Eminem was born on October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, Missouri. The father left the family when Marshall was not even a year old. Since then, the boy, along with his mother, moved a lot, lived with relatives. Then the family settled in Detroit, but even there it was not easy for Marshall - he often changed schools, got into fights. Fascinated by rap, Marshall was already writing songs at the age of 13, and at 15 he founded his own band.
After graduating from high school, Eminem tried several low-paying jobs and performed on the radio. And in 1995 he joined the Soul Intent group. The following year, in the biography of Marshall Mathers, the first album "Infinite" was released, which did not become particularly successful. But the rapper continued to work.
Started collaborating with Dr. Dre, Eminem released a disc - "Slim Shady LP". At the same time, he signed a contract with Aftermath Entertainment. In 2001, Eminem's biography received three Grammy awards. The singer also became a member of the D12 group. In 2002, the album "The Eminem Show" was released, in 2004 - "Encore".
Marshall made his acting debut in 2000 in Da hip hop Witch. Then in 2001 he played in the film "The Wash". great success reached the film "8 Mile" in 2002, and for the song "Lose Yourself" Eminem received an Oscar. After some stagnation in creativity, in 2009 Eminem reasserted himself by singing with 50 cent, Dr. Dre.
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Marshal Bruce Mathers the Third, aka Eminem, aka Slim Shady, aka Ken Caniff, is an American rapper, 83rd in the list of the hundred greatest musicians of all time, the King of Hip-Hop and the best-selling artist of the 2000s. Ten of his albums climbed to number one on the Billboard 200, and in total he sold over 100,000,000 copies of albums.
Born 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, pretty much traveled around the country before settling in a black suburb of Detroit - no matter what better money not enough.
The white kid had a hard time at the black school. Once the young Marshal was beaten in the toilet so that he fell into a coma for ten days. The beatings were led by DiAngelo Bailey, an absolutely frostbitten thug in the sixth grade. However, life put everything in its place - in 2001, Bailey was a garbage man, and Eminem was a world star. The 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 sued. However, the judge, after listening to testimony in the spirit of “I did everything right, this white man should have been taught a lesson!”, He dismissed the claim.
Eminem made a firm decision to become a rapper, and, overcoming many attacks, began to participate in battles. He received a lot of support from his best friend Proof. Together with him, Marshall recorded his first amateur release, with the Soul Intent group, 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 novice rapper, but did not stop. In 1997, he released the mini-album "The Slim Shady EP", where his "double" appeared for the first time - Slim Shady, much more evil and aggressive, with a peculiar dark humor, reading texts about violence and drug use. The texts themselves have become much better - complex and original rhymes have appeared, a message has appeared in the songs.
The record was noticed by one of the rapper's idols - who was delighted with her. With his help, the full version of the album was published, which brought Eminem his first fame. The clip was constantly played on TV channels, sales beat all records.
American society was divided into several polar groups: some were delighted with the humor, accuracy and relevance of the texts 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 sue him more than once, organize protests, and accuse him of homophobia. He will have to speak out more than once on the issue of attitudes towards these population groups, and once even sing a duet with. Briefly, this attitude is conveyed by the phrase from the interview, “Yes, I don’t care!”
Throughout the 2000s, Eminem remained the most popular rapper in the world. Almost everyone new release, for example, songs such as or (a duet with Daido) were almost 100% likely to hit the top of the charts.
In 2002, the film "Eight Mile" was released, which tells about early years musician. For the song for this film, Eminem received an Oscar.
In 1999, Marshall married his high school sweetheart, 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, daughter Hayley was born. In 2000, Eminem received a two-year suspended sentence for assaulting a bouncer from a bar his wife kissed in the parking lot. This was followed by a divorce, and in 2006 - new wedding. This time the marriage lasted even less - in the same year they divorced again. 2006 turned out to be a difficult year for Eminem in general - in April, his longtime friend Proof was killed in a shootout. Eminem dedicated two songs to his death: and.
In 2008, he released the biographical book I Am Who I Am.
In total, Eminem's discography includes 9 studio albums, the last one, Shady XV, was released in 2014.
