Eminem Biography

Eminem was born, Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Eminem, also known as Slim Shady is white and the best selling rap artist of all time, sitting above icons like, 2Pac and Dr. Dre with more than 33 million albums sold in the US and over seventy million albums sold worldwide.

Mathers endured an exceptionally bad childhood, living in poverty with an abusive mother and absent father in various states before eventually ending up in Detroit at the age of 12. He began rapping in high school before dropping out in ninth grade. He joined the groups Basement productions, the New Jacks, and D12.

The newly named Eminem released a raw debut album in 1997 through the independent label FBT. The debut was badly received, though this did not stop the determined Mathers as he continued his quest for a place in the rap music

Eminem first hit the rap world by storm in 1999 with his debut LP, “The Slim Shady LP.“ With his shocking lyrics, violent and horrorcore genre, Eminem quickly became loved and hated by many.

Dr. Dre’s beats featured prominently on The Slim Shady LP, a provocative array of violent, twisted lyrics, that Eminem insisted were only the thoughts of the Slim Shady character. A barrage of twisted lyrics, verbal outbursts about killing the mother of his child and verbal assaults about his own mother were regarded as evil and irresponsible by many.

Regardless, the album had two major hit singles, “My Name Is” and “Guilty Conscience” and climbed to number 2 on the US album chart in March 1999.While many fans and music critics regard The Marshall Mathers LP as Eminem’s definitive album, in the end The Slim Shady LP received critical acclaim as well.

The Marshall Mathers LP, that followed Slim Shady became the fastest-selling hip hop album in history, followed by an increasing amount of popularity, critical praise, as well as controversy. Eminem has invoked the wrath of women and homosexuals with his offensive lyrics; become enemies with Moby, Christina Aguilera; Everlast, Fred Durst, provided tabloids with plenty of gossip about his personal life, like Baby Mama Drama- Kim and in the process became just about the biggest rap star on the planet.

Eminem has won countless awards, including many Grammy and 3 LP’s of the year, #9 on MTV’s list of The Greatest MCs of All Time,#13 on the MTV’s “22 Greatest Voices in Music” and #82 on Rolling Stone‘s “The Immortal’s and Vibe’s readers voted him as “The Best Rapper Alive”.

In 2000, Eminem created Shady Records and produces up and coming rap artists, in fact, 50 Cent hit the big time when he was signed by Shady Records in conjunction with After Math Records and Dr. Dre.

Eminem has also acted in various films, the most noteworthy of which is 8 Mile, a story closely written to his own life, about a poor guy living in his mom’s trailer who dreams of a better life and has a passion for rap music.

Eminem gained critical acclaim for his performance in 8 Mile and won an Academy Award for the “Best Original Song” for “Lose Yourself” from the 8 Mile Soundtrack.

What is his appeal? Well first, no one can say he is not a brilliant rap artist, rhyming in full sentences with innovative and unusual themes as well as being praised for having verbal energy and high quality of lyricism. While other rappers are belting the monotonous, gang life, AK47 carrying, bullet’s spraying droll, Eminem dugg deep into a bad childhood and emotional turmoil, and showed his feelings towards his daughter, Hallie, to create raps like “Cleaning Out My Closet” “Hailie’s Song”, and “When I’m Gone”.

No matter what the haters may say, Eminem touches on deep and genuine emotions that strike a chord even with the biggest skeptics. And, all though his extreme and often prejudice sounding lyrics, including homophobia, misogyny and violence may offend many, there is no doubt that his confidence, genuineness and his profound ability to be himself, as well as his brilliant talent for lyrics is very attractive. Love him or hate him, no one can deny that in the rap music industry Eminem is and will remain one of the biggest and most accomplished performers of all time.

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EMINEM ALBUMS

1999: The Slim Shady LP

2000–2001: The Marshall Mathers LP

2002–2003: The Eminem Show

2004: Encore

2005–2007: Hiatus

2008: Sixth Studio Album