The Uber talented white rapper Eminem premiered the video for single “Love the Way You Lie” with singer Rihanna yesterday afternoon.  Although some of Em’s singles/videos can be a bit dark this one in particular touched on a very sensitive topic, one the Rihanna can also relate to.  It touches on volatile relationships where domestic violence is an issue.

The video features actor Dominic Monaghan of ‘Lost’ and actress Megan Fox. Via MTV Dominic had this to say,

“I think we tried as hard as we could to not glorify the violence, to try and explain that this was a relationship that is by no means ideal and a relationship that probably should have ended a lot sooner than it did,” Monaghan told MTV News. “The concept of ‘Love the Way You Lie’ was essentially a look at the relationship that Eminem was in with his wife, Kim, so I kind of felt like I was playing Eminem a little bit, and Megan Fox was kind of playing Kim,”

 “It’s the story of them getting to know each other, and it’s the story of their tumultuous relationship, and it was the story of the breakdown of their relationship,” Monaghan added. “Ultimately, what I think he’s trying to say in the song … is that he should have walked away a little bit quicker than he did and not let it get as messy as it did.” Trying to get into Eminem’s mind-set in scenes such as the one in which he confronts a man who is talking to Fox’s character, Monaghan said he led with anger. “All his motivation, every forward step that he takes is based on his anger,” he said of the character. “We’re supposed to be desperately in love, like Bonnie and Clyde style, like Sid and Nancy, John and Yoko … Eminem and Kim.”

“There’s nothing sexy or cool or fun about being in a violent relationship,” he said. “Whether it’s her being violent to you or you being violent to her … violence both ways or any kind of destructive relationship is something you should probably get out of.” One of the messages of the video is that Eminem probably should have bailed on his relationship earlier than he did, Monaghan said, and the challenge of the clip was taking a serous subject and making it into a good video that helps sell the song. “A good video can still have a message of caution in it,” he said.

Rihanna, who was violently attacked by then boyfriend Chris Brown over a year and a half ago, also had this to say about shooting the video with Em.

“It’s something that, you know, [Eminem and I have] both experienced, you know, on different sides, different ends of the table,” she said. “It just was authentic. It was real. It was believable for us to do a record like that, but it was also something that needed to be done, and the way he did it was so clever. He pretty much just broke down the cycle of domestic violence, and it’s something that a lot of people don’t have a lot of insight on, so this song is a really, really powerful song, and it touches a lot of people.”

Well said.

On another note, I think Tank is one of the most underrated singers/songwriters out there. I’m certainly feeling this single “Sex Music”. The video doesn’t do the song much justice but I appreciate the fact that the video isn’t overtly sexy yet sensual. Love it. The album,  Now or Never’ drops September 21st. 

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