Eminem is no stranger to controversy. In fact, he often seeks it – and the resulting publicity – to help promote his music. His latest foray in to “things that make you go hmmmm…” is the rap beat video for “Love The Way You Lie”, a single with Rihanna from Eminem’s latest album, Recovery.

Rap Music Video Features Domestic Violence

“Love The Way You Lie” is a long-running look at a violent relationship, and the interplay between people who abuse each other while at the same time professing their love and promising never to hurt each other. The subject of the song isn’t so controversial; people engage in violent love relationships all the time. What’s controversial about the video is that the video depicts a fight between the artists, followed by a passionate kiss. Reconciliation is implied in the video, and domestic violence advocates say that the video sends the wrong message to viewers and glamorizes violence in the context of a love relationship.

Rihanna has just seemingly closed a domestic-violence tinged chapter in her life with music artist Chris Brown, which adds a certain irony to the video. Despite the fact that violence is a relatively common occurrence in domestic relationships, the controversy seems to be suiting Eminem well. Recovery is at the top of the rap music charts again this week for the eighth straight week.

The video also underscores the ease with which music can send a message. Rap music is especially good at this because it relies much more heavily on lyrics and less on music than other genres. Its reliance on lyrics also means that anyone with a good rap sense can catch a break relatively easily.

New tools are available on the market to help artists self-produce professional sounding songs. Sonic Producer, for example, is available for both the Macintosh and PC platforms and contains thousands of royalty-free samples. The resulting products are professional sounding and ready for export to MP3. Self-producers can share their music, use it as background for live performances and even sell their own music on iTunes!

Sonic Producer includes video tutorials that demonstrate how to use the software and more importantly, how to create the sounds that people want to hear. There are few music self-production products on the market that are as complete as Sonic Producer. Download a copy and try it for yourself! See for yourself how easy it can be to create and publish your own music!

Photo Credit: MiKeARB, via Flickr