Early career

Interested in rap from a young age, Mathers began performing as early as 13, later gaining some popularity with a group, Soul Intent. In 1996, he released an independent underground album, named Infinite (of which he sold about 500 copies out of the back of his car.) The album received no airplay and a mixed critical response, with people claiming Eminem's rapping style sounded too similar to Nas and AZ. It was after this, that stress, drama and negativity spread in his life. In 1997 he followed Infinite with The Slim Shady EP demo, which saw his lyrics take a decidedly darker turn, in songs like "No One's Iller" and "Murder Murder", the latter in which he talks about having to commit crimes to feed his daughter. He became famous in the hip-hop underground because of his distinctive, cartoonish style and the fact that he was white in a predominantly black genre. Fellow rapper Snoop Dogg refers to him as rap's "great white American hope" in the song "Bitch Please II" off of Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP.

Success

Legal troubles

Mathers' rise to celebrity ushered the beginning of his numerous legal troubles. The first of these was his mother's lawsuit against him in September of that year. The lawsuit was motivated by comments on her drug use made in song My Name Is, specifically the lyric "I just found out my mom does more dope than I do," and similar accusations in numerous interviews. She denied the statements and demanded more than $10 million in damages for defamation in two lawsuits. After rumors of Debbie dropping the suit, she reached a settlement with her son in 2001 for $25,000, with over $23,000 of it going to her former attorney, Fred Gibson, by a court order.[3] Debbie's request for reconsideration of the settlement was denied by a judge.[4] Mathers' resentful reflections on the case can be heard on the songs "Marshall Mathers" (The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000) in the lyrics "my fuckin' bitch mom is suing for 10 million/ she must want a dollar for every pill I've been stealin'", and on "Without Me" (The Eminem Show, 2002) in the lyric "I just settled all my lawsuits. Fuck you, Debbie!"

The aftermath

Mathers was no stranger to drugs and alcohol, as suggested by a large number of his songs, including the acclaimed "Drug Ballad" and "Under the Influence." The song "I'm Shady" (The Slim Shady LP, 1999) includes the explanatory line "well, I do take pills (ecstasy 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 do suggest cocaine use, although he has never been in a law enforcement incident involving drugs. However, with the 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 fact is supported with references to his drug use in his music, which all but disappeared after 2001, and comments by late band mate Proof, who states that Mathers "sobered up".[17] However, with rising pressures and workload in his professional career, he found it difficult to get the rest he wanted, and turned to Zolpidem sleeping pills for relief. His use of the drug eventually became so severe, that in August 2005, he cancelled the European leg of his ongoing tour, and checked into a drug rehabilitation clinic for treatment. [18]

Remarriage and second divorce

Mathers remarried Kim on January 14, 2006 in Michigan. His best man was longtime friend and D12 member Proof (who was shot to death in a Detroit night club three months later), while Kim's maid of honor was their daughter Hailie. They walked down the aisle to Mathers' song "Mockingbird." Guests at the wedding included the other members of D12, as well as the members of G-Unit. Kim's mother attended the wedding, while Mathers' mother did not. However, less than 11 weeks after remarrying Kim, he filed for divorce at the Macomb County clerk's office.[19], citing "a breakdown in the marriage relationship," (which, in Michigan, is the only reason one can give for cause of divorce.) On April 5, 2006, the news was leaked to the Detroit Free Press and MTV's Total Request Live.

Themes and topics

Eminem's songs typically feature emotions, thoughts, questions, and statements about his life. Common topics are:

Controversies

Alleged homophobia

With the enormous popularity of The Marshall Mathers LP, the controversy surrounding him grew even larger, especially when it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Though Mathers had always claimed that his lyrics were not meant to be taken seriously, and that he had nothing against homosexuals or women, the gay rights group GLAAD organized a boycott of the Grammys. Mathers responded to this by rapping "Stan" on-stage with openly gay singer Elton John, ending the performance by hugging John. This gesture failed to appease many of his critics. He said he did not know Elton John was gay, but he told Kurt Loder after the awards show that he respected him: "Of course I'd heard of Elton John," Eminem said, "but I didn't know he was gay. I didn't know anything about his personal life. I didn't really care, but being that he was gay and he had my back, I think it made a statement in itself saying that he understood where I was coming from" [20].

