Eminem

## Introduction:

**Marshall Bruce Mathers III** also known by his gimmick name **Eminem** (often stylized as **EMINƎM**) is an American rapper, songwriter, 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 47.4 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, making him 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 (1996) and the Slim Shady EP (1997), 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 (after The Eminem Show). 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.

## 1972-1991

Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. (born June 30, 1951) and Deborah Rae Nelson (born January 6, 1955). Debbie was 14 when she met 18-year-old Bruce; at age 17, she nearly died during her 73-hour labor. Eminem's parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border before their separation. Bruce left the family, moving to California and having two other children: Michael and Sarah (born c. 1982). Debbie had son Nathan "Nate" Kane Samara on February 3, 1986. During his childhood, Eminem and Debbie shuttled between Michigan and Missouri, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and living primarily with family members. In Missouri, they lived in several places, including St. Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City.

As a teenager, Eminem wrote letters to his father; according to Debbie, all came back marked "return to sender". Friends and family remember Eminem as a happy child, but "a bit of a loner" who was often bullied. One bully, De'Angelo Bailey, severely injured Eminem's head (mentioned in his song "Brain Damage"); Debbie filed a lawsuit against the school in 1982, which was dismissed the following year. Eminem spent much of his youth in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood. He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was beaten by black youths several times. As a child he was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic-book artist before discovering hip hop. Eminem heard his first rap song ("Reckless", featuring Ice-T) on the Breakin' soundtrack, a gift from Debbie's half-brother Ronnie Polkinghorn, who later became a musical mentor to him. When Polkinghorn committed suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking for days and did not attend his funeral.

Eminem's home life was seldom stable; he frequently fought with his mother, whom a social worker described as having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality". When her son became famous, Debbie was unimpressed by suggestions that she was a less-than-ideal mother, contending that she sheltered him and was responsible for his success. In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kimberly Ann "Kim" Scott to stay at their home; several years later, Eminem began an on-and-off relationship with Scott. After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17. Although he was interested in English, he never explored literature (preferring comic books) and disliked math and social studies. Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills, later maintaining that she often threw him out of the house anyway. When she left to play bingo, he would blast the stereo and write songs.

At age 14, Eminem began rapping with high-school friend Mike Ruby; they adopted the names "Manix" and "M&M", the latter of which evolved into "Eminem". Eminem sneaked into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle rap battles. On Saturdays, they attended open mic contests at the Hip-Hop Shop on West 7 Mile, considered "ground zero" for the Detroit rap scene. Struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, Eminem was appreciated by underground hip hop audiences. When he wrote verses, he wanted most of the words to rhyme; he wrote long words or phrases on paper and, underneath, worked on rhymes for each syllable. Although the words often made little sense, the drill helped Eminem practice sounds and rhymes.

## 1992-1999

As Eminem's reputation grew, he was recruited by several rap groups; the first was the New Jacks. After they disbanded he joined Soul Intent, who released a single on their 1995 self-titled EP featuring Proof. Eminem and Proof then teamed up with four other rappers to form The Dirty Dozen (D12), who released their first album Devil's Night in 2001. Eminem had his first run-in with the law at age 20, when he was arrested for his involvement in a drive-by shooting with a paintball gun. The case was dismissed when the victim did not appear in court.

Eminem attracted more attention when he developed Slim Shady, a sadistic, violent alter ego. The character allowed him to express his anger with lyrics about drugs, rape, and murder. In the spring of 1997 he recorded his debut EP, the Slim Shady EP, which was released that winter by Web Entertainment. The EP, with frequent references to drug use, sexual acts, mental instability and violence, also explored the more-serious themes of dealing with poverty and marital and family difficulties and revealed his direct, self-deprecating response to criticism. Hip-hop magazine The Source featured Eminem in its "Unsigned Hype" column in March 1998.

After he was evicted from his home, Eminem went to Los Angeles to compete in the 1997 Rap Olympics, an annual, nationwide battle rap competition. He placed second, and Interscope Records staff in attendance sent a copy of the Slim Shady EP to company CEO Jimmy Iovine. Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment and founding member of hip-hop group N.W.A.

