Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972. He went from an unknown rapper from the crime-ridden streets of Detroit, Michigan, to the best-selling artist in the United States in the 2000s. Eminem's success cannot be underestimated. He has sold over 172 million albums worldwide, making him one of the elite artists who have done it. Eminem is a dynamic rapper and more good author songs.
Eminem's career took off after the release of his debut album, Infinite, in 1996. Then came The Slim Shady LP in 1999, which was met with great acclaim by fans, and the rest is history. Now Eminem gives concerts in stadiums around the world, which sell out in seconds. He has also collaborated with many other artists including Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Kid Rock, Drake and other popular and talented rappers and singers. In addition to his talent as a rapper/songwriter, Eminem also produces music. The talented performer opened the record company Shady Records with his manager Paul Rosenberg.
Despite his talents, Eminem has recently attracted quite a bit of controversy. He even caught the attention of the US government in 2008 with his song "We As Americans." Words: “To hell with money! I don't rap for dead presidents, I'd rather see the president dead. This has never been said, but I am setting precedents,” made the security service worry. Inexplicably. Whether you love him or hate him, Eminem is a very talented and interesting person and a powerful force in the entertainment industry. Below we will tell you some little known facts about him.
10. Discovery - Evan "Kidd" Bogart
Many people know that Dr. Dre discovered Eminem and helped launch his career. While this is true and Dre did wonders for Eminem by taking the young rapper under his wing, he was actually discovered by a little-known white rapper. Evan "Kidd" Bogart, who was interning at Interscope at the time, was the first to discover Eminem. Bogart (son of legendary music producer Neil Bogart) was at a rap competition where Eminem was performing. He went back to Interscope and brought with him an Eminem record that eventually ended up in the hands of Dr. Dre. As soon as Dre heard the tape, he asked to find Eminem immediately, and the rest is history.
9. Childhood - Coma
Eminem grew up in a very disadvantaged area. He was a “kid from the streets” who lived in a predominantly black neighborhood. He was constantly beaten up for being one of the few lonely white kids who lived there. When he was 9 years old, one of the bullies was so hard on Eminem at school that he ended up in a coma for a week. The stay in the hospital turned out to be a very frightening experience for the poor white child and was not the last, as he constantly found adventures for himself.
8. Childhood idols – Comics
When Eminem was a child, his attention was not occupied by music and rap. As a child, he had completely different hobbies. He cherished the dream of drawing comics. Due to the fact that he was constantly surrounded by problems and troubles, Eminem dreamed of life in other worlds. His passion for comic books helped him develop his alter ego, Slim Shady, as well as the characters Eminem portrayed comically in music videos.
7. Opposite sex – marital problems
Eminem is not the only person in the world who has had problems in his marriage. Most of them were well covered in the lyrics of his songs. Eminem constantly raps about the hardships of his life and his two marriages to the same woman, Kimberly Anne Scott. He mentions Kim in his songs along with his daughter, Hailie. However, his grandmother Betty, who walked down the aisle 5 times, was married the most times. Eminem, who has only been married twice, must marry more than once to keep up with his grandmother.
6. Oscar Winner - 8 Mile
Few people expected Eminem to star in a feature film. Even fewer people thought he would be good at it. The film "8 Mile" is based on Eminem's childhood. The film turned out to be a resounding success due to great game wonderful actors, including Eminem himself. Eminem was amazingly good in the film, which earned him a lot of positive reviews. In addition, the film turned out to be very successful financially. In addition, his hit "Lose Myself" was used in the film and nominated for an Oscar. Even though Eminem didn't attend the ceremony (not his style), the world was shocked and delighted when he was awarded the Oscar. He got it after starring in just one film, to the envy of Leonardo DiCaprio, Glenn Close and Robert Downey Jr.
5. What are Daddy Warbucks?
Many people have heard about Eminem's difficult and troubled childhood. But did you know that Eminem's mother, Debbie Nelson, and father, Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., were in a band together called Daddy Warbucks? The music-loving family nearly fell apart when father Bruce left for California, leaving Eminem and Debbie behind. Debbie was an ardent music fan and took Eminem to concerts with bands such as Talking Heads and Stevie Nicks. However, it was Eminem's uncle, named Ronnie, who instilled future star love for hip-hop. Ronnie played Ice T's "Reckless" to a then 12-year-old Eminem in 1984, which is where it all started, and the rest is history.
4. Shady Records – Want to record here? Fight the owner 
Eminem launched his record label, Shady Records, in 1999 with his manager Paul Rosenberg. The company signed a contract with 10 performers, and this moment There are five groups working there. Eminem began his career on the streets of Detroit, fighting in "Rap Battles" with other rappers. In order for you to have a chance to sign a contract with Shady Records, you will have to fight the master himself. Newcomers to the music world have to engage in rap battles against Eminem during the contract signing process. I wish I could listen to such battles!
3. Charity work - Generous Eminem 
Many people who see and hear Eminem for the first time immediately think that he is evil and self-centered. However, despite the fact that Eminem is constantly busy resolving personal problems, he has found time to establish funds and support several charities. Eight Mile Boulevard Association, Marshall Mathers Foundation, ninemillion.org and Small Steps Project are just a few of the long list of charities that Eminem helps. The Marshall Mathers Foundation is especially dear to his heart because it works with disadvantaged teenagers in Michigan.
2. Courts - Your mother
Eminem often uses aggressive and offensive words in the lyrics of his songs. Some people like it, while others can't stand it. Some of his lyrics go too far and can be vulgar and offensive. Eminem's unapologetic style has offended some people close to him, including his mother. A woman who spent 70 hours giving birth to Eminem and nearly died is suing her son over lyrics she said portrayed her in a negative light. In 2001, she received a $1,600 settlement in a lawsuit. Debbie Nelson wrote the biography due to the somewhat negative public perception of her. In her biography, she tried to describe her side and role in Eminem’s childhood. Eminem recently apologized to his mother through music, so apparently they decided to bury the hatchet.