Violence and women

The two 'eye-opening' songs most often cited as examples in The Marshall Mathers LP of Mathers' supposed misogyny were "Kill You" and "Kim." Critics claimed the former portrayed extremely violent abuse against women in general and contained a line about him raping his own mother. The latter is not so much a song as it is a reenactment of a fictional fight between him and his wife, although his shouted, hoarse lines do rhyme. Despite his conflicting expressions of love and hate throughout the track, he ends up slitting Kim's throat at the end, accompanied by cries of "Bleed, bitch, bleed!" Several people objected to the graphic description of domestic violence. On the clean version of the CD, the track was removed and replaced with a song almost entirely devoid of profanity called "The Kids."

Criticism of other musicians

Mathers' third major album, The Eminem Show was released in summer 2002. 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 and than the previous, and as such did not face any protests of misogyny and homophobia that had plagued The Marshall Mathers LP.

"We as Americans"

On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was "looking into" allegations that Mathers had threatened the President of the United States after the unreleased song "We As Americans" leaked onto the Web. The lyrics in question: "Fuck money / I don't rap for dead presidents / I'd rather see the president dead / It's never been said, but I set precedents...". The song was being recorded to possibly be on Encore, but wound up on a bonus CD accompanying the album instead. The second use of the word "dead" was backmasked in that version.

Michael Jackson

On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Eminem's first single off Encore, Michael Jackson called into the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his displeasure with the video, which parodies Jackson's child molestation trial, plastic surgery, and an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. The lyrics to "Just Lose It" also refer to Jackson's legal troubles. Many of Jackson's supporters and friends spoke out about the video, including Stevie Wonder, who called the video "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit",[21] and Steve Harvey who declared, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back." [22] In the video, Eminem also parodied Pee Wee Herman, MC Hammer, and a Blonde-Ambition-touring Madonna.

George W. Bush criticism

On October 26, 2004, a week before the U.S. presidential election, 2004, Eminem released the video for his song titled "Mosh" on the internet. The song features a very strong anti-Bush message, with lyrics such as "fuck Bush" and "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president." The video features Mathers gathering up an army of people presented as victims of the Bush administration and leading them to the White House. However, once the army breaks in, it is revealed that they are there to simply register to vote, and the video ends with the words "VOTE Tuesday November 2" on the screen.

September 11, 2001 attacks

Later in 2005, Eminem appeared on the song, "Bin Laden", written and produced by Immortal Technique and DJ Green Lantern. The song blames U.S. conservatives, the Reagan Doctrine and President George W. Bush for the September 11, 2001 attacks It is available on the mixtape "Shade 45: Sirius Bizness" [26].

Drug rehabilitation

In summer 2005, Mathers embarked on his first US 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 cancelled the European leg of the tour and subsequently announced that he had entered drug rehabilitation for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication."

Literary praise

Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has praised Mathers for his "verbal energy" and for arousing popular interest in poetry and lyrics. [27]

Other works and ventures

Shady Records

Dr. Dre's leading protégé, Mathers succeeded in multi-platinum record sales. He was granted his own record label, a sub-label of Aftermath Entertainment. He and his manager Paul Rosenberg created Shady Records in late 2000. Mathers and Dr. Dre had signed 50 Cent on a joint venture between Aftermath & Shady Records. His own Detroit collective D12 and rapper Obie Trice were signed to the Shady Records label. In 2003, Mathers and Dr. Dre signed on Atlanta rapper Stat Quo to the Shady/Aftermath roster. DJ Green Lantern, the former deejay for Mathers, was signed to Shady Records until a dispute with 50 Cent forced him to depart from the label; he is no longer associated with Mathers. The Alchemist is now officially Mathers' tour deejay. In 2005, Mathers officially signed another Atlanta rapper known as Bobby Creekwater to his label along with west coast rapper Ca$his.

