Eminem's Biography

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Contents:

Eminem

About Eminem

· Name: Eminem aka Slim Shady
· Birth Name: Marshall Bruce Mathers III
· Birthdate: October 17, 1972
· Birth Place: Kansas City, Missouri, USA
· Sign: Libra
· Sex: plenty (kidding) M
· Nationality: American
· Ocupation: Rapper
· Education: Lincoln High School in Warren Osbourne High School
· Wife: Kimberly Scott (divorced)
· Father: Marshall Mathers Jr.
· Mothers: Deborah Mathers-Briggs
· Daugter: Hailie Jade Scott (born: December 25, 1996)
· Halfbrother: Nathan (born: 1986 ?)
· Musical Influences: LL Cool J, Run-D.M.C., the Beastie Boys, and 3rd Bass.
· Favorite Music: 2Pac, No Doubt, Alanis Morisette, Redman

Eminem- isn't he cute?...

· Groups in which he was included: Champtown, Soul Intent (with D.J. Buttafingas), D-12, The Outsidaz ( which include Pace Won, Young Z, Rah Diggah (of the Flip Mode Squad), Slang Ton, D.U., Yah Lover, Axe, Az Izz, Bizarre Kid, Denz, and DJ Muhammed.)
· Official web site at www.Eminem.com

Brief facts

1972: Marshall Bruce Mathers III (Eminem) was born
1983: Uncle Ronnie gives Em a copy of Ice T's 'Reckless'. " That day I figured it'd be good to become a rapper."
1987: Em is hooked on 2 Live Crew and NWA. Little does he know that a decade on, he'll be working closeley with NWA's Dr. Dre.
1988: Writes his first rhyme which disses LL Cool J, even though he's one of his favorite rappers.
1990: Aged 16, he gets shot at by members of a neighbourhood gang.
1992: Uncle Ronnie commits suicide with a shotgun. It'll be another five years before Eminem can bring himself to talk about it.
1993: Makes a name for himself on the Detroie rap scene as the only white rapper rocking the mic at new talent nights.
1994: His mother accuses him of assault and batter on his 20th birthday. It's Eminem's only major brush with the law
1995: His little known debut album, 'Infinite', lands in stores to little acclaim. Some say he's ripping off Nas, others laugh at his unpunctual anti-Gulf War songs.
1996: 'Infinite' having sold under 1,000 copies, Eminem is working as a cook. Halie Jade, his daughter, is born on Christmas Day.
1997: Performs at the Rap Olympics in LA, but only comes in second. Never mind, because Dr Dre hears his demo and signs him to his Aftermath Record Label.
1998: Dr Dre and Eminem really hit it off, recording three tracks in their first five hours in the studio. The era-defining 'The Slim Shady LP' is coming along swimmingly.
1999: Eminem mania rages all ear and everybody knows what his name is. In December he heads back to the studio, putting in 20-hour sessions on his new album.
2000: He's back. "Apart from Jay Z and Redman, hip hop is kinda dry right now. My shit is gonna be a breath of fresh air. This album is like, 'Holy shit, I can't believe he said that!".
2001: With his friends from D12, he releases the first D12 album: Devils Night; a new solo album is expected in 2002.

Awards won

Seventh Annual Blockbuster Awards - Favorite Male Artist, Favorite Artist - Rap, and Favorite CD (The Marshall Mathers LP)

Grammy Awards - Favorite Rap Artist, Best Rap Album (The Marshall Mathers LP), Best Rap Duo (with Dr. Dre)

Brit Awards - Best Rap Song ("Stan")

February 26: Brit Awards - Best International Artist

April 7: Detroit Awards - Best National Album 'The Marshall Mathers LP'

April 7: Detroit Awards - Best National Single 'The Real Slim Shady '

April 7: ESPN Awards - Music Artist of the Year, skateboarding

April 11: BlockBuster Entertainment Awards - Favourite Male Artist & Favourite Rap Artist

Rolling Stone: 'The Slim Shady LP' - Best Album & Best Single for 'Slim Shady'

New York Times: 'Marshall Mathers LP - Best Album

LA Times: 'Marshall Mathers LP - Top Ten Album of the Year

Entertainment Weekly: 'Stan' - Best Single People: 'Marshall Mathers LP' - Best Album

Spin: Artist of the Year, Top 20 Album, Top 20 Single

USA Today: 'Marshall Mathers LP' - Album of the Year

2000:

September 8: MTV Music Awards - 'The Real Slim Shady LP' - Best Video & Best Male Video

42nd Grammys - 'My Name is' - Best Rap Solo Performance

42nd Grammys - 'The Slim Shay LP' - Best Rap Album

43rd Grammys - 'The Marshall Mathers LP' - Best Rap Album & Best Rap Solo Performance

43rd Grammys - 'The Real Slim Shady LP" - Best Rap Performance by a Duo/Group - Em & Dre

At the 5th Annual Online HipHop Awards: Favourite Music Video - 'Stan'; Song Of The Year - 'Stan'

The Story

Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on 17th October, 1972, in Kansas City, Eminem represents a new wave of hip hop. Born to 16 year old Debbie Mathers, a life without a father was never going to be an easy one.