1.Drugs - The Dark Side
Eminem is a fantastic performer who travels and works tirelessly. Because of this, he is subjected to very great mental and emotional stress, which can devastate a person. He suffered from prescription drug addiction
Eminem (b. 1972) is an American rapper and actor, composer and music producer, the King of Hip-Hop. He is engaged in a solo career, and is also a member of the group “D 12” and the hip-hop duo “Bad Meets Evil”. He is one of the world's best-selling artists. Many magazines included him in the list of the greatest musicians of all time. More than 100 million of his albums have been sold worldwide.
Childhood
Eminem was born on October 17, 1972 in the province of Missouri, the small town of St. Joseph. His real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III. He was the only child in the family.
His father, Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., born in 1947, was a creative artist and a member of a local band in Kansas City. Deborah Nelson, Eminem’s mother, who was born in 1955, also worked there as a singer. The parents met in 1970, Deborah was only 15 years old, and almost immediately after meeting they got married. Two and a half years later, a boy was born into the family, the birth was very difficult, lasted 73 hours, and Deborah almost died during it. They decided to give their son exactly the same name as his father.
And when the baby was only six months old, the father left them and his mother, went to California and never met his family again. Deborah's relatives helped raise the baby, and as a result, the boy became very attached to Ronnie, his mother's brother. Deborah herself constantly burned with the dream of improving her financial situation and the life of her little child, in search of good place work and residence, I moved a lot from one locality to another. So little Marshall is already in early childhood traveled with his mother.
When the boy was 12 years old, he and his mother finally settled in Detroit, Michigan. They settled in a suburban area (the eastern part of Detroit), the population there was mainly African-American. Here the boy went to school, but often skipped, and his relationships with dark-skinned peers did not work out. Marshall spent his free time from school at home, watching movies and reading comics.
In the fourth grade, a black high school student began to constantly terrorize him, and others also bullied him; no one wanted to be friends with a white-skinned boy. Because of difficult relationships I had to change schools several times, but this did not save me from an almost tragic incident. In 1983, Marshall was severely beaten by his peers in the school toilet, his ears even began to bleed, after which the child could not be brought out of a coma for about 10 days. Such suffering, humiliation and a difficult childhood left their mark on Eminem’s future work.
A year after this incident, Marshall and his mother moved to Kansas City. The boy was incredibly happy about this, because he again met his uncle Ronnie, whom he loved very much. Eminem considers him his best friend in life. My uncle was always into rap and taught it to his little nephew. When Marshall was still 4 years old, he was already performing rap own composition. And on this visit, Ronnie recorded several of his tapes with rap music for his nephew and also gave Ice-T’s “Reckless” tape, which prompted the young boy to finally take the path of a rapper.
The beginning of a creative journey
When the boy was 13 years old, he was already inventing and recording his own rap. This music fascinated him more and more every day. He performed rap freestyles in the school cafeteria, and over time gained a reputation as a very capable rapper.
Already at the age of 14, he began performing in local clubs, competing there with other aspiring rappers and came up with the stage name “M&M” (the first letters of his first and last name), later this pseudonym was transformed into “Eminem”.
Rap captivated the young man so much that he could not live even a day without this music. At the age of 17, Marshall made the final decision to leave school and devote his life to creativity. He performed live on local radio every night.
Since 1992, Eminem began performing at the most famous rap club in Detroit. Once a week he took part in rap competitions, which over time he began to win constantly. This could not go unnoticed, and he was invited to perform at the best radio station in Detroit.
In late 1993, Deborah's mother told her son that Ronnie, his uncle and friend, had died. He committed suicide by shooting himself with a shotgun. Eminem went into a deep depression, locked himself in a room, and, without leaving, listened to the records that Ronnie once gave him. The singer quit rapping and stopped writing songs.
He was brought back to creativity by the message that his beloved woman Kim was pregnant and they would soon have a daughter. Inspired by this news, Eminem returned to rap, updated his repertoire and soon began working with small company sound recordings.
The first one was released in 1996 solo album Marshall's "Infinite", he didn't make a lot of money from it. But the respect of the public and several positive reviews about his album in very influential magazines added optimism to the singer.
Nevertheless, her daughter was growing up, and Marshall could barely earn money for diapers for her. He had to change low-paying jobs one after another. When he released his second album, the Slim Shady EP, he was determined that if it didn't bring him material resources for existence, he will quit rapping.
Within 10 months, Marshall performed in hip-hop clubs, the singer was noticed and received an invitation to take part in the annual Rap Olympics competition, where he came second.
The pinnacle of glory
The producer, black rapper Dre, heard the tracks from the album “Slim Shady EP” and called Eminem. They met and their fruitful collaboration began. In 1999, the re-released “Slim Shady EP” was released and became an instant hit. The video for the song “My Name Is” turned out to be especially successful; it was played constantly on MTV. This album subsequently went multi-platinum and won two Grammy Awards.
At the end of spring 2000, Eminem's second studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP, was released. Here his talent was revealed from different sides, there are songs funny and sad, self-critical and incredibly cruel. The album sold 19 million copies, won a Grammy, and is currently one of the best rap albums of all time.
In 2001, Eminem became a member of the group "D 12", where he sang with his friends from Detroit. At the same time, he did not give up his solo career and already in 2002 he released a new, again mega-popular album, “The Eminem Show”.
Since then, each of his studio albums has been a worldwide success:
- "Shady XV";
- "Recovery";
- Encore;
- "Relapse".
Other activities and achievements
In 2002, the film “8 Mile” was released, where Eminem played main role. The film is almost autobiographical, as it tells the story of a young white rapper living in an African-American neighborhood in Detroit.
Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith Jr., played by Eminem, works in a factory and writes rap, trying to start and build a career in such difficult conditions. He has to go through many difficulties: a severe beating, the loss of his beloved girl. But he still won the final rap battle. He won and left, realizing that this life was not for him.