Eminem was born in small town Kansas City, Missouri, in a dysfunctional family. Eminem's parents were members of a local music group. His father left Marshall with his mother when the boy was about six months old, and since then Eminem has never met him.
Marshall's mother, Debbie Nelson, constantly moved from one place to another, so Eminem's childhood was spent in a trailer on endless trips from Missouri to Michigan. Eminem often lived with relatives, with his mother's brother Ronnie, to whom he became very attached. Uncle was actually a little older than Eminem himself.
Eminem and his mother settled in Detroit, in the Eastside area with a predominantly African-American population. Marshall had difficulty communicating with black peers: due to constant skirmishes and bullying, Eminem had to change schools every two to three months. Once Marshall was beaten so severely that he lay in a coma for several days. Of course, all this experience could not but affect the further work of the rapper.
In 1984, Marshall and his mother returned to Kansas City, where he again met with his uncle Ronnie, who was a fan of rap. It was he who had a great influence on the subsequent work of Eminem. In 1987, Marshall's uncle presented his nephew with Ice T's Reckless cassette, which changed everything Marshall thought about music. He was seriously interested in rap music and realized that he would devote his life to her. Marshall takes name Eminem- is made up of the first letters of his name and surname Marshall Mathers - and at the age of 15 he founded his first rap group.
Star Trek
Eminem, one of the best-selling musicians of the early 2000s and one of the most popular rappers, has sold over 90 million albums worldwide. Eminem was opened to big show business by rapper and producer Dr. Dre. Since the musicians started working together, things have gone uphill for the aspiring Eminem, hiding under the pseudonym Slim Shady. Slim Shady was born unexpectedly. Eminem picked up the first thing that came to his mind. Slim Shady - a vile provocateur, the dark side of Marshall's soul, which arose from a confluence of tragic circumstances his life.
In 1996, Eminem recorded his first album, Infinite. However, he did not bring success. Eminem explained that Infinite was a job where he wanted to figure out what style he would perform and what he would sound like.
Eminem's second album, The Marshall Mathers LP, appeared in the spring of 2000. The rapper dedicated this album to the memory of his beloved friend, Uncle Ronnie, who committed suicide.
In 2002, the autobiographical film 8 Mile appears, in which Eminem plays the rapper below the poverty line Jimmy Smith. The film became a success both financially and in terms of audience response, and the Lose Yourself soundtrack earned Marshall an Oscar.
In 2011, Eminem became one of the most viewed artists on YouTube channel. At the moment, his total views are almost 2,000,000,000. In addition, the rapper became the first person in history who managed to get more than 61,000,000 human “likes” in social network Facebook, while surpassing Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga.
Personal life
At the age of 15, in the school corridor, Marshall saw her - the girl who was destined to become his wife twice and the mother of his child. Kimberly Scott became the love of his life. After Uncle Ronnie shot himself with a shotgun, Marshall left music and fell into a deep depression. But after some time, Kim announced that she was expecting a baby, and this brought the rapper back to life.
On Catholic Christmas, December 25, 1995, Eminem had a daughter, Haley (at that time, Eminem and his wife were not registered, they got married only in 1999).
The first time the couple filed for divorce a year after the secret wedding, and five years later, in January 2006, they got married again. However, in December of the same year, the couple finally separated, and Eminem in an interview vowed never to marry again.
Eminem previously adopted two children: daughter Kimberly Whitney from another man and Alaina, daughter of Kimberly's sister.
Now his name is known all over the world, and, perhaps, even in our republic it is difficult to find a person who has never heard the name Eminem. And yet, just two or three years ago, no one would have imagined that he would achieve such fame.
His life path- not easy. Many obstacles stood in the way of Eminem. And after all, everything could have been different if he had not met Ronnie, if his daughter had not been born, or if he had succeeded in his suicide attempt ... But first things first.