Eminem as a producer

Mathers is also active as a producer of rap records. Besides being the executive producer of D12's two albums, Devil's Night and D12 World, he has also produced numerous tracks on Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's On Me as well as 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. In addition, Mathers has produced and appeared on several songs by other famous rappers, such as Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block," Jay-Z's "Renegade" and "Moment of Clarity" Lloyd Banks' "Warrior Part 2," and "Hands Up," Tony Yayo's "Drama Setter," Nas' "The Cross," Trick Trick's "Welcome 2 Detroit," and Xzibit's "My Name" and "Don't Approach Me." Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Mathers himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator Jeff Bass. He also split the production with Dr. Dre on Encore. In 2004, Mathers executive-produced 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur. On certain tracks, 2Pac's voice was slowed down or sped up, and digitally altered to say things like "2005" and "G-Unit," angering many fans.

Retirement

In 2005, some industry insiders speculated that Mathers is considering ending his rapping career after six years and numerous 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. The album manifested itself under the name Curtain Call: The Hits, and was released on December 6, 2005 under Aftermath Entertainment.

Eminem in 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. The first single released off of the album was "Purple Pills," 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 obscenity-laden lyrics, and renamed "Purple Hills." While the first single was a massive 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.^{[citation needed]} After their debut, D12 took three years in hiatus from the studio, later regrouping to releasing their sophomore effort, 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. D12's third album was tentatively scheduled for a 2006 release, D12 member Bizarre had said that the crew had spent time in the studio. However, it can be expected that the album will be postponed due to the untimely death of one of D12's biggest stars (and Mathers' closest friend) Proof, on April 11, 2006.

Grammy Award History

Grammy Stats

Filmography

• The Wash (2001) (Chris)
• 8 Mile (2002) (Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith)
• Have Gun - Will Travel (2007) (Paladin)