The film turned out to be quite successful both in terms of box office receipts and in terms of how audiences received it. With a budget of $41 million, the film grossed $242 million worldwide. Eminem wrote a song for the film and won an Academy Award for it in 2003.
In addition to this picture, Eminem starred in the following films:
- "Washing";
- "Beauties";
- "Pranksters";
- "Interview".
The singer is the founder of his own charitable foundation, he helps Michigan children born into disadvantaged families.
He has his own radio station and record label. He has received a Grammy Award 15 times. Wesley Gibson based his appearance on Eminem for his main character in the Wanted comics.
Eminem got into the Guinness Book of Records, as in one of his songs he accelerated to 6.5 words per second. In 6 minutes and 4 seconds he performed 1560 words - this, of course, is a record.
Personal life
In the history of music, there is no more famous white rapper than Eminem. But he became famous not only for his albums, but also for his scandals and love affairs. He married the same woman twice, and also had affairs with the most popular modern singers.
When Marshall was 15 years old, he met the great love of his life, Kimberly Ann Scott. They were both still in school at that time. When Kim had family problems, she and her sister lived at Marshall's house for some time. They dated for 10 years and got married only in 1999, at which time their daughter Haley Jade Scott was already 4 years old, the girl was born in 1995. At that moment, Eminem was just ascending to the pinnacle of fame, and their marriage could not withstand such a test. In 2001, the couple separated.
After 5 years, Kim and Marshall reconciled, got married again and even got married again. This time the marital relationship lasted several months. The couple filed for divorce again, amicably agreeing to share custody of their daughter. This time, the cause of the discord was drugs, alcohol and infidelity, and all this on both sides.
The yellow press attributes Eminem with romances with such pop divas as Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Tara Reid and Beyoncé. The singer has a special passion for representatives of the porn industry, whom he periodically films in videos. For about six months he had a relationship with the flamboyant Brittany Andrews, then an affair with another porn star, Gina Lynn.
In 2002, Eminem had a relationship with the actress who starred with him in the film 8 Mile, Brittany Murphy. They lived together for some time, but nothing serious came of it.
Despite such a stormy personal life, Eminem is now alone. He still considers Kim Scott a part of his life. Sometimes there are rumors that the couple is about to get back together, but this has not happened yet.
You can talk about him and his work endlessly; in some of his songs you can hear a lot of anger and hatred, while other songs touch the soul so much that tears well up in your eyes. Fate played a cruel joke on him more than once and sent him many sudden unpleasant surprises... But still he managed to get out of all this crap, and in such a way that now you can hardly scare him with anything.
His real name - Marshall Bruce Mathers III, he was born in the small town of Kansas City, Missouri, October 17, 1972 not too many years ago prosperous family. His father and mother were part of a show group that performed in taverns along the state lines. However, after Marshall was born, they did not live together for long - after five or six months, the father packed up his belongings and left the family. Although Marshall was still small and did not understand that his father no longer lived with them, nevertheless, childhood without a father is a bad childhood.
His Debbie's mother could not sit in one place, and Marshall spent his childhood in a trailer on endless trips from Missouri to Michigan. Of course, with such a lifestyle, he had no opportunity to make friends and go to school normally. His only friend was his uncle Ronnie, who introduced him to hip-hop: Eminem recalls that the first rap record he heard was “Rhyme Pays” by Ice-T, which his uncle gave him in 1987. Then the teenager decided that it would be nice to become a rapper. When the boy turned twelve, his mother decided to calm down and settled in Detroit - in the black neighborhood, where, according to Eminem’s recollections, besides the three of them (in 1986 he was born brother Nathan) there were only two other white people - a couple of crazy bikers in the neighborhood. “I am indifferent to the color of my skin,” my mother explained her choice of place of residence. “But the teenagers in the neighborhood were causing us trouble,” she added innocently.
The troubles were of this kind:
“One day I was returning home from a friend’s house,” Eminem recalls. “Then three black guys in a car drove past me. They showed me the finger, I gave them a response, and that was it. But they stopped the car... One came up and hit me in the face so that I fell. Then he pulled out a gun. I literally jumped out of my sneakers. I thought they needed sneakers. But they didn’t need the sneakers: when Marshall returned the next day, he found them in the same place, stuck in the mud.
At a school made up of mostly black teenagers, there was also plenty of trouble. One of the first songs Eminem wrote was "Brain Damage"- “Brain damage.” Entirely autobiographical, it told the story of his relationship with his main enemy, a teenager two grades above him named DiAngelo Bailey.
I was in the fourth, and he was in the sixth,” Eminem recalls. - One day he came to the toilet while I was peeing. He hit me in the back so hard that I fell and wet myself.
Another time in the winter, Eminem laughed at one of Bailey's young friends. Then he approached him, knocked him down and began to slam his head on the ice. When Eminem's ear began to bleed and he passed out, Bailey got scared and ran away. Eminem spent five days in the hospital in a coma.
It was at school that Eminem began to participate in the so-called “battles” - competitions that young MCs organized among themselves. There he determined a suitable nickname for himself - he simply read his initials, written as “ M&M" He had problems with competitions - as soon as he took the microphone, people started shouting at him: “Hey, you white bastard, get out and play your rock and roll!” What saved him was that by that time he already had several loyal friends among the blacks. In addition, it was difficult to dispute his exceptional talent - few could rap as artistically as he could.
At first, he remembers Eminem, - people said: “You’re cool for a white person,” and I regarded this as a compliment. Then I got older and thought, “What the fuck does that mean?” No one asked to be born, no one had a choice what color he would be. And I had to work hard before people stopped noticing my skin color. And the best thing they could tell me was once said by a woodpecker in Detroit. It's like, "I don't care if he's green or orange, this dude is cool!"