1973 Kansas City, Missouri. Fifteen-year-old Debbie Nelson is an unknown singer in one of the local musical groups. She marries one of the members of the group. October 17, 1974 they have a son, he is called, like his father, Marshall Mavers III (Marshall Mathers III). When the child was six months old, his father abandoned the family. Marshall is often left to live with relatives. He becomes attached to his mother's brother Ronnie (Ronnie Polkingharn). Marshall and his mother constantly move from place to place.
When Marshall was 12 years old, he and Debbie finally settled in the East Detroit, Michigan area. Here the boy got into a lot of trouble. In the fourth grade, he was terrorized every day by some high school student. School was no better. Marshall had to change schools every two or three months, and it was difficult for him to be friends with someone, to study well and not get into any trouble. In the winter of 1983, Marshall was beaten so severely that he lay in a coma for ten days. Years of suffering will have a serious impact on all of Eminem's work. In 1984, Marshall and his mother return to Kansas City, and Marshall again meets with Ronnie. "My uncle was actually my best friend", recalls Marshall. Ronnie was a fan of rap music, he recorded several of his rap tapes for Marshall. "And I thought: hell, this is what I can do!" In general, Ronnie had a great influence on the subsequent work of Eminem. When Marshall was still 9 years old, Ronnie brought a cassette that changed Marshall's whole idea of rap: Ice T "Reckless". At the age of 13, Marshall begins to invent and record his own rap. Marshall became interested in rap music, he began to rap in school cafeterias, Freestyled there and eventually gained a reputation as a capable rapper. He takes the name Eminem. At the age of 15, Marshall meets his future wife, Kim Scott, at school. In the same year, he founded his first rap group. " I never would do it without him," says Eminem about Ronnie: "If it weren't for him, I would never do it." At 17, Marshall leaves school, after which he tried several strange low-paying professions. Eminem performs every night live on one of the local radio stations. He is told that he is "too good...for a white guy." In the summer of 1992, Ronnie visits Marshall in Detroit. He advises Eminem to stop rapping. Marshall could not agree with him: "I wanna be a rap star, I" mma be a rapper, I "mma be a rapper - that" s my occupation, that "s what I wanna do". ("I want to be a rapper, that's my job, that's what I want to do.") In 1992, Eminem began performing at the most famous hip-hop club in Detroit. Every week Marshall takes part in rap competitions. A year later, he begins to win in them constantly. Eminem is invited to perform on the best hip-hop radio station in Detroit.
December 13, 1993 Debbie calls Marshall at his friend's house. "She was screaming and I asked her, what is it? what's the matter? And she was just crying. And she said, 'Ronnie is dead.'
Ronnie committed suicide. Marshall sinks into a deep depression. He stays in his room for hours and listens 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 it." Eminem stops writing songs and rapping.
In March 1995, Kim tells Marshall that she is pregnant. On December 25, 1995, their daughter Hailey (Hailie Jade) is born. Eminem returns to creativity with an updated repertoire and becomes famous in the hip-hop underground. A small record company agrees to work with Eminem. He writes songs for the radio.
In the fall of 1995, Eminem's first album, Infinite, was released in Detroit. The album does not bring success, the songs from this album refuse to play even on the radio. Eminem has been accused of copying rappers such as Nas and AZ, selling no more than 1,000 copies of the album in total. Record company could not return the money spent on production. Em, Kim and Hailey were evicted from the apartment. Eminem didn't even have the money to buy diapers for his daughter.
Kim leaves Marshall and takes Haley with her. She doesn't let him into her parents' house and won't let him see Hayley. December 1996 - Eminem survives his overdose. "I was just a loser.. And I wanted to end this life.."
January 1997 - Eminem takes the name Slim Shady and starts writing new songs, many of which touch on his past. In the same year, the authoritative magazine Source recognized his performance on the TV show Wake Up Show as the best in 1997, and after 10 months of performances in hip-hop clubs, he was invited to Los Angeles for the annual Rap Olympics competition.
LOS ANGELES, October 24, 1997, The Rap Olympics - after six stages, Eminem is eliminated from the competition, he takes second place. During this trip, Em and his manager Paul Rosenberg (Paul Rosenberg) gave representatives of the company Interscope Records a demo tape of Eminem.
