Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage names Eminem and Slim Shady, is an Oscar[2] and multiple Grammy Award winning rapper, record producer, and actor from Detroit, Michigan. Having sold over seventy million albums worldwide,[3] Eminem is one of the highest-selling musicians of the early 2000s thus, making him one of the highest-selling rap artists of all time.[3] Eminem was discovered by rapper and producer Dr. Dre. Dr. Dre later signed Eminem to his record label, Aftermath Entertainment.
Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has praised Mathers for his "verbal energy" and for arousing popular interest in poetry and lyrics.[4] Eminem is infamous for the controversy surrounding many of his lyrics. With the success of his highly acclaimed album,[5] The Marshall Mathers LP and its subsequent nomination for four Grammy awards including Album of the Year,[6] critics such as GLAAD denounced his lyrics as homophobic and misogynist, while others claimed that it promoted violence. [7] In 2002, he starred in the semi-autobiographical movie 8 Mile.
Biography
Early life
Eminem was born in St. Joseph, Missouri to Deborah (née Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers II, of Scottish, German, and English descent.[8] Shortly after his birth, his father walked out, leaving Debbie and Marshall alone. Until he was 12, he and his mother moved to and from between St. Joseph and Warren, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, where he met D12 rapper Proof.[9] He was reportedly interested in hip hop from a young age. Because he was small for his age and he was one of the few whites that lived in an African American neighboorhood he was reportedly picked on. Mathers decided that even though he was too small to fight back he would instead retaliate with words. Learning how to "battle" his foes with rap music gave him an outlet for his anger.[10] Mathers began performing as early as 13 in a group called Bassmint Productions where they produced an EP called Steppin' onto the Scene. In 1995, he recorded his first official tape, Fuckin’ Backstabber/Soul Intent. In 1996, he released an independent underground album named Infinite. Eminem recalls: "Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like Nas and AZ. Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself. It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up."[11][12] Mathers followed Infinite with The Slim Shady EP, which saw his lyrics take a decidedly darker turn, in songs like "No One's Iller" and "Murder Murder", the latter of which he talks about having to commit crimes to feed his daughter.
After this album he received much attention and mixed reviews in the hip-hop underground scene, due to his distinctive style and the fact that he was white in a predominantly black genre.
Mathers had done a notable amount of rapping with fellow Detroit MC Royce da 5'9" early in his career. They referred to themselves as Bad Meets Evil, with Eminem playing 'The Bad' and Royce playing 'The Evil'. Royce da 5'9" and Eminem were once considered to be two of the greatest underground MCs in Detroit and were noted for their lyrical ability.
In 1997, when Eminem was still rising to fame, he started a long feud against the already famous Insane Clown Posse. The feud originated in 1997 at Saint Andrew's Hall, where Eminem was handing out flyers for a party promoting his Slim Shady EP. The flyer listed appearances by a number of Detroit rappers, including ICP. Violent J, a member of ICP, was not too happy about being listed without his knowledge and he told Eminem that he wasn't going to play at his party. Eminem, taking his rejection as an insult, began insulting ICP, telling people, for example, that he threw them out of a club in Detroit. The club incident was confirmed, although ICP denied the event in their song Nuttin' But a Bitch Thang:
"You ain't never chased us out of no club bitch... only club you ever chased anybody out of was a gay bar bitch".
The rivalry between these rappers has not slowed down, as of recently.
Perhaps the most notable event that arose out of this feuding was that Eminem was arrested when, on June 3, 2000, during an altercation at a car audio store in Royal Oak, Michigan, with Douglas Dail, the ICP manager, he pulled out an unloaded gun and kept it pointed at the ground[13]. The following day, in Warren, Michigan, he allegedly saw his then wife, Kim, kiss the bouncer John Guerrera in the parking lot of the Hot Rock Café and assaulted him with his gun[13]. He was given two years probation for both the episodes[14]. The skit The Kiss on The Eminem Show is based around the latter incident[15].