Eminem flunked out of ninth grade after five retakes of transfer exams. Mom was extremely pleased with this. She told her son: “Get out and help me pay the bills or I’ll throw you out of the house.” Eminem went to work.
He was a seasonal worker, a waiter and a cook in a restaurant. The owner of the restaurant recalled that he was a good worker, but he constantly rapped, shoving everything into the text, right down to the dishes listed on the menu. We had to shout at him to keep it down - it was a family restaurant.
At the same age, he began to participate in more serious “battles” in independent rapper competitions. According to eyewitnesses, he almost always won in “freestyle” (i.e., speech improvisation). Later he liked to talk about this because he did not want to be considered " battle MC“- in his opinion, this narrows the idea of the artist.
Then he met the future mother of his child, his future wife and, in a way, lyrical heroine their future albums Kimberly Scott. A little later, they began to live together in the same trailer as the one in which he spent his childhood. For a long time, in one of the walls of the house there was a hole from a bullet that accidentally flew into the window. In two years, the young family had to buy four televisions and five VCRs, which were regularly stolen from them. The worst thing is that the thief was a real psycho: one day he appeared when Kim I was alone and brought sandwiches and peanut butter without taking anything. But in the other, he pulled out everything except the bed and couch, including clothes and dishes.
At the age of 19, Eminem suffered the greatest grief in his life: his beloved shot himself with a shotgun. Uncle Ronnie. This was the most difficult time for him. Then he recorded his record “ Infinite", absolutely untenable and interesting to few people. The independent studio that contacted him sold just over 1,000, destroyed the remainder of the print run, and broke up with him.
“I had no money at all,” Eminem recalls, “sometimes my friends bought me clothes.
His last hope was the annual rapper competition - Rap Olympics, taking place in Los Angeles. The night before leaving, Eminem showed up at the house to find a locked door and a note saying he had been evicted for non-payment.
I had to knock down the door,” he says. - I had nowhere else to go. There was no heating, no water, no electricity. I slept on the floor, woke up and went to Los Angeles. I was in deep shit.
He didn't win the Olympics. His manager, Paul Rosenberg, recalls that while sitting in the audience, he heard the black man next door yelling: “Give the prize to the white guy! Give the prize to the white man!” According to Rosenberg, it looked like Eminem was going to cry.
However, victory came from an unexpected direction. Eminem took several cassette tapes of what later became " The Real Slim Shady LP" Legend says that the great Doctor Dre, singer and one of the best rap producers, found a cassette on the floor of the company boss's garage Interscore Jimmy Iovina. The two of them listened to the recording.
In my entire career, Dre claims, I've never seen anything worthwhile on demo tapes. When Jimmy played this one, I said, “Find him now.”
« Slim Shady"was born unexpectedly. Once Eminem practiced in front of a mirror and tried to rhyme his nickname, but it turned out badly. And then he picked up the first thing that was spinning in his head: “Slim Shady, you vile bastard, dark side Eminem's souls. It was like an epiphany.
slim Shady- these are all those evil thoughts that come into my head. Things I shouldn't think about. I think it's important for people to be able to tell when I'm being serious and when I'm being silly. Because most of my songs are funny. I generally have a deformed sense of humor.
First album, “The Slim Shady LP” produced the effect of a bomb exploding. Firstly, due to exceptional talent, few people famous performer. Secondly, because of the color of his skin. And thirdly, because of the completely extreme content of the record. A fragile, white-haired man with bright blue eyes spat out into the world absolutely obscene text of monstrous content: stories of violence, racial and sexual political incorrectness, the unbridled dreams of a spoiled urban teenager. The song that caused the most noise was “ 97′ Bonnie And Clyde“- a conversation between a father and his little daughter, whom he asks to help him throw the corpse of the mother he killed into the river. Here's a short excerpt:
Mom says she wants to show you how far she can swim. And don't worry about the little bo-bo on her throat. It's just a small scratch, it doesn't hurt at all. She was just having dinner while you were sleeping. And she spilled ketchup on her T-shirt. Mom had a name - Kim. The public was shocked: this mocking text told about real people. Eminem was declared the devil in the flesh, without paying attention to the subtlety: the text was read not from his face, but from the face of Slim Shady, who allows himself to commit those actions about which a common person only dreams in moments of rage. Slim Shady is an American Mr. Hyde, with the panache inherent in this country.
Eminem became famous and again faced the problem of color, only now from an unexpected angle: everyone who came to interview him first of all asked how he dared, being white, to rap. Very soon this began to infuriate him. I've had issues with race my whole life, from where I grew up to being a rapper. I've reached my boiling point. Anyone who pulls this card again will get it back in the face,” he said in an interview.
At first glance, it may seem that after a long period of living as a national minority, a person has developed a corresponding complex, but this is not entirely true. It’s just that, having learned about racial problems from an unexpected side, Eminem began to be sensitive to any manifestation of racism, not particularly bothering with political correctness.
In a sense, having released all subconscious fears and complexes young man and by doing so with exceptional ingenuity, Eminem became the voice of his generation. At least the thinking part of it. Meanwhile, everything is not so innocent: according to eyewitnesses, at his concerts the underage audience greets the dirtiest passages with a special roar of approval. Eminem, however, refuses to take responsibility for this.
There is a censor on my records, so now let the parents take care of their children,” he argues. - Those who copy their idols are idiots. Normal person if he jumps from a bridge, it will be only because he wanted to, and not because Dre advised him in his rap. The opinion is controversial, but not hypocritical.
In all interviews, Eminem gives the same impression: a surprisingly polite and quiet person. His modesty more than once played a cruel joke on him: witnesses talk about how security did not allow him into the dressing room intended for him, how in a restaurant where he once worked, a waitress demanded from him a document proving his age in order to serve him alcohol. The most typical case occurred in San Francisco: there, on the street, Eminem came face to face with a teenager who demanded payment from him for passage through the territory. At first he decided that it was a joke, but then the kid took out something that looked like a cannon. And then the “Detroit punks” came full circle: when they pulled him away from the teenager, he was literally smeared on the asphalt.