The Slim Shady EP was released the following year. The song "Just Don" t Give A Fuck" from this album became widely famous hit underground, Eminem was invited to feature on singles by rapper MC Shabaam Sahddeq ("Five Star Generals") and Detroit rock band Kid Rock ("Devil Without A Cause").
One of the best hip-hop producers, Dr. Dre, heard Eminem's album and met him in 1998, and this is how their collaboration began. They began recording The Slim Shady LP under the Aftermath Records label, with Dray co-producing the album. In the first five hours of their work in the studio, three tracks were recorded. Eminem dedicates the album to his daughter.
February 23, 1999 - The Slim Shady LP is released. The album appears in March 1999 at number two on the Billboard Chart. The commercial success of the album was supported by the singles "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience", which received music videos for MTV. Eminem is featured on Rawkus Records' "Soundbombing Volume 2 compilation" and collaborates with acclaimed Missy Elliott on "Da Real World".
The album became triple platinum (more than 3,000,000 copies were sold). In 1999, Eminem receives an MTV award as best newcomer and two statuettes at the Grammy ceremony in the nominations "best hip-hop album" and " best performance". In September 1999, Interscope Records gives Eminem its label, Shady Records. Kim returns to Eminem, they legalize their relationship and buy a house.
In April 1999, the well-known magazine Rolling stone interviewing Eminem. He is asked about his childhood... and about his mother. An article appeared in the magazine mentioning the "happy drug addict mom." In September (not immediately, mind you), Debbie filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem (waited for him to have money?) for defamation. Among other things, Eminem's album and his appearances in magazines caused her "nervous exhaustion, lack of self-respect and loss of reputation." In the Detroit News, Debbie Mavers-Briggs explained her position: "He told everyone that he had a really bad childhood, although this is not at all the case." The result is a protracted litigation.
In November 1999, Eminem returned to the studio to record his new album, The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem says that in the new album he will show what freedom of speech is. In May 2000, The Marshall Mathers LP hit number one on the Billboad Chart. Sold in the first week in the amount of 1,760,049 copies, it caused a lot of controversy, many consider its lyrics to be unnecessarily violent. In any case, this album was recognized as the best of all Eminem's albums and brought him even greater worldwide fame and many music awards. By October 2000, the album had sold over seven million copies.
Now, after his divorce from Kim, Eminem continues his musical career in a project with the group D12, wants to be a producer and has released a multi-part cartoon of his own script on DVD. On June 19, 2001, the first album of his group D12 was released.
In June 2001, Eminem was sentenced to one year of probation for the previous year's incident in Michigan with members of the Insane Clown Posse. This probationary period was added to the two-year probationary period received in April for carrying an unregistered weapon.
In May 2002, Eminem returns with the song "Without Me". The release date for the new album "The Eminem Show" has been delayed due to pirate activity. In June "Without Me" reaches the top of the British hit parade. In the same month, the album "The Eminem Show" was finally released, which immediately debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, Internet Album Sales chart and R&B/Hip-Hop chart. In the US, the album sold 285,000 copies by the end of its first week of release, and about 1.32 million copies in its first full week. The album and the first song from it were a huge success, and before the end of the month the album became 4 times platinum.
The song "Cleanin' Out My Closet" is released in August. In the same month, Eminem wins four MTV Video Music Awards, also performs at the ceremony with the songs "White America" and "Cleanin" Out My Closet". The album becomes 5 times platinum, and in September - 6 times platinum.
In October, the song "Lose Yourself" is released from the soundtrack of his film 8 Mile. The soundtrack itself was released, it included two other Eminem songs - "8 Mile" and "Run Rabbit Run", Jay-Z, Macy Gray, Nas, Rakim, D12 also participated in the recording of the disc. With over 702,000 copies of the soundtrack sold in its first week, the album debuts at the top of the charts.
In November 2002, Eminem's semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile was released, which grossed $54 million in its opening weekend and was critically acclaimed. In the meantime, "Lose Yourself" is topping various charts, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart in December.
