hit hard, but as rapper Eminem says in a new PSA, they'll persevere. The video above, courtesy of RapRadar, is Slim Shady's ode to his hometown, filmed to celebrate the city and give national attention to its dilemmas as it hosts this year's NCAA Final Four. Motown's citizens will get a brief distraction from their economic struggles later as their home state Michigan State Spartans attempt to defeat the favored University of North Carolina Tar Heels in tonight's NCAA Championship game.

After spending the past few years in near-seclusion, Eminem seems to be everywhere recently, from "Crack A Bottle" with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent to inducting Run-DMC into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to the Palms Casino in Las Vegas to film the video for "We Made You," off his upcoming Relapse. That video is set to debut tomorrow morning, April 7th, on MTV and all its sister stations. As Rock Daily previously noted, the clip — which also features 50 Cent and Dr. Dre — references the film Rain Man.

Relapse is due out May 19th, and will be followed by a second album due out later this year. For much more on Relapse, check out our Spring Music Preview:

• Spring Music Preview: Inside 45 of the Year's Biggest Albums

Related Stories:

• First Photo of Eminem With Dr. Dre, 50 Cent on "We Made You" Video Set Emerges
• Eminem Confirms Two 2009 Albums: "Relapse" Due May 19th
• Eminem, Jimmy Page, Flea Among Presenters At 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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