His second album, " The Marshall Mathers LP", Eminem dedicated the memory of his beloved uncle Ronnie, but did not change one iota his attitude towards life and material. The album immediately went to number one on Billboard, displacing Britney Spears.
On the night of June 4th, Eminem and a friend, to whom he told that his wife was dating some man, drove up to the parking lot of one of the bars in the city of Warren, from which Kim and her friends were just leaving. Kim hugged and kissed a certain John Guerra in a friendly manner, when an enraged Eminem ran up to them with a gun in his hand and pointed the weapon at Guerra’s face, threatening to kill him. There was a short fight, during which the pistol fell to the ground, Eminem’s companion picked it up and handed it to the approaching patrol. The gun was not loaded. The police arrested both, then Kim stepped forward and sent a patrol. They grabbed her too. Guerra immediately filed a lawsuit. The court charged Eminem with armed assault and possession of an unregistered weapon. And journalists speculated: was Eminem going to make art a reality, since on his second record there was a song “ Kim“- a kind of prologue to “97′ Bonnie And Clyde”, a monstrous dialogue between a quarreling wife and husband, full of threats and hysteria.
The situation was further complicated by the fact that a week later a letter arrived at the Warren City Court in which an unknown person promised to burn the entire city if Eminem was not acquitted. Eminem's lawyer said his client has nothing to do with the author of the letter. So is Eminem really, as his detractors claim, seeking fame by everyone? possible ways? In one interview he was asked a question: does he want fame?
Will it sound okay if I say no? - he inquired, hesitating. And then he explained:
“Fame is not what I'm looking for. I want to be respected. But, you know, fame is something that comes with respect. And I agree to it, because, you see, you can’t feed my daughter with respect. So let there be glory."
And somehow I believe that he’s not being a fool. Because dudes do not survive in military conditions - where real hip-hop is born. Marshall has been through thick and thin copper pipes, endured many unpleasant moments in his life (for example, the death of Uncle Ronnie, Proof’s best friend...), but still this once again proves that God exists! All efforts, labors and efforts - all this is rewarded to Emu to this day. Therefore, guys, take an example from him, you won’t miss, believe me!
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Biography, life story of Eminem
In all interviews, Eminem gives the same impression: a surprisingly polite and quiet person. His modesty played a cruel joke on him more than once: witnesses talk about how security several times did not let him into the dressing room intended for him, how in a restaurant where he once worked, a waitress demanded from him a document proving his age in order to serve him alcohol.Date of birth: October 17, 1974
Place of birth: Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA
If Eminem didn't exist, he would have to be invented! Among the huge mess of dirty and not very, aggressively Negroid, in places emtivish-surrogate and entirely criminal rap (not much like a musical direction), there appeared pure, like the tear of a child fucked by everyone, the Great and Unique Eminem - a demigod or half-man, and, as befits the status - one in three persons: Marshall Meters, Slim Shady and Eminem. Which of them is who, where and when is completely unclear. Moreover, in real life, and in music, and, naturally, in cinema. Yes, this is how it usually happens - some young black musician suffers in poverty and hellish squalor, brutally shreds his electric guitar in a drunken stupor in a stinking and dirty bar, twitches and scratches his genitals in the insane rhythm of the sounds made, growls about his fat ass crumbs, and then, once, the white-skinned mama's boy Elvis appears on stage, asking for tender love in his songs and becoming the king of that very rock and roll that was born in that very stinking and dirty bar through the efforts of some dark-skinned bastard... Eminem is the Elvis of rap when it comes to popularity, but his path is the path of a black bastard. Perhaps this is where his schizoid diversity stems from. Well, Eminem’s biography is a living reproach to Michael Jackson - Michael Jackson suffered from the fact that he was black, therefore, he dreamed and almost even realized his dream of becoming white. Having become one, he not only lost his nose, but also his music. Eminem has always suffered from the fact that he is white and dreamed, but did not realize his dream of becoming black. Perhaps that's why he kept his nose and found his music. Like the real one legendary personality , there are blank spots in Eminem’s biography. Take, for example, the date of his birth - there are at least three versions regarding the time of his birth. No less versions are widespread about his transformation from an “ugly duckling” into a “world star.” But these are all details, the main thing is that he was born in the bestial world and treats it the same way. There are three things without which there would be no lonely Marshall Meters, no famous rapper Eminem, no scumbag Slim Shady. The first is that he was born, the second is the death of Ronnie and the third is the birth of his daughter. If there was at least one thing missing in his life, he would have sung completely different songs. And of course, if he had succeeded in his suicide attempt then, we would never have known about him. And yet, Eminem’s talent is too great to fit into the biography of one person. That is why, before you is the life story of Eminem, Marshall Meters and Slim Shady, partly invented by them. Imagine America in the early 70s, a provincial town near Kansas, Missouri. Fifteen-year-old Debbie Nelson sings in a band that performs in small bars along the state line. One of the group members is a certain Marshall Meters. It was he who became the father of Debbie's child, who was decided to be named the same as his father - Marshall Meters III. This happened on October 17, 1974 - according to another version, on October 17, 1975. When Marshall Meters III was not yet six months old, his father, that is, Marshall Meters II, abandoned the family and disappeared from view. Is it necessary to talk about how the young mother felt, left with a small child in her arms, naturally, without a means of subsistence. The child became not only a burden for her, but also the cause of all life's misfortunes - Marshall grew up with the stigma of being the culprit of all the sorrows and failures of the young mother. It was the complete absence of maternal warmth and, as a consequence, mental trauma (not the last) that served as the impetus not only for the manifestation of Eminem’s talent, but also became the main reason for his mental unrest. What can you do if Freud's theory regarding childhood, which holds the key to understanding the mental state of an adult, is confirmed by both the life and work of Eminem. In search of personal happiness and income, Debbie sets off on a trip with a one-year-old child in her arms. True, there was no