When summing up the results of 2002, it turned out that "The Eminem Show" became the best-selling album of the year (7.6 million copies), the soundtrack to the film 8 Mile was in fifth place in this rating (3.5 million copies). That is, the first of the albums became 7x platinum, the second - 3x platinum. The video for "Without Me" peaked at number one on the MTV Videos of 2002 chart.
In January 2003, a single for the song "Superman" was released. In early 2003, Eminem received many awards.
Eminem can be heard on 50 Cent's debut album "Get Rich Or Die Tryin" on the track "Patiently Waiting."
In just a few months, this young man stepped out of the shadows" independent hip hop and became perhaps the most advanced rapper of our time. His stunning success debut album"The Slim Shady" literally shook the rap world to its foundations. Eminem has become one of the most commercially successful artists 1999.
Long before the whole world began to hum "My Name Is", his name was Marshall Mathers. Growing up in a family without a father, the boy traveled with his mother all over America. Extremely constrained in their means, they lived in the regions or visiting relatives. There was no home. Constantly moving, the child did not have time to make friends, and his favorite entertainment was reading comics and watching TV.
When Marshall was 12 years old, his mother finally settled on permanent place residence in Detroit. The son went to school, where with his comrades he enthusiastically listened to rappers like LL Cool J and 2 Live Сrew. Gradually, the teenager began to sing on his own, and in this matter he had no equal at school. Alas, his habit of skipping classes led to him being expelled from secondary school. educational institution after eighth grade. I had to go to work, simultaneously and independently making music. “I tried to go back to school five years ago, but I didn’t succeed. Then I only wanted to sing rap and become a star someday,” Eminem now recalls.
To this goal, he went systematically, speaking at first in different groups like Basement Productions, New Jacks. Sole Intent and only then decided to sing on his own. In 1997, Eminem released his album "Infinite", recorded on a small label FBT Productions. The work was liked first of all by the local musical community. Hip-hoppers reproached him for allegedly looking like performers like Nas or Jay-Z. The object of their reproaches did not care about the claims. He continued to perform, focusing on radio stations and so-called "free style competitions". The efforts paid off, and by the end of the year Eminem became famous, however, so far in a rather narrow circle of specialists and the musicians themselves.
In 1998, the rapper released a "short" album "The Slim Shady", which he later called his " dark side". This record made him a "star" of the underground. However, he would have remained underground if one of the copies of the album had not fallen into the hands of the legendary Dr. Dre. Possessing an impeccable flair for young talents, the "doctor" immediately signed the artist to his label and invited him to create a "full" version of the album, adding to it the compositions "My Name Is _" and "Guilty Conscience". Then everything was like in a rap fairy tale - in early 1999, the artist released a video clip for the song "My Name Is _", parodying everyone - from Marilyn Manson to the President of the United States. The audience "warmed up" by the clip enthusiastically accepted the album itself, which debuted in the Billboard magazine charts immediately in third place.
Half of the album's success was guaranteed not even by the music itself, but by the frankly provocative lyrics about drugs, sex, and violence for puritanical America. The rapper especially got it for the "four-letter" words about his mother and fantasies about "the murder of the mother of my child."
Mom herself, however, did not remain in debt. She sued her son. Debbie Mathers-Briggs put forward against 26-year-old Marshall Bruce Mathers III, such is his full name, a lawsuit that is rumored to be worth $10 million. With this amount, the mother is going to compensate for the moral damage that her son inflicted on her with his interviews in print media and the radio broadcast of the scandalous New York DJ Howard Stern. Debbie Mathers-Briggs believes that Eminem mischaracterizes her as a drug addict and a drifter. Claims were put forward quite recently, and the scandalous song was released at the beginning of the year. This suggests that the mother was waiting for her son to earn extra money ...