Eminem released The Slim Shady LP in February 1999. Although it was one of the year's most popular albums (certified triple platinum by the end of the year), he was accused of imitating the style and subject matter of underground rapper Cage. The album's popularity was accompanied by controversy over its lyrics; in "'97 Bonnie and Clyde". This hit marked the beginning of a friendship and musical bond between Dr. Dre and Eminem. The label-mates later collaborated on a number of hit songs ("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, "Encore/Curtains Down" from Encore, and "Old Time's Sake" and "Crack a Bottle" from Relapse), and Dre made at least one guest appearance on each of Eminem's Aftermath albums.The Slim Shady LP has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.

## 2000-2002

The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It sold 1,760,000 copies in its first week, breaking US records held by Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle for fastest-selling hip hop album and Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time for fastest-selling solo album.

The Eminem Show was released in May 2002. It was another success, reaching number one on the charts and selling over 1.332 million copies during its first full week. The Eminem Show sold 30 million copies worldwide and was the best-selling album of 2002.

Eminem's semi-biography drama film 8 Miles was released in November 2002. In 2003, Eminem won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 75th Academy Awards, for his single "Lose Yourself" from the soundtrack of 8 Mile. Thus he became the first hip hop artist ever to win an Academy Award. He was not present at the ceremony, but musician Luis Resto accepted the award. The film has been nominated for 32 awards, winning 11.

## 2003-2007

In 2003 Eminem, a lifelong fan of Tupac, provided production work for three tracks on the Tupac Resurrection soundtrack. He would follow this up the next year by producing 12 of the 16 tracks on Tupac's Loyal to the Game album.

*Encore*, released in 2004, was another success, despite it's song 'Just Lose It' which contained slurs about Michael Jackson. *The Source*, through CEO Raymond "Benzino" Scott, called for the video to be pulled, the song removed from the album and Eminem to apologize publicly to Jackson. In 2007 Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music from Viacom, giving him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira, Beck and others.In 2005, industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering ending his rapping career after six years and several Multi-Platinum albums. Rumors began early in the year about a double album to be released late that year, entitled *The Funeral*; the greatest hits album, entitled *Curtain Call: The Hits*, was released in December. In July the *Detroit Free Press* reported a possible final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting members of his inner circle as saying that he would embrace the roles of producer and label executive. The day of *Curtain Call: The Hits*'s release, Eminem appeared on WKQI's "Mojo in the Morning" show. Denying that he was retiring, he suggested he would take a break as an artist: "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."The following year, Eminem released *Eminem Presents: The Re-Up* on Shady Records.

In 2005, the rapper was ranked 58th in Bernard Goldberg's book, *100 People Who Are Screwing Up America a*nd Bob Hebert cited that the song "No One's Iller" from the *Slim Shady EP* as examples of the rapper's misogyny. *Curtain Call: The Hits* was released December 6, 2005 by Aftermath Entertainment. During its first week it sold nearly 441,000 copies in the US, and was Eminem's fourth consecutive number-one album on the *Billboard* Hot 200. The album has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.

In September 2007, Eminem called New York radio station WQHT during an interview with 50 Cent, saying that he was "in limbo" and "debating" about when (or if) he would release another album: "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."

## 2008-2009

Eminem appeared on his Shade 45 Sirius channel in September 2008, saying: "Right now I'm kinda just concentrating on my own stuff, for right now and just banging out tracks and producing a lot of stuff. You know, the more I keep producing the better it seems like I get 'cause I just start knowing stuff." Interscope confirmed that a new album would be released in spring 2009.[73] In December 2008, the rapper provided a few more details about the album, entitled *Relapse*: "Me and Dre are back in the lab like the old days, man. Dre will end up producing the majority of the tracks on 'Relapse'. We are up to our old mischievous ways ... let's just leave it at that."

## 2010-2011

His seventh album was released on June 18, 2010. In the US *Recovery* sold 741,000 copies during its first week, topping the *Billboard* 200 chart. Eminem's sixth consecutive US number-one album also topped the charts in several other countries. *Recovery* remained atop the *Billboard* 200 chart for five consecutive weeks of a seven-week total.