romance on this trip - they lived and moved in an old rusty trailer along endless roads from Missouri to Michigan. There was always not enough money to live on, and Debbie and her child had to wander around visiting relatives who fed them out of pity. A feeling of restlessness settled forever in the soul of Marshall Meters. After the fiery 60s, the 70s came, looking like a long, heavy retreat. Eminem's mother's depression, accompanied by drug and alcohol use - later, having already become famous, Eminem will tell in an interview he gave to the magazine Rolling Stone , about his mother’s drug addictions, and after a while, his mother will sue, demanding 10 million dollars from her son for libel. With such a life - with constant moving and lack of money, Mashall Meters III was unable to attend school normally, and it was impossible to make friends. His only friend and the most important person in his life was his mother’s brother, Ronnie. “For a long time I could not get used to the feeling of complete loneliness. The only person who needed me was my uncle Ronnie. I owe him everything I have achieved in life,” says Eminem. Ronnie was a musician - he was fond of hip-hop, he raped himself, and it was he who first introduced Marshall Meters III to this music. When Debbie and her child arrived in Kansas in 1984, Ronnie became everything to Marshall - a friend, a father, and a real idol. It was only when he was twelve years old that his mother decided to settle in the Eastern District of Detroit, only this area was not easy - for blacks. “Detroit was so unbearable for me that for many years I lived with the dream of dying.” Life in a black neighborhood was truly scary for a white teenager. But his mother, it seems, did not attach much importance to this: “I am indifferent to the color of my skin,” she explained her choice of place of residence, commenting on an interview with her famous son, “But the teenagers in the neighborhood caused us trouble,” she added innocently . Every time he went somewhere from home, Marshall Meters III was not sure that he would be able to return back safe and sound. “One day I was returning home from a friend’s place,” Eminem recalls, “Then three black guys in a car drove past me. They showed me the finger, I gave them a response, and that was it. But they stopped the car... One came up and hit me in the face so that I fell. Then he pulled out a gun. I literally jumped out of my sneakers. I thought they needed sneakers. But they didn’t need sneakers." The school was no less a scary place than the street, because the students there were also mostly black. A collision with a high school student named D*Angelo Bailey turned into a real nightmare for Marshall Meters. One of the first songs , written by Eminem, was the song “Brain Damage”, in which he talked about his relationship with this teenager. “I was in the fourth, and he was in the sixth,” Eminem recalls, “One day, he came. to the toilet while I was peeing. He hit me in the back so hard that I fell and wet myself. After that, I couldn't show up at school for a month." The next encounter with this bastard almost cost Marshall his life - it happened in the winter, Marshall Meters III said something about one of Bailey's friends, and he decided to deal with him for it - he grabbed him and began to hit his head on the ice until Marshall started bleeding from his ear and lost consciousness. As a result, Marshall spent five days in intensive care in a coma.
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But it was while studying at school, from about 13-14 years old, that Marshall began to participate in “battles” - competitions organized by teenagers who considered themselves MCs. The very first rap record he heard was “Rhyme Pays” by Ice-T, which his uncle Ronnie gave him in 1987. This record captured Marshall's imagination so much that he seriously decided to take up music and become a rapper. Then Eminem was born - Marshall's stage name, formed from the first letters of his initials - "M&M". Eminem was the only white person in the competition, which infuriated his black opponents, who shouted at him from the audience: “Hey, you stinking white bastard, get out and play your rock and roll!” But, gradually, extraordinary talent and artistry began to bear fruit - Eminem had black friends who began to support him both morally and physically. When Eminem was fifteen years old, he met his future wife and daughter's mother, Kimberly Scott, at school, and at the same time Eminem collected his first music group. The more Eminem immersed himself in rap and hip-hop, the more complicated his relationship with his mother was, until one day he was kicked out of school for failing his exams. "Get out and help me pay the bills or I'll throw you out of the house," his mother said. Eminem had to look for work. Over the course of several years, he worked as a seasonal worker, a waiter, and even a cook in a family restaurant. The owner of this restaurant now recalls that Eminem always rapped loudly while working and had to make comments so that he sang more quietly and did not scare away customers. In 1992, Eminem was invited to perform at the most famous club in Detroit, and almost every week he participated in various rap competitions. A year later he is already performing on the best hip-hop radio station in Detroit. During this period, he performed with the groups Basement Productions and The New Jacks, and then joined the duo Soul Intent. Constant performances and competitions exhausted his already weak nervous system, in addition, he continued to eke out a miserable existence: “Friends had to not only feed me, but also buy me clothes,” Eminem recalls that time today. But by this time, Eminem had already developed as a bright musician and simply continuing to perform rap was not enough for him: “I wanted to become a star one day,” he later explained to journalists. His uncle Ronnie, seeing how serious Eminem was about music, even tried to dissuade him from continuing musical career, but what he infected Eminem with at one time has already become the meaning of life. On December 13, 1993, something happens in Eminem’s life that he survived with great difficulty - his uncle Ronnie commits suicide. Eminem falls into severe depression and stops performing and composing music. He spends hours listening to Ronnie's tapes, the tapes that Ronnie recorded for him. "I often blame myself for this. I thought: maybe if Ronnie had called me first, talked to me, then maybe he wouldn't have done this." “If it weren’t for him, I would never have gotten into this.” Together with Kim, Eminem moves to live on the outskirts of Detroit in an old trailer. Soon, a hole from a random bullet appeared in the wall of the trailer - robbers constantly came to visit them and took away everything they could get their hands on. A kind of salvation from protracted despair was the news of friend Kim’s pregnancy and on December 25, 1995, daughter Hailie Jade was born. Eminem feverishly begins recording his first solo album, on which the artist's name appeared for the first time - Eminem. The album was released in 1996 on the independent local label FBT Productions and sold 1,000 copies. What shocked Eminem the most