The culprit of the scandal himself does not even think of justifying himself, saying that he is guilty, I will correct myself. Eminem says: "A lot of people don't realize there are a lot of unfortunate white people in the world. Rap music freed me from all prejudices and I know what I have to say about it." Like this. Cutting the truth-womb also turned out to be economically profitable, which, you see, rarely happens - the frankness of "The Slim Shady" brought him "platinum" sales. Many American rock radio stations that have never played rap have added the artist to their playlists, especially his song "My Name Is". Will Eminem become the first white rapper in law? He himself does not give it of great importance: "I, a white person, work in music that was invented by blacks. I understand this culture and do not intend to steal anything from it. However, no one can choose where to be born and what color to have. Whether you are a child from a rich neighborhood or from ghetto, you have no control over these circumstances. The only thing you can decide is to either get out of this situation or stay in it. "
Eminem spent this whole year in endless touring and working with
Ruzia rappers. There were a lot of projects, he was constantly in sight, and the year ends logically - receiving all sorts of different awards. In early September, another annual MTV Video Music Awards took place in New York. The video clip for the composition "My Name Is _" was announced in three nominations at once - "Best male video clip", " Best Direction"and" Best Newcomer ". It was this last nomination that brought the rapper victory. He is not going to rest on his laurels. Having completed his tour performances, Eminem intends to immediately go to the studio to start working on a new album. If he manages to keep this peculiar to him alone uncompromising, everything will be OK However, on his side now in the first place White color skin. When a "black" sings about hatred and violence, swearing with the last English words (they, in fact, they only sing about this now), then this does not touch anyone. But when a "white man" sings about the same thing, it's already a sensation!
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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 with him more than once bad joke: Witnesses talk about how the guards did not let him into the dressing room intended for him several times, how in the restaurant where he once worked, the waitress demanded from him a document certifying his age in order to serve him alcohol.Date of birth: October 17, 1974
Birthplace: 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, sometimes emtivish-surrogate and completely criminal rap (little like a musical direction), there appeared clean, like a tear of a fucked up child, the Great and Unique Eminem - a demigod or a demigod, and, as befits the status - one in three persons: Marshall Meters, Slim Shady and Eminem. Which one of them, where and when - is not clear at all. Moreover, and in real life, and in music, and, of course, in the 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 smelly and dirty bar in a drunken stupor, twitches and scratches his genitals in the crazy rhythm of the sounds made, growls about the fat ass of his crumbs, and then, once - and a white-skinned man appears on the stage Sissy Elvis, asking for tender love in his songs, becomes the king of that same rock and roll that was born in that very smelly and dirty bar through the efforts of some dark-skinned bastard .. Eminem - real Elvis from rap, in all things popularity, but his way is the way of a black bastard. Perhaps this is where his schizoid diversity comes from. Well, Eminem's biography is a living reproach to Michael Jackson - Michael Jackson suffered from the fact that he is black, therefore, he dreamed and almost even realized his dream of becoming white. Becoming 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 fulfill his dream of becoming black. Perhaps that is why he kept his nose and found his music. Like a real legendary person, there are blank spots in Eminem's biography. Take at least 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 the "ugly duckling" into " world star". But, these are all the details, the main thing is that he was born in the bestial world and also applies to it. There are three things without which there would be neither the lonely Marshall Meters, nor the famous rapper Eminem, nor the scumbag Slim Shady. First - this is that he was still born, the second is the death of Ronnie and the third is the birth of his daughter. If there was not at least one thing in his life, he would sing completely different songs. And of course, if he had succeeded then in his attempt suicide, we would never know about it.And yet, Eminem's talent is too great to fit into the biography of one person.That's why here is the life story of Eminem, Marshall Meters and Slim Shady, partly invented by themselves.Imagine America at the beginning of 70 in a rural town near Kansas, Missouri, Fifteen-year-old Debbie Nelson sings in a band that plays in small bars along the state line. decided to name the same as his father - Marshall Meters III. It happened on October 17, 1974 - according to another version, October 17, 1975. When Marshall Meters III was not yet six months old, his father - that is, Marshall Meters II - left his family and disappeared from sight. Do I need to talk about how the young mother