Taking Names

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Loose lips sync 'SNL'?

Eminem is busy bashing President George W. Bush in a heavily downloaded new video, but the rapper raised some musical eyebrows over the weekend with his performances on "Saturday Night Live."

The rapper, according to www.imdb.com, lip-synced through parts of his two performances on the NBC show one week after Ashlee Simpson's miming fiasco drew unwanted attention.

Eminem failed to keep up with his own guide track as he performed the politically-charged "Mosh" and new hit "Just Lose It." This came after several jabs at Miss Simpson by guest host Kate Winslet and various cast members.

"I'm thrilled to be hosting 'Saturday Night Live.' I can assure you it is live because I'm hyperventilating a bit," Miss Winslet said.

Eminem's performance wouldn't be the first time a rapper relied on technology to carry over material to a live audience. But coming on the heels of the Simpson debacle, the timing was embarrassing for the guest and the show, which has always prided itself on being live.

Yet Eminem spokesman Dennis Dennehy insists the incident is par for the rap course.

"Tupac [Shakur] did it all the time," Mr. Dennehy said of Eminem performing along with the aid of a pre-recorded vocal track to re-create the song "Mosh's" album version. "He wanted it to sound as energetic and powerful as it does on the album."

"It's pretty commonplace, and I don't think the rap audience is as unforgiving as the R&B audience, whose artists live and die by their voice," said Erik Parker, music editor of Vibe, the urban music magazine co-founded a decade ago by Quincy Jones.

"Rappers, on the other hand, live and die by their lyrics, their flow and their image," Mr. Parker said in a phone interview from Vibe's Manhattan offices. "The hip-hop audience holds them accountable not by their voice but by their lyrics."