Rise to fame
After being signed to Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records, Eminem released The Slim Shady LP, which went on to be one of the most popular albums of 1999, going triple platinum by the end of the year.[16] With the album's popularity came controversy surrounding many of the album's lyrics. In "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", he describes a trip with his infant daughter, disposing of the body of his wife. Another song, "Guilty Conscience", ends with his encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover. "Guilty Conscience" also marked the beginning of the powerful friendship and musical bond that Dr. Dre and Eminem would share. The two label-mates would later collaborate on a line of hit songs, including "Forgot About Dre" and "What's the Difference" from Dr. Dre's album 2001, "Bitch Please II" from the Marshall Mathers LP, "Say What You Say" from The Eminem Show and "Encore/Curtains Down" from Encore.
The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000, and quickly sold two million copies. It was Eminem's fastest selling album to date.[17] The first single released from the album, "The Real Slim Shady", was a success and created some buzz by insulting celebrities and making dubious claims about them; he implies, among other things, that Christina Aguilera performed oral sex on Fred Durst (of Limp Bizkit) and Carson Daly (of MTV's Total Request Live).[18] In his second single, "The Way I Am", he reveals to his fans the pressures from his record company to top "My Name Is" and sell more records. Although Eminem had parodied shock rocker Marilyn Manson in the video "My Name Is", the artists are now on good terms. They have performed a remix of the song "The Way I Am" together in concert.[19] In the third single, "Stan" (which samples Dido's "Thank You"), Eminem attempts to deal with his new-found fame, taking on the perspective of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend, mirroring "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" on The Slim Shady LP. It was named as the third greatest rap song of all time in a list compiled by Q Magazine,[20] and came 10th in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com.[21] The song has since become highly acclaimed and was ranked 290th in Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time".[22]
Mathers' third major album, The Eminem Show, was released in summer 2002 and proved to be another hit for the rapper reaching number one on the charts and selling well over 1 million copies in its first week of release.[16] It featured the single "Without Me", an apparent sequel to "The Real Slim Shady", in which he makes derogatory comments about boy bands, Limp Bizkit, Moby, and Lynne Cheney, among others. The album reflected on the impact of his rise to fame, his relationship with his wife and daughter, and his status in the hip-hop community. He also addresses the charges he faced over assaulting a bouncer he saw kissing his wife in 2000. While there is clear anger present on several tracks, this album was considerably less inflammatory than the previous, and as such did not face any protests of misogyny and homophobia that had plagued The Marshall Mathers LP.
The year 2004 saw the release of Mathers' fourth major album, Encore. The album was another chart-topper for the rapper, driven by the single "Just Lose It", notable for being disrespectful towards Michael Jackson.[23] Despite the comedic theme of the lead single, Encore also had its fair share of serious subject matter, including the anti-war track "Mosh". By the end of 2005 Mathers released the single, "When I'm Gone", recorded for the greatest-hits set Curtain Call: The Hits.
Eminem often said that one of his most influential rappers in his career was Tupac Shakur, during an interview for the Tupac: Resurrection documentary.[24]
Drug use
Mathers is no stranger to drugs and alcohol, as suggested by a large number of his songs, including "Drug Ballad", "These Drugs" (with D12) and "Under the Influence". The song "I'm Shady" (The Slim Shady LP, 1999) includes the explanatory line: "Well, I do take pills (ecstasy, acid, or prescription drugs), don't do speed / don't do crack, don't do coke / I do smoke weed / don't do smack / I do do 'shrooms, do drink beer / I just wanna make a few things clear."