His family was constantly moving back and forth between Kansas and Metro Detroit. He lived in Detroit from the age 1-5, then in Kansas from 5-9. Then They finally settled in East Detroit aged 12. Growing up in a predominantely Black Neighbourhood, Eminem's love for hip hop was always going to meet resistance. Eminem claims to have been in love with hip hop since age 9 when he heard the Ice-T song 'reckless'.

Growing up Eminem claims his biggest influences were LL Cool J, Big L, Run-D.M.C., the Beastie Boys, and 3rd Bass. Life in Detroit wasn't easy with several incidents occuring. Two that Eminem talks openly about are the time he he returned the finger to a car pull of passing kids, who then stripped him on his clothes and pointed a gun at him. Another was when he introduced childhood friend, MC Proof to a white neighbourhood, and they challenged his right to be there, and subsequently were both fired at. Although he would later drop out of school and land several minimum-wage-paying, full-time jobs, his musical focus remained constant.

Eminem wrote his first rhyme when he was 14 but didn't really get serious with it until he was 17 or 18. Eminem was discovered at age 14 by a pair of Detroit producers who call themselves the FBT, short for Funky Bass Team. The FBT duo claim to have heard Eminem on a late-night Detroit radio show a decade ago and, loved his delivery, called the station and invited the MC to come to their studio that same night.

He was then in a duo called "Soul Intent" with D.J. Buttafingas. They released a 2 song EP with the tracks "Fucking Backstabber", and "Biterphobia". The song fucking backstabber is aimed at an emcee who Eminem thought was his friend. At the start of the song you can hear this friend on the phone to Eminem's girl trying to hook up with her.

Next for Eminem was an album called Infinite, only released locally in Detroit the album sold poorly and Eminem knew something would have to change if he was going to be successful. "Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself," he recalls. "It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up." Eminem gave Rap Coalition's Wendy Day a copy of the Infinite album at a chance meeting, she helped him secure a spot at the Coalition’s 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, where he won second place in the freestyle competition. Loosing out to Juice. Eminem claims he was pissed to have lost that because he was broke at the time.

The next album Eminem released was called 'The Slim Shady EP'. The Slim Shady EP was the birth of Slim Shady: How did the name Slim Shady come up? "I was takin' a shit. I swear to God. And the fuckin' name just popped into my head. Then I started thinkin' of twenty million things that rhymed with it". "Slim Shady is just the evil thoughts that come into my head. Things I shouldn't be thinking about. Not to be gimmicky, but people should be able to determine when I'm serious and when I'm fuckin around. That's why a lot of my songs are funny. I got a warped sense of humor I guess". The first cover on Eminem's demo tape was a picture of his ass but then he changed it to him breaking this glass/mirror. "I had this whole Slim Shady concept of being two different people, having two different sides of me. One of them I was trying to let go and I looked at the mirror and smashed it. That was the whole intro of the Slim Shady EP. Slim Shady was coming to haunt me, was coming to haunt Eminem". Slim Shady is a character, Marshal say's Slim killed Eminem.

He say's he is still Eminem though, Slim Shady is just another part of him, the dark, evil, creatively sick part. The album finally got Eminem the recognition he deserved. Gone were the softer lyrics of Infinite and in was the new sick style. With songs like 'Murder Murder', 'No Ones Iller' and 'Low Down Dirty' Eminem's finally gained some status. The album sold so well his record company at the time 'Web Entertainment' had to order thousands of extra copies. Eminem also needed an alias as the rest of his hometown crew D-12 (Dirty Dozen) all had one. The crew consists of: Slim Shady, Eminem. Then you got Dirty Harry, Big Proof. That's two/ four people. The Con Artist, Denine Porter (The producer), The idiotic Bizarre, Peter S. Bizarre, Swift or Swifty McVeigh and finally Conniver, [Von]. The other crew Eminem is part of it the New Jersey crew The Outsidaz who consist of Pace Won, Young Z, Rah Diggah (of the Flip Mode Squad), Slang Ton (R.I.P.), D.U., Yah Lover, Axe, Az Izz, Bizarre Kid, Denz, and DJ Muhammed.