felt, left with a small child in her arms, of course, without a livelihood. The child became for her not only a burden, but also the cause of all hardships of life- Marshall grew up with the brand of the culprit of all the sorrows and failures of a young mother. It was the complete absence of maternal warmth and, as a result, mental trauma (not the last one), that served as an impetus not only for the manifestation of Eminem's talent, but also became main reason his mental turmoil. What can you do if Freud's theory of 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 earnings, Debbie sets off on a journey with a one-year-old child in her arms. True, there was no romance in this journey - they lived and moved in an old rusty trailer on endless roads from Missouri to Michigan. There was always not enough money to live on, and Debbie and her child had to wander around relatives who fed them out of pity. The feeling of restlessness settled forever in the soul of Marshall Meters. After the carbon monoxide 60s, the 70s came, similar to a protracted 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 Rolling Stone magazine about his mother's drug addictions, and after a while, his mother will sue, demanding 10 million dollars for libel. With such a life - with constant moving and lack of money, Mashall Meters III could not attend school normally, it was impossible to make friends. The 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 that I have achieved in life," says Eminem. Ronnie was a musician - he was fond of hip-hop, he rapped 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 for Marshall - a friend, a father, and a real idol. Only when he was twelve years old did his mother decide to settle in the East District of Detroit, only this area was not easy - for blacks. "In Detroit, I was so unbearable that I long years lived with the dream of dying. "Life in the black quarter for a white teenager was really scary. But his mother did not seem to attach this special significance: "I'm indifferent to the color of the skin," she explained her choice of residence, commenting on an interview with her famous son, "But the teenagers in the quarter caused us trouble," she added innocently. Each time, going somewhere from home, Marshall Meters III was not sure that he could return back alive and unharmed. “One day I was returning home from a friend,” recalls Eminem, “then three black guys drove past me in a car. They showed me the finger, I answered them, well, that's all. But they stopped the car... One approached me, hit me in the face so that I fell. Then he pulled out a gun. I literally jumped out of my shoes. I thought they needed sneakers. But they didn't need sneakers." No less scary place than the street, there was a school, because it also studied, mostly blacks. A real nightmare for Marshall Meters turned into a collision with a high school student named D * Angelo Bailey. One of the first songs written by Eminem was the song "Brain Damage" ("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 pissing. He hit me in the back so that I fell and doused myself. After that, I could not appear for a month At school". The next clash with this bastard nearly 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 beat his head on the ice while Marshall blood did not flow from the ear and he did not lose consciousness. As a result, Marshall was in intensive care in a coma for five days.
CONTINUED BELOW
But, it was while studying at school, from about the age of 13-14, that Marshall began to participate in "battles" - competitions that were organized by teenagers who considered themselves MS. The very first rap record he heard was Ice-T's Rhyme Pays, which his uncle Ronnie gave him in 1987. This record so impressed Marshall's imagination 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 man in the competition, which infuriated his black opponents, who shouted at him from the audience: "Hey, you white stinky bastard, get out to 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 at school with his future wife and the mother of her daughter - Kimberly Scott and at the same time Eminem collects his first musical group. The more Eminem immersed himself in rap and hip-hop, the more complicated his relationship with his mother, until, one day, he was kicked out of school for failing his exams. "Get out and help me pay the bills or I'll kick you out of the house," his mother said. Eminem had to look for work. For several years he worked as a seasonal worker, and 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 remarks so that he sang lower and did not scare away customers. In 1992, Eminem was invited to perform at the most famous club Detroit, and, almost every week, he participates in various rap competitions. A year later, he already performs on the best hip-hop radio station in Detroit. During this period, he performed with the bands "Basement Productions" and "The New Jacks", and then joined the duet "Soul Intent". Constant performances and competitions exhausted his already weak nervous system In addition, he continued to drag out a miserable existence: "Friends had to not only feed me, but also buy me clothes," Eminem recalls that time today. But, already by this period, Eminem had developed as bright musician and just continuing to rap was not enough for him: “I wanted to become a star one day,” he later explained to reporters. His uncle Ronnie, looking at how Eminem takes music