Other tracks, such as "Just Don't Give a Fuck", suggest cocaine use. However, with a sentence of two years of probation taking effect in 2001, during which he was subject to mandatory regular drug testing, his recreational drug use was put to an end. This is supported with references to his drug use in his music all but disappearing after 2001, and comments by late band-mate Proof, who stated that Mathers "sobered up".[25] However, he did turn to Zolpidem sleeping pills for relief of sleeping troubles and eventually went to rehab to recover from the addiction. In summer 2005, Mathers embarked on his first U.S. concert run in three years, the Anger Management 3 Tour, featuring Lil' Jon, 50 Cent and G-Unit, D12, Obie Trice, The Alchemist, and others. In August 2005, Mathers canceled the European leg of the tour and subsequently announced that he had entered drug rehabilitation for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication".[26]
Eminem in D12
Main article: D12
In 2001, Mathers brought his rap group, D12, to the popular music scene. In 2001, D12 released their hit debut album Devil's Night (album).
The first single released off of the album was "Purple Pills" (radio named "Purple Hills"), an ode to recreational drug use (although this was preceded in the UK by a song called "Shit on You", which was included on the special edition version of the album). The version of the song released on the radio and music television was heavily rewritten to remove many of the song's obscene lyrics, and renamed "Purple Hills". While the first single was a hit, the album's second single, "Fight Music", was not as successful, in part due to its timing in relation to the 9/11 attacks.
After their debut, D12 took a three-year break from the studio, later regrouping to release their second (and possibly last[27]) album, D12 World, in 2004, which featured the popular hit single release "My Band". The other members of D12 have also appeared as guests on all of Mathers' albums since The Marshall Mathers LP.
On April 11, 2006, Proof was killed by a gunshot wound to the head at approximately 4:30am EDT (08:30 UTC) at the CCC Club on 8 Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan after fatally shooting U.S. military veteran Keith Bender, Jr.
Proof was buried on April 20, 2006 in The Fellowship Chapel, Detroit to a full house of 2,000 with thousands mourning outside. Mathers and Obie Trice both read eulogies at the service.
An excerpt:
“ I'm sure everybody who has ever met him, even just once, can testify to the fact that he illuminated a room when he walked in it. I believe that Proof loved people and people loved him. He was a magnet. He lured you in. You wanted to learn about him, follow his swagger. Without Proof, there would be no Eminem, no Slim Shady, and no D12. ”
Recent events
2005
In 2005, some industry insiders speculated that Mathers was considering ending his rapping career after six years and several multi-platinum albums. Speculation began in early 2005 about a double-disc album to be released late that year, rumored to be titled The Funeral. [28] The album manifested itself under the name Curtain Call: The Hits, and was released on December 6, 2005 under Aftermath Entertainment. In July 2005, the Detroit Free Press broke news of a potential final bow for Mathers as a solo performer, quoting members of his inside circle who said that he will begin to fully embrace the role of producer and label executive. The Free Press, Mathers' hometown paper, wrote that the aptly titled Encore album would now stand as his final solo album.[29]
Mathers announced via MTV News that he does not plan on retiring soon: "When I say I'm taking a break, I'm taking a break from my music to go in the studio and produce my other artists and put their albums out. That's called taking a break for me. When I know my next move, I'll tell everyone my next move. Not some reporter who writes a story about 'This is Eminem's last album.' I never said Encore was my last album. I never said anything yet. I don't know what I'm doing yet. Nothing is definite, you know what I'm sayin'? Nothing is written in stone"[30] At "Anger Management" in Madison Square Garden and Atlanta's HiFi Buys Amphitheater, he openly announced that he is not retiring and indicates this is all just gossip by saying the moon exploding is a more credible rumor. However, many still speculate that he will be retiring and the announcement at Madison Square Garden was only a ploy to distract the fans. Adding to the already feverish rumors from fans, Mathers released a track on Curtain Call: The Hits entitled "When I'm Gone". The lyrics feature the topic of Slim Shady's destructive power over Marshall Mathers' life, and talks of laying his alter ego to rest, one line featuring the lyrics "I turn around, find a gun on the ground, cock it/ Put it to my brain, scream 'Die Shady!' and pop it. *gun fires*"
On December 6, 2005, the day Curtain Call: The Hits was released, Mathers denied that he was retiring on Detroit-based WKQI's "Mojo in the Mornin'" radio show, but implied that he would at least be taking a break as an artist, saying "I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going… This is the reason that we called it 'Curtain Call,' because this could be the final thing. We don't know."[31]
2006
Eminem had some activity since the release of Curtain Call: The Hits. Eminem also rapped a verse in a live performance of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" remix at the 2006 BET Music Awards on June 27, 2006.