was that he received extremely negative reactions from the local hip-hop community. This situation was complicated by the complete lack of money in the family - there was nothing to even buy diapers with, Eminem and Kim and the child were evicted from the trailer. A few months later, Kim and her daughter leave him - she does not let him into her parents' house and does not allow him to see Haley. In December 1996, Eminem miraculously survives an overdose... “I didn’t want to live anymore, I was a loser and death seemed like the only way out... But if I hadn’t gone through this, I wouldn’t have anything to say in my music ...". So, since 1997, Eminem's life changes dramatically - in music world A bastard character named Slim Shady violently invades. "Slim Shady is all the evil thoughts that come into my head. Things that I shouldn't think about. I think it's necessary for people to be able to tell when I'm serious and when I'm being a jerk. Because most of my songs are - funny. I generally have a deformed sense of humor,” this is how Eminem explains the origin of this character. Slim Shady was born by accident - Eminem practiced in front of the mirror, trying to rhyme his nickname, but nothing worked for him, and then he began to say the first thing that came to mind, like - Slim Shady, the vile bastard, the dark side of Eminem's soul. “It was like an epiphany...” says Eminem. In 1997, The Slim Shady EP was released. The song ""Just Don""t Give A Fuck"" from this album became widely famous hit underground, Eminem was invited to take part in the recording of singles by rapper MC Shabaam Sahddeq ("Five Star Generals") and Detroit rock band Kid Rock ("Devil Without A Cause"). That same year, the authoritative Source magazine recognized his performance on the television show Wake Up Show as the best in 1997, and after 10 months of performing in hip-hop clubs, he was invited to Los Angeles for annual competition Rap Olympics. Eminem spent the night before leaving for Los Angeles for a competition, finding the door to his home locked and an eviction notice: “I had to knock down the door, I had nowhere else to go. There was no heat, no water, no electricity. . I slept on the floor, woke up and went to Los Angeles. I was in deep shit." During his performance at the competition, Eminem was applauded by famous black rappers. The constant hissing behind his back, “He’s too good for a white guy,” is a thing of the past. While in Los Angeles, Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg sent Eminem's demo tape to various record labels. Thus, it falls into the hands of representatives of Interscope Records. Now, according to legend, events unfold like this: one of the best hip-hop producers - Dr. Dre accidentally listened to Eminem's demo, which he picked up on the floor of Interscope Records president Jimmy Iovine's garage. The most interesting thing is that Dr. Dre never listened to these kinds of records, as he considered it a waste of time: “In my entire career,” Dre claims, “I never came across anything worthwhile on demo tapes. When Jimmy played this one, I said, “Find it.” him immediately."
February 23, 1999 - The Slim Shady LP, which Eminem dedicated to his daughter, is released under the Aftermath Records label. The album appeared in March 1999 in second place in the Billboard Chart sales ranking. The commercial success of the album was supported by the singles "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience", for which videos were released for MTV and which created a real bombshell effect. America fell into a state of shock - the content of the songs from this album was not just scandalous - Eminem splashed out so much dirt and obscenities, touching on all the terrible aspects of life, that American society was simply confused. Eminem viewed his work as a new musical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: “Slim Shady is the angry, sarcastic, foul-mouthed side of me,” he asserted in interviews. The album went triple platinum (more than 3,000,000 copies were sold). In 1999, Eminem received an MTV Award for Best Newcomer and two Grammy awards for Best Hip-Hop Album and Best Performance. In September 1999, Interscope Records gave Eminem its own label, Shady Records. Kim returns to Eminem, they legalize their relationship and even buy a house.
Eminem's successful work aroused not only the admiration of his talent by reputable musicians, but also the envy of many black rappers, who openly accuse Eminem of owing his success to the color of his skin. Eminem even had to make a statement: "I am white in the music born of black people. I do not ignore their culture, and I am not trying to throw anything out of it, but no one chooses where to grow up or what color of skin to have. Whether you a rich kid or a ghetto kid, you still can't control that circumstance, the only thing you can do is stay in the original position or get out of it... I've had problems with race all my life, starting from where. I grew up and ended up being a rapper. I've reached the boiling point. Anyone who pulls this card again will get it back in the face." Finding himself a new music star, Eminem immediately learned the beauty of his new position: firstly, his own father, whom Eminem had never seen before, suddenly showed up, and secondly, his own mother filed a lawsuit in the amount of 10 million dollars, citing the fact that that Eminem's songs "caused her emotional distress, damaged her reputation and caused her to lose her self-esteem." The protracted trial ended in her defeat - the court found that all the mother's claims against her son could be valued at $25,000, of which Debbie had to pay $23,000 to her lawyer. Eminem's personal life was under threat - having received a message from well-wishers that his wife Kim was having fun with a friend, Eminem staged a showdown outside a nightclub, threatening his wife's friend with a gun. The police intervened in the case and charged him with illegal use of weapons, and the impressionable Kim, despite the fact that the gun was unloaded, which became clear at the time of her husband’s arrest, after reflecting on his temper, she tried to commit suicide. When she was brought to her senses, she filed for divorce and also demanded money from him through the court, naming among her grievances the song "Kim" - a kind of prologue to "97 Bonnie and Clyde", an impressive monologue of her husband, complete threats and hysterics addressed to his wife. The musician’s creative achievements also brought more than just awards. In Canada, an attempt was made to outlaw his songs, GLAAD members boycotted him, and his poetry was cited as an example at a US Senate hearing on the promotion of violence in the entertainment industry. “There is a censor on my records, so now let the parents take care of their children,” Eminem answered to all the indignant ones. In May 2000, Eminem's third album, “The Marshall Mathers LP,” was released, which he dedicated to the memory of Ronnie. The album immediately went to number one on Billboard, displacing Britney Spears, and sold 2 million copies in its first week. The video for the song The Real Slim Shady was awarded at the MTV Music Awards as "Video of the Year" and "Best Male