Eminem is also part of 'Bad Meets Evil' a group with another Detroit rapper Royce Da 5'9. The released a 2 song EP 2 years ago with the songs 'Scary Movies' and 'Nuttin To Do'. In case you are wondering Eminem is The Evil and Royce is The Bad. Royce was the only guest artist on 'The Slim Shady LP'. Eminem finally hooked up with Dre in late 1998, the story goes like this: Dr. Dre found Eminem's tape in Interscope Records CEO, Jimmy Iovine's, garage laying on the floor. It caught Dre's eye and he listened to it and liked it. Eminem and his manager, Paul Rosenberg, gave a few people from Interscope Records his demo and he made his major radio debut on the world famous Wake Up Show. Dre was in his car and heard him on the radio and got the number to his hotel room and called him up. Eminem was signed to Dre's Aftermath label in January of 1998. Detroit rapper and Eminem friend Bizarre remembers the phone call. "He was missing for three weeks. Nowhere to be found," the rapper recalls. "Then he just up and called out of the blue: 'Yo, man, I just signed with Doc-tor DRE! He's got this fresh condo out here; you got to see it...!'"

Last year on Febuary 23rd The Slim Shady LP was released. Thanks to the big hit 'My Name Is' Eminem has become one of the most recognizable characters in America. Thanks to also to heavy MTV rotation, The Slim Shady LP went Triple Platinum. "The world's gonna know when they pop in this Slim Shady [album] that something's wrong with this guy," Eminem said prior to the album's release. "It's deeper than me. Oh, I want shock value, I want to shock the world" "At the end of the day, I don't give a shit what I rapped about," he said. "I'm just having fun ... and making fun of all the fucked up shit in the world."

After completing a successful world wide tour, Eminem is now almost finished his second full length album for Aftermath - 'The Marshall Mathers LP' "You'll really see who the real me is on the next one.." Guest appearances on the album include Sticky Fingers (from Onyx); RBX, who appeared on Dr. Dre’s The Chronic album; and D-12, Eminem’s Detroit crew, which he is currently recording for his own label, Shady Records. Also be on the lookout for a collaboration between Em, Dre, Xzibit and Snoop Dogg on the album. “I don’t like to count my chickens, he says, but I’m pretty sure it’s gonna happen. Any special guests Em wanted for the album but was unable to secure? “I was tryin’ to get my mom on it, but she don’t wanna be on it,” says the ever-glib Mathers, who has been trying to get his famously litigious parent to back off since she brought a defamation lawsuit against him last fall.

Succes also has it's downsides though, with the media branding Eminem another 'Vanilla Ice' while constantly praying on his race and other emcees claiming his success if because of his color: "All that shit is already happening and I can't control it," said Eminem. "I was born this color, and naturally, I'm gonna be thrown into certain categories. In a minute, people will get sick of it, and I'm gonna speak on it."

Success has also brought enemies with people taking stabs at him. Last year in SF Eminem had to beat down a kid who told Eminem that he was on 'his block' and he also got in a fight in concert jumping from the crowd to fight someone in the audience who wasn't giving him respect. But With years of rapping and freestyle MC battles finally paying off, Eminem also has begun to draw high praise from fellow rap artists. Prince Be of P.M. Dawn said he and partner J.C. were chasing after Eminem to sign him to their label, while fellow white Detroit rapper Kid Rock was effusive in his praise. "The motherfucker's dope," Rock said of Eminem. "The motherfuckers's ... fresh as hell. Detroit's the home of the white rapper. We got love for our honkies in Detroit. "He's off on the same fucking shit I'm on ... He's a white boy who smokes crack and grew up in a trailer park like myself."

Eminem's second full release for Aftermath sold over 1.7 million in it's first week. It's broke all sales records, but controversy followed. Eminem was interviewed, booked, and arraigned in Royal Oak, Michigan's 44th District Court after he alledgedy assaulted an ICP employee Douglas Dail. Eminem also pulled out an unloaded gun during the incident. He was released on $1,000 bond was and ordered to return July 7. It later emerged that he also pulled a gun or Douglas Dail, and ICP employee.

Eminem put all this behind him and the 'Up In Smoke' tour launched on June 15th. The shows have received rave reviews. Unfortunately Eminem's wife Kimberly Mathers attempted suicide, but luckily she survived. It seems the bigger Eminem gets, the more controversy follows. After the tour finishes Eminem can begin to work more closly with his crew, The Dirty Dozen for their first LP release.

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