Trivia

• Eminem is 5'8"
• Eminem is a friend of fellow Detroit rap/rock star Kid Rock, and guest starred on Rock's Devil Without a Cause on the track "Fuck Off". Rock has made appearances scratching on some of Eminem's tracks, but is only credited on "Just Don't Give a Fuck" from The Slim Shady LP.
• Eminem parodied shock rocker Marilyn Manson in the video for "My Name Is," but the artists have met since and are on good terms. Eminem referenced Manson as being unfairly blamed for the Columbine High School massacre in "The Way I Am," a song which Manson remixed and recorded a version of the chorus for. Manson also appeared in the music video for the song, with the word "WAR" scrawled in red across his chest. They have also performed the song together in concert.[30]
• The second "E" in his stage name has been reversed on his records since his second album The Marshall Mathers LP.
• Eminem is one of the few rappers to achieve a Diamond RIAA Certification.
• Comic book writer Mark Millar and artist JG Jones based the physical appearance of The Killer in Millar's graphic novel Wanted on Eminem, and at one time wanted Eminem to play the character in a big-budget action film.
• His song "Stan" off of The Marshall Mathers LP was named as the third greatest hip-hop song of all time in a list compiled by Q Magazine[31], and came in 10th in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com.[32]
• Several songs were released in response to "Stan." Enemy rapper Canibus released the track "U Didn't Care," rapping as the Stan character and implying that Eminem doesn't care about his fans. The Pet Shop Boys released "The Night I Fell in Love," in which a male fan goes backstage at an Eminem concert and has a one-night stand with him. Christian rapper KJ-52 released "Dear Slim" and "Dear Slim pt. 2," open letters to Eminem in a similar style to "Stan."
• Tori Amos covered "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" on her 2001 covers album, Strange Little Girls. Her version is sung from the point of view of the murdered wife being disposed of, singing to her daughter. Many critics consider her version to be better than the original. David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine noted that, "Eminem may get the royalties, but he no longer owns the song."
• When Dr. Dre first heard his tape, he thought Eminem was black.[33]
• Several of his songs have been parodied. The most famous incident was "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody of "Lose Yourself," entitled "Couch Potato" and featuring new lyrics about television programming. He has also been parodied twice by the Christian parody band ApologetiX, with "Lose Yourself" ("Look Yourself") and "The Real Slim Shady" ("The Real Sin Savior"). Also, Insane Clown Posse changed some of the lyrics to "My Name Is" and renamed it "Slim Anus".
• Eminem is left-handed. This can be seen in a scene in 8 Mile where he is sitting on a bus with a pencil in his left hand, as well as in several of the promotional posters for the film, which depict him writing lyrics with his left hand. However, in the booklet for The Marshall Mathers LP, there is a picture of him writing on a pad of paper with his right hand.
• His real hair color is in fact a dark brown, he bleaches his hair with peroxide (as stated in "White America"); he did not bleach his hair in 8 Mile, and so his natural hair color can be seen in the movie.
• Eminem made a guest appearance in 50 Cent's video game "50 Cent: Bulletproof" as a corrupt cop.
• In March 2003, Spin Magazine named him The Most Important Artist Making Music Right Now.
• Eminem's rap group D12, short for "Dirty Dozen," currently has only five members. Many people were often confused by the number. It is "12" because, before the death of Proof, each of the six members of the group had two pseudonyms or "personas"- Eminem/Slim Shady, Kon Artis/Mr. Porter, Swift/Swifty McVay, Kuniva/Rondell Beene, Bizzare/Peter S. Bizzare, and finally Proof/Derty Harry.
• Some of Eminem's freestyle lyrics in 8 Mile are ones he found in his old house from when he was in his teens; he altered them before the movie. A lot of those lyrics got turned down by director Curtis Hanson, however. Former Juice Crew member Craig G wrote the lyrics for Eminem's on-screen competition.
• Eminem was number 6 on VH1's 50 greatest hip hop artists of all time.
• Eminem has been awarded nine Grammy awards. He also received nominations for Album of the Year for both The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show.
• The Marshall Mathers LP was the first rap album to be nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards and "Lose Yourself" was the first rap song to be nominated for Song of the Year.
• Eminem won an Best Song Oscar for his song "Lose Yourself" from the movie 8 Mile. It was the first rap song ever to do so. Just 3 years later, another rap song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" earned Three 6 Mafia an Academy Award leading many to speculate that Eminem opened the doors for rap to be accepted as important form of music in movies.
• In November 2002, Eminem had the #1 album (8 Mile Soundtrack), movie (8 Mile), and song ("Lose Yourself") all at the same time, becoming the first artist/entertainer ever to do so.
• Eminem listed his favorite rappers as Redman, Jay-Z, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., André 3000 from OutKast, Jadakiss, Kurupt, and Nas in the song "'Till I Collapse" from his 2002 release, The Eminem Show.
• In acceptance of his Grammy for Best Rap Album (for The Eminem Show) in 2003, he credited his rap influences, saying, "I made me a little list of MCs that I wanted to name off that inspired me to, to bring me where I am today - cause honestly, I wouldn't be here without them. So the list goes like this, and it's not in this order, but the list is this: Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Kool G. Rap, Masta Ace, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Dr. Dre, all of N.W.A., KRS-One, Treach from Naughty by Nature, Nas, 2Pac, Biggie, Jay-Z. Thank you, 'cause I learned from all of you. Thank you."
• Eminem's manager, Paul Rosenberg (who is featured prominently in several skits on Eminem's solo releases), was once a rapper himself, known as "Paul Bunyan".[34]
• Marshall and his wife first met at one of his friends' houses, when Eminem was fifteen and Kim was thirteen. She came over while he was lip synching to LL Cool J songs and jumping on the furniture.
• He is a fan of the TV show "Crank Yankers"; puppets from the show were included in the video for Ass Like That. He was also "puppet-ized" and featured in several episodes. One of the puppets, Special Ed, host "Eminem's Special Hits".
• He made a reference to South Park in the song "Marshall Mathers" by referring to himself as a "twenty-six-year-old skinny Cartman!" a character who he also did an impression of in the song "The Kids."
• In the popular anime One Piece, one of the villains, Eneru, has a design loosely based off of Eminem because the author, Eiichiro Oda, is a huge fan of Eminem.
• On the freestyle competition within the special features of the 8 Mile DVD, many of Eminem's lyrics are similar to rhymes he used at the Rap Olympics
• Eminem has a tattoo on his lower left arm that says "PROOF". It is a homage to DeShaun Dupree Holton, Eminem's best friend and D12 founder who was shot to death on April 11, 2006.[35]
• On the set of "Smack That" video shoot, Eminem reportedly threw water on Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson (also of "Girls Next Door" fame) who was there to appear in the video. Eminem meant it as a joke, but it backfired. He apologized soon after, and while Kendra has accepted his apology Hugh Hefner still is unhappy with the rapper.

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

External links

Official

• Official Eminem website (requires Macromedia Flash)
• Official Aftermath Records website
• Official Shady Records website