Video". By the way, they named the author of the song “Best Artist of the Year.” The song “Stan” gained even greater popularity, which once again confirmed that the rapper does not express personal feelings in his compositions, but is only trying to show people the world in which he grew up. It’s no wonder that one of the most famous representatives of sexual minorities, Elton John, agreed to sing the song that angered most gays. The duet of two famous musicians was performed at the Grammy ceremony, where Eminem was awarded in three categories, including “Best Rap Album” for “The Marshall Mathers LP.” Together with his group D12, Eminem goes on a long tour, which becomes one of the most successful in the history of America. In May 2002, Eminem released his new album entitled "The Eminem Show". The success of this work in Once again shook the world of show business - from now on and forever Eminem has become the real voice of the generation. In all interviews, Eminem gives the same impression: a surprisingly polite and quiet person. His modesty played a cruel joke on him more than once: witnesses talk about how security several times did not let him into the dressing room intended for him, how in a restaurant where he once worked, a waitress demanded from him a document proving his age in order to serve him alcohol. The most typical case occurred in San Francisco: there, on the street, Eminem came face to face with a teenager who demanded payment from him for passage through the territory. At first, he decided that it was a joke, but then the guy took out something that looked like a pistol. And then Eminem remembered how he had to defend himself in Detroit when he was such a teenager: when he was pulled away from the teenager, he was literally smeared on the asphalt. Eminem's life is very reminiscent of a movie - some kind of social or psychological drama. So, it is not surprising that Eminem came to the cinema. His first job was the role of a simple guy named Rabbit, who dreams of becoming a rapper, in the film 8 Mile. Together with director Curtis Hanson, Eminem tried to tell an almost autobiographical story from the screen. Co-star Brittany Murphy and director Curtis Hanson are delighted with his performance. Murphy stated: "Listen to one of his CDs, he plays multiple roles. If a man can do it, he can do it ten times better than most people on camera." Eminem's fantastic popularity as a musician entails not only a pleasant pastime and great opportunities for self-expression, but also a test of fortitude. Life in constant stress due to touring, performing and filming, and, most importantly, due to constant interest in his person from the press or fans - this is what Eminem received as a reward for all the torment that he experienced as a child. This is probably why he looks so soberly at many things in life: “Fame is not what I’m looking for. I want to be respected. But, you know, fame is what comes with respect. And I I agree to it, because, you see, you can’t feed my daughter with respect, so let there be glory.”
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, aka Eminem, aka Slim Shady, aka Ken Caniff - American rapper, 83rd on the list of one hundred greatest musicians of all time, the King of Hip-Hop and the best-selling artist of the 2000s. Ten of his albums reached number one on the Billboard 200, and in total he sold more than 100,000,000 album copies.
Born on October 17, 1972 in Missouri, in the town of St. Joseph. The father left his wife and child early and never saw his son again. The mother of the future Eminem, Debbie Nelson, traveled quite a bit around the country before settling in the black suburb of Detroit - no matter what best money not enough.
The white kid had a hard time at the black school. One day, young Marshal was beaten in the toilet so much that he fell into a coma for ten days. The beatings were led by DiAngelo Bailey, an absolutely frostbitten sixth grade thug. However, life put everything in its place - in 2001, Bailey was a garbage man, and Eminem was a world star. A narrow-minded garbage man decided that the song “Brain Damage,” where Eminem described what was happening in those years, hurt some of his feelings, and filed a lawsuit. However, the judge, after listening to testimony in the spirit of “I did everything right, this white man should have been taught a lesson!”, dismissed the claim.
Eminem made a firm decision to become a rapper, and, overcoming many attacks, began to participate in battles. He received considerable support best friend Proof. Together with him, Marshall recorded his first amateur release, with the group Soul Intent, followed by his first solo album, “Infinite”.
However, for Detroit at that time, no one needed another hip-hop album, and even from a white dude. The failure discouraged the aspiring rapper, but did not stop him. In 1997, he released the mini-album “The Slim Shady EP”, where his “double” appeared for the first time - Slim Shady, much more angry and aggressive, with a kind of dark humor, reading texts about violence and drug use. The lyrics themselves have become much better - complex and original rhymes have appeared, and a message has appeared in the songs.
The record was noticed by one of the rapper’s idols, who was delighted with it. With his help, the full version of the album was published, which brought Eminem his first fame. The clip was constantly shown on TV channels, sales broke all records.
American society was divided into several polar groups: some were delighted with the humor, accuracy and relevance of the lyrics of the new rap star, others, in particular the association of gays and lesbians, were shocked by the rudeness and aggression in Eminem’s songs. In the future, American gays and lesbians will repeatedly sue him, organize protests, and accuse him of homophobia. More than once he will have to speak out on the issue of attitude towards these population groups, and one day he will even sing a duet with. This attitude is briefly conveyed by the phrase from the interview “I don’t care!”
Throughout the 2000s, Eminem remained the most popular rapper in the world. Almost every new release, for example, songs like or (duet with Dido) with almost 100% probability hit the top lines of the charts.
In 2002, the film “Eight Mile” was released, telling about youth musician. Eminem received an Oscar for the song for this film.
In 1999, Marshall married his school love, Kimberly Ann Scott. The marriage turned out to be, if not unhappy, then very difficult. Before the wedding, their relationship lasted ten years; in 1995, four years before marriage, their daughter Hayley was born. In 2000, Eminem received a two-year suspended sentence for assaulting a bar bouncer his wife was kissing in a parking lot. This was followed by a divorce, and in 2006 - a new wedding. This time the marriage lasted even less - they divorced again that same year. 2006 generally turned out to be a difficult year for Eminem - in April, his longtime friend Proof was killed in a shootout. Eminem dedicated two songs to his death: and.
Released in 2008 biographical book"I am that I am".
In total, Eminem's discography includes 9 studio albums, the last one, Shady XV, was released in 2014.