Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), [1] better known by his stage name Eminem and by his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter, and actor . In addition to his solo career, Eminem is a member of the group D12 , as well as one half of the hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil , alongside Royce da 59 . Eminem is one of the worlds best-selling music artists and is the best-selling artist of the 2000s. [2] He has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone magazine which ranked him 82nd on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[3] The same magazine declared him The King of Hip Hop. [4] Including his work with D12 and Bad Meets Evil, Eminem has achieved ten number- one albums on the Billboard 200 . Eminem has sold more than 80 million albums and over 120 million singles worldwide.[5] As of March 2014, he is the second best selling male artist of the Nielsen Soundscan era and the sixth best overall selling artist in the United States, selling 44.91 million albums. [6] After releasing his debut album Infinite (1996), Eminem rose to mainstream popularity in 1999 with the release of his second album, The Slim Shady LP. The Slim Shady LP was a commercial success and earned the rapper his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. His next two releases, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) and The Eminem Show (2002), were worldwide successes, each earning US Diamond certification in sales. Both albums also won the Best Rap Album Grammy Award, making Eminem the first artist to win such an award for three consecutive LPs. This was followed by Encore in 2004, another critical and commercial successful album. Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released Relapse in 2009 and Recovery in 2010, which was named the best- selling album of 2010 worldwide, becoming the rappers second album, after The Eminem Show, to become the internationally best-selling album of its year. Eminem won Grammy Awards for both Relapse and Recovery, giving him a total of 13 Grammys in his career.[7] His eighth studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, was released in November 2013. Eminem has opened other ventures, including his own record label Shady Records with his manager Paul Rosenberg. He also has his own radio channel, Shade 45 on Sirius XM Radio. In November 2002, Eminem starred in the hip hop drama film 8 Mile . He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the films iconic song Lose Yourself, becoming the first rap artist ever to win the award. [8] He has also made cameo appearances in The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009), and the television series Entourage . Life and career 1972–95: Early life and beginnings Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. (born c. 1951) and Deborah R. Debbie Nelson (born 1955). [9] Eminem is of English, German, Scottish, and Swiss descent. [10] Debbie was 14 when she first met 18-year-old Bruce [9] and nearly died during Eminems 73-hour birth. [11] His parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing Ramada Inns along the Dakota-Montana border before their relationship went sour. Bruce left the family shortly thereafter, moving to California. [12] Bruce later had two other children, Michael and Sarah (born c. 1982), [13] while Debbie later had a son named Nathan Kane Nate Kane Samara (born February 3, 1986). [9] During childhood, Eminem and Debbie shuttled between Missouri and Michigan, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and mostly living with family members. In Missouri, they lived in various cities and towns, including Saint Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City, [14] before finally settling in Warren, Michigan when Eminem was eleven. [12][15] As a teen, Eminem wrote letters to his father Bruce. According to Debbie, all of these came back return to sender. [12] Friends and family contend Eminem was a happy child but also a bit of a loner who often was bullied; one such persecutor, DeAngelo Bailey, beat Eminem so significantly that he suffered a severe head injury. In response, Debbie Nelson filed a lawsuit against the school in 1982, but the case was dismissed the following year. [11] Eminem spent much of his formative years living in a largely black lower-middle-class Detroit neighborhood.[12] He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was confronted and beaten up by African-Americans on several occasions. [12] As a child, Eminem developed an interest in storytelling and aspired to become a comic book artist before discovering hip hop. [16] Eminem heard his first rap song, Reckless featuring Ice- T, at age nine on the Breakin soundtrack, which he received as a gift from Debbies half-brother Ronald Ronnie Polkinghorn. Ronnie committed suicide ten years later; the loss affected Eminem so greatly that he stopped speaking for days and was absent at the funeral. [12] His home life was seldom stable, and Eminem frequently fought with his mother, who was once described by a social worker as having a very suspicious, almost paranoid personality. Debbie bristled at any suggestion that she was less than an ideal mother when her son became famous, contending that she sheltered Eminem and was responsible for his success. In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kimberly Ann Kim Scott to stay at their home; several years later, Eminem would begin an on- and-off relationship with Kim. [11] After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, [17] he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17. Although he was highly interested in English , he was never into literature (preferring to read comic books instead) and disliked math and social studies. [18] He worked several jobs to help his mother with bills, later maintaining that he would often be kicked out regardless. When she would leave to play bingo, Eminem would blast the stereo and write lyrics.[12] At the age of 14, he began rapping with high- school friend Mike Ruby, the two adopting the names Manix and M&M, which soon morphed into Eminem.[1][11] Eminem grew ready to test his skills by sneaking into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle battles .[19] On Saturdays, the two friends attended open-mic contests at the Hip-Hop Shop, located on West 7 Mile. The spot was considered the ground zero for the Detroit rap scene. [12] While struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, he gained the approval of underground hip hop audiences. [1][20][21] To put together verses, Eminem wanted the most words to rhyme, and would write long words or phrases out on paper and, underneath, proceed to rhyme each syllable. [18] Even though it would often make little sense, the drill helped him practice.[18] Based on his growing profile and reputation, he was recruited to join several rap groups. The first of these was the New Jacks, and after they disbanded, he joined Soul Intent, who released a single in 1995. [1] This single also featured Proof, and the two rappers broke off on their own to form D12 , a six-member crew that functioned more as a Wu-Tang-styled collective than a regularly performing group. [12] Eminem had his first run-in with the law at age 20, when he was arrested for involvement with a drive-by shooting with a paintball. Even though the paintballs did not break, he was still arrested. However, the case would be dismissed when the victim did not show up the court. [11] 1996–99: Early career, Infinite , and The Slim Shady LP Eminem was soon signed to FBT Productions, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass, and recorded his debut album, Infinite , under their independent label Web Entertainment .[22] Subjects covered in Infinite included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Scott Mathers while on limited funds. During this period, Eminems rhyme style was primarily inspired by rappers Nas and AZ and his work lacked the comedically violent slant he would later gain fame for.[23] Infinite was largely ignored by Detroit disc jockeys, and the feedback Eminem received—Why dont you go into rock and roll?—led him to craft angrier, more moody tracks.[12] During this time, he and Kim Scott lived in a high-crime neighborhood, where their house was burglarized numerous times.[12] He held a minimum-wage job of cooking and dishwashing at the rustic, family-style restaurant Gilberts Lodge at St. Clair Shores for some time. [24] Eminem was described by his former boss as a model employee, once working 60 hours a week in a six-month period shortly after Hailies birth. [11] Shortly before Christmas, he was fired from his job at Gilberts Lodge. It was, like, five days before Christmas, which is Hailies birthday. I had, like, forty dollars to get her something. [12] After the release of Infinite , Eminems per
Posted on: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 16:09:09 +0000
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