*Billboard* reported that it was the bestselling album of 2010, making Eminem the first artist in Nielsen SoundScan history with two year-end bestselling albums. *Recovery* is the bestselling digital album in history. Its first single, "Not Afraid", was released on April 29 and debuted atop the *Billboard* Hot 100; its music video was released on June 4. "Not Afraid" was followed by "Love the Way You Lie", which debuted at number two before rising to the top. Although "Love the Way You Lie" was the bestselling 2010 single in the United Kingdom, it did not reach number one (the first time this has happened in the UK since 1969). Despite criticism of its inconsistency, *Recovery* received positive reviews from most critics. As of November 21, 2010, the album had US sales of three million copies. *Recovery* was the bestselling album worldwide in 2010, joining 2002's bestseller *The Eminem Show* to give the rapper two worldwide year-end number-one albums. With *Recovery*, Eminem broke the record for the most successive US number-one albums by a solo artist.

## 2012-2013

Eminem announced on May 24, 2012 that he was working on his next album, scheduled for release the following year. Without a title or release date, it was included on a number of "Most Anticipated Albums of 2013" lists (including MTV); *Complex Magazine* ranked it sixth, and *XXL* listed it fifth.

On August 14 "Survival", featuring Liz Rodrigues and produced by DJ Khalil, premièred in the multi-player trailer for the video game *Call of Duty: Ghosts*. According to a press release, the first single from Eminem's eighth album would be released soon. During the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, it was announced that the album would be entitled *The Marshall Mathers LP 2* (following *The Marshall Mathers LP*) and was scheduled for release on November 5.

Its lead single, "Berzerk", was released on August 25 and debuted at number three on the *Billboard* Hot 100 chart. Three more singles followed: "Survival" (appearing on the *Call of Duty: Ghosts* trailer), "Rap God" and "The Monster" (with Rihanna).

In the United Kingdom *The Marshall Mathers LP 2* debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The first American artist with seven consecutive UK number-one albums, he is tied with The Beatles for second place for the most consecutive chart-topping UK albums. The album secured Eminem's position as Canada's best-selling artist, and was 2013's best-selling album.

On November 3, Eminem was named the first YouTube Music Awards Artist of the Year, and a week later he received the Global Icon Award at the 2013 MTV EMA Music Awards. On June 10, it was announced that the rapper was the first artist to receive two digital diamond certifications – sales and streams of 10 million and above – by the RIAA (for "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie"). On July 11 and 12, Eminem played two concerts in Wembley Stadium. At the 57th Grammy Awards, he received Best Rap Album award for *The Marshall Mathers LP 2* and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (with Rihanna) for "The Monster".

## 2014-2015

In Summer 2014, Eminem and Rosenberg began using the hashtag #SHADYXV on social-networking sites, and the rapper wore a T-shirt with the hashtag onstage. This was later revealed to bethe name of an upcoming Shady Records compilation: Shortly afterwards the first single from the album ("Guts Over Fear", featuring singer-songwriter Sia Furler) was released and the album's track list was released on October 29. Shady Records released a cypher to promote the album, in which Eminem did a seven-minute freestyle. "Detroit Vs. Everybody" (the album's second single), with Eminem, Dej Loaf, Royce da 5'9", Danny Brown, Big Sean and Trick-Trick, was released on November 11. *Shady XV*, released on November 24 during Black Friday week, consists of one greatest-hits disc and one disc of new material by Shady Records artists such as D12, Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil and Yelawolf. The album debuted at number three on the *Billboard* 200 chart, with first-week sales of 138,000 copies in the United States.

*The Official Eminem Box Set*, a career-spanning, 10-disc vinyl box set, was released on March 12, 2015. The set includes seven of Eminem's eight studio albums (excluding *Infinite*), the *8 Mile* soundtrack, the compilation *Eminem Presents: The Re-Up*, and the greatest hits collection *Curtain Call: The Hits.* Early in the year, it was announced that he would appear on Tech N9ne's "Speedom (Worldwide Choppers 2)". The song, also featuring Krizz Kaliko, was released on April 20. Eminem also appeared on Yelawolf's "Best Friend", the single from *Love Story*.

