Eminem drew criticism for his use of sound effects that resemble gunshots during his performance at the 2108 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Saturday, June 9, in Tennessee. According to HipHopDX, Eminem’s manager and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, Paul Rosenberg, has said the sound effect was a pyrotechnic concussion Eminem has incorporated into his shows for decades and was not intended to mimic gunshots.
“Contrary to inaccurate reports, @Eminem does not use gunshot sound effects during his live show,” Rosenberg wrote on Instagram. “The effect used by Eminem in his set at @bonnaroo was a pyrotechnic concussion which creates a loud boom. He has used this effect — as have hundreds other artists — in his live show for over 10 years, including previous US festival dates in 2018 without complaint.”
Billboard reports concert goers negatively reacted to a series of loud popping sounds last Saturday night during Eminem’s performance of “Kill You,” off the artist’s 2000 album, The Marshall Mathers LP, by ducking and screaming.
Social media personality Andrea Russett attended the show and tweeted, “I hate to be the one to say it, but being someone who suffers from very mild PTSD, it was EXTREMELY irresponsible and distasteful to end songs w the shot gun sound effect. I have grown up loving eminem and his music but i was extremely triggered to the point of tears.”
Russet goes on to say, “To hear a gun shot sound effect and see the entire crowd drop to the floor out of instinct is not funny, cute, or amusing. this is the sad reality that we are living. this is not funny or even something to be joked about.”
Other attendees defended the artist’s actions, with one fan tweeting, “Eminem has ended Kill You with the gun shot effects for (at least) 6 years now and this is the first time someone ever complains.”
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