Claim: Eminem is the best-selling rap artist.

Marshall Bruce Mathers III -LRB- born October 17 , 1972 -RRB- , known professionally as Eminem -LRB- often stylized as EMINƎM -RRB- , is an American rapper , record producer , and actor . Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States . Throughout his career , he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 . With US sales of 45.1 million albums and 42 million tracks as of June 2014 , Eminem is the second best-selling male artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era , the sixth best-selling artist in the United States and the best-selling hip-hop artist . Globally , he has sold more than 172 million albums , thus being one of the world 's best-selling artists . Rolling Stone ranked him 83rd on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time , calling him the King of Hip Hop .   After his debut album Infinite -LRB- 1996 -RRB- and the Slim Shady EP -LRB- 1997 -RRB- , Eminem signed with Dr. Dre 's Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with The Slim Shady LP , which earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album . His next two releases , 2000 's The Marshall Mathers LP and 2002 's The Eminem Show , were worldwide successes , with each being certified diamond in U.S. sales , and both winning Best Rap Album Grammy Awards -- making Eminem the first artist to win the award for three consecutive LPs . They were followed by Encore in 2004 , another critical and commercial success . Eminem went on hiatus after touring in 2005 , releasing Relapse in 2009 and Recovery in 2010 . Both won Grammy Awards and Recovery was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide , the second time he had the international best-selling album of the year -LRB- after The Eminem Show -RRB- . Eminem 's eighth album , 2013 's The Marshall Mathers LP 2 , won two Grammy Awards , including Best Rap Album ; it expanded his record for the most wins in that category and his Grammy total to 15 .   In addition to his solo career , Eminem is an original member of the Midwest hip hop groups Soul Intent and D12 . He is also known for his collaborations with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5 ' 9 '' ; the two are collectively known as Bad Meets Evil . Eminem has developed other ventures , including Shady Records , with manager Paul Rosenberg , which helped launch the careers of artists such as 50 Cent . Eminem has also established his own channel , Shade 45 , on Sirius XM Radio . In November 2002 , he starred in the hip hop film 8 Mile , which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song , for `` Lose Yourself '' , becoming the first rap artist to win the award . Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash -LRB- 2001 -RRB- , Funny People -LRB- 2009 -RRB- , The Interview -LRB- 2014 -RRB- and the television series Entourage -LRB- 2010 -RRB- .