Eminem is the executive producer of the soundtrack on the sports drama *Southpaw*, with Shady Records. The first single from the soundtrack called 'Phenomenal' was released on June 2, 2015. Another single, "Kings Never Die" by Eminem featuring Gwen Stefani, was released on July 10, 2015 on YouTube via Eminem's Vevo account. Eminem was the first interview of Zane Lowe in Beats 1. The interview streamed online on the Beats 1 radio on July 1, 2015. Eminem appeared on the public access show *Only in Monroe*, produced in Monroe, Michigan, and was interviewed by guest host Stephen Colbert for an episode that aired July 1, 2015. In the episode Eminem sang snippets of Bob Seger songs at Colbert's prompting and briefly discussed *Southpaw*. In June 2015, it was revealed that he will serve as the executive producer and music supervisor on the TV series *Motor City* whose premise will be based upon the 2002 film *Narc*.

## 2016-present

In June 2016, Eminem's "Without Me" from *The Eminem Show* appeared on the soundtrack of the film *Suicide Squad*. In September 2016, Eminem was featured on Skylar Grey's song, "Kill For You", which appears on her album, *Natural Causes.* On October 19, 2016, Eminem released a new song called "Campaign Speech", a political hip hop song, and announced he was working on a new album. On November 17, 2016, Eminem released a remastered version of 'Infinite' on his YouTube VEVO channel. On November 22, 2016, Eminem released a trailer for a 10-minute short documentary called *Partners in Rhyme: The True Story of Infinite*.

In February 2017, Eminem appeared on "No Favors", a track from Big Sean's album *I Decided*. In the song, Eminem disses the newly elected President Donald Trump, and also raps about raping conservative social and political commentator Ann Coulter, who is a Trump supporter. Coulter responded to the lyrics, stating, "I think it's unfortunate that the left, from Berkeley to Eminem with his rap songs, has normalized violence against women, as Eminem has done." Eminem participated in the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards' annual cypher, using his verse, a freestyle rap called *The Storm*, to further criticize Trump and the administration for, among other things, Trump's focus on National Football League players' protests during "The Star Spangled Banner" over Hurricane Maria recovery efforts and lack of gun control reform in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.[158] Eminem ended the cypher by giving an ultimatum saying that Trump supporters cannot be his fans. The verse received wide praise among other rappers following its release. In October 2017, Eminem appeared on "Revenge", a track from Pink's album *Beautiful Trauma*.

## Discography

### Solo

* *Infinite* (1996)
* *The Slim Shady LP* (1999)
* *The Marshall Mathers LP* (2000)
* *The Eminem Show* (2002)
* *Encore* (2004)
* *Relapse* (2009)
* *Recovery* (2010)
* *The Marshall Mathers LP 2* (2013)

### D12

* *Devil's Night* (2001)
* *D12 World* (2004)

## Filmography

### Television

2000
2002
2004
2010
2013
Season 26, Episode 1: "Rob Lowe/Eminem"
Season 27, Episode 19: "Kirsten Dunst/Eminem"
Season 30, Episode 4: "Kate Winslet/Eminem"
Season 36, Episode 10: "Jeff Bridges/Eminem & Lil Wayne"
 2000
 2004
 2010
 2013
Season 1, Episode 1: "Pilot"
Also executive producer

### Documentaries

###

Concert films

 2005

Video games

 2017

## Personal Life

Eminem has been scrutinized, as a rapper and personally. The rapper was married twice to Kimberly Anne Scott. He met Kim in high school; he was 15 and she was 13 when he stood on a table with his shirt off rapping LL Cool J's "I'm Bad". Kim and her twin sister Dawn had run away from home; they moved in with Eminem and his mother when he was 15, and he began an on-and-off relationship with Kim in 1989. Their daughter Hailie was born on December 25, 1995; they married in 1999, divorcing in 2001. Although Eminem told *Rolling Stone* in 2002, he and Kim briefly remarried in January 2006. He filed for divorce in early April, agreeing to joint custody of Hailie. In early 2010, Eminem denied tabloid reports that he and Kim had reconciled. He had legal custody of his younger half-brother Nathan, who is a rapper known by his stage name "Nate Kane". In his 2014 song "Headlights", Eminem apologized to, and reiterated his love for, his mother.