Eminem and Elton John have met up during 2006 to make a few records together; they originally decided to meet up during the month of April but later decided to meet up at a latter date due to the death of Proof. It is unknown whether a new single will be made between the two for a new Eminem album, but Elton was sure that there would be one on his new hip hop project[32].
On December 5, 2006, Eminem released an album compilation entitled Eminem Presents the Re-Up. It started out as a mixtape but Eminem found that the material was better than expected and released it as a full album. It was meant to help launch new Shady Records artists Stat Quo, Ca$his, and Bobby Creekwater. [33]
Eminem was featured on Akon's single "Smack That" which appeared on Akon's new album Konvicted. He also appears in the video with a new tattoo of his late friend Proof and a green polo. According to Akon, Eminem would cancel his retirement plans to make a new album. He said: "Eminem told me he was getting bored with everything, which is why he took a break. But he's back working on an album and I've got some records ready for him to use on it. We've talked about doing something together for so long, but our schedules made it impossible. It was our chemistry that got him out of retirement."[34] On November 19, "Smack That" topped the Official UK Singles Chart and claimed Eminem his 7th UK Number One Single. In December 2006, it was nominated for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. Producer Swizz Beatz has also said in an interview that he has sent some new tracks to Eminem. [35]
2007
According to 50 Cent, Eminem is recording a new album. He said:
He's got a new album coming. He's not gonna tell people that, but he's making new music. I've heard a few songs, and it's hot. He won't tell nobody he's working on a new album, but I'll tell you: he's working on new music. And once he locks into it, like, 'This is my favorite shit,' it's gonna come out.
When asked if the new material is angry or wacky, Jackson replies, "Both. The whole range. You know, Michael Jordan was supposed to play basketball. Floyd Mayweather was meant to box. And Eminem was meant to rap." [36] Ca$his, another Shady Records labelmate, said this new album is to be titled King Mathers. [37]
However, in August, Eminem's publicist Dennehy said, "There is no Eminem album on any release schedule." [38]
In September, Eminem called into New York radio station Hot 97 during a 50 Cent interview and confirmed he is hard at work on his first studio album in three years. He said, "I'm always working -- I'm always in the studio. It feels good right now, the energy of the label. For a while, I didn't want to go back to the studio ... I went through some personal things. I'm coming out of those personal things [and] it feels good." And though he jokingly said he'd release the new CD "tomorrow", there is no official release date, according to Interscope. [39] Dr. Dre told the Los Angeles Times that he will now devote two months to work on Eminem's new highly-anticipated album, saying "We'll be trying to get his thing done and work on a few things on my own project".[40]
In October, a DJ Whoo Kid untitled track was leaked but there is no information on when it was recorded. [41] It was announced that on November 13 he is going to release a new DVD, Live from New York City[42]; the 2005 Madison Square Garden concert was originally aired on the Showtime network in December 2005. The concert was shown on a few occasions on MTV in Europe. It features D12, Obie Trice and Stat Quo. During an interview, D12 member Bizarre said that Interscope doesn't want D12's third album to be released until after Eminem's next album. [43] He also said that Eminem isn't featured on his new album Blue Cheese & Coney Island because "he's busy doing his thing". [44] 50 cent confirmed that on the new G-Unit album, Shoot to Kill, that will be released in December, there will be a track with Eminem[45]. Lil Wayne stated that he has the craziest song for Eminem on his new album, Tha Carter III, but that he hasn't "sent it over yet". [46]
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