seriously, even tried to dissuade him from pursuing a musical career, but what he infected Eminem with at one time became the meaning of life. December 13, 1993, in the life of Eminem, something happens that he survived with great difficulty - his uncle Ronnie commits suicide. Eminem falls into a severe depression, stops performing and composing music. He listens to Ronnie's records for hours, 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 it." "If it wasn't for him, I would never have started doing 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 - the robbers constantly visited them and took out everything that they came across. A kind of salvation from protracted despair was the news of the pregnancy of Kim's girlfriend and on December 25, 1995, daughter Hailey (Hailie Jade) was born. Eminem feverishly begins to record his first solo album, which first appeared the name of the artist - Eminem. The album was released in 1996 on the independent local label FBT Productions and sold 1,000 copies. Eminem was most shocked by the fact that he caused an extremely negative attitude from the local hip-hop community. This situation was complicated by the complete lack of money in the family - there was nothing to buy even diapers, Eminem and Kim with 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 to me the only way out... But if I hadn't gone through this, I would have nothing" to say in my music ...". So, since 1997, Eminem's life has changed dramatically - in music world a bastard character named Slim Shady intrudes furiously. "Slim Shady is all those evil thoughts that go through my head. Things that I shouldn't think about. I think it's necessary that people can tell when I'm serious and when I'm being silly. 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 pseudonym, but he did not succeed 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 a revelation..." Eminem says. In 1997, The Slim Shady EP was released. The song "Just Don" "t Give A Fuck"" from this album became a well-known hit in the underground, Eminem was invited to participate in the recording of singles by rapper MC Shabaam Sahddeq ("Five Star Generals") and Detroit rock band Kid Rock (" Devil Without A Cause"). In the same year, the authoritative Source magazine recognized his performance on the TV 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 the annual Rap Olympics competition. The night before leaving for Los Angeles for the competition, Eminem spent finding the door to his apartment closed and an eviction notice saying, "I had to kick the door down, I had nowhere else to go. There was no heat, no water, no electricity." "I slept on the floor, woke up and drove to LA. I was in deep shit." During his performance at the competition, Eminem was applauded by famous black rappers. The constant hiss behind him, "He's too good for the white guy," is a thing of the past. While in Los Angeles, Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg send Eminem's demo 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 an Eminem demo he picked up on the floor in the garage of Interscope Records president Jimmy Iovine. The most interesting thing is that Dr. Dre never listened to this kind of record, because he considered this activity a waste of time: "In my entire career," says Dre, "I have not seen anything worthwhile on demo tapes. When Jimmy played this one, I said:" Find him immediately."
February 23, 1999 - The Slim Shady LP is released under the label Aftermath Records, which Eminem dedicated to his daughter. The album appears in March 1999 at number two on the Billboard Chart. The commercial success of the album was supported by the singles "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience", for which clips for MTV were released and which made a real effect of a bombshell. America fell into a state of shock - the content of the songs from this album was not just scandalous - Eminem threw out so much dirt and obscenity, touching on all the terrible aspects of life, that the American society was simply confused. Eminem, on the other hand, saw his work as a new musical version of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde": "Slim Shady is the evil, sarcastic and foul-mouthed side of me," he claimed in his interviews. The album became triple platinum (more than 3,000,000 copies were sold). In 1999, Eminem received the MTV Award for Best Newcomer and two statuettes at the Grammy Awards for Best Hip-Hop Album and Best Performance. In September 1999, Interscope Records gives Eminem his label, Shady Records. Kim returns to Eminem, they legalize their relationship and even buy a house.
Eminem's successful work caused not only admiration for his talent of authoritative musicians, but also the envy of many black rappers who openly accuse Eminem of the fact that he owes his success to skin color. Eminem even had to make a statement: "I'm white in music born of black people. I don't ignore their culture and I don't try to throw something out of it, but no one chooses where to grow up or what skin color to have. Whether you a rich kid or a kid from the ghetto, you still can't control that circumstance.The only thing you can do is stay in the original position or get out of it... All my life I have had problems with race, starting from the place where "I've grown up to the point of being a rapper. I've reached the breaking point. Anyone who pulls this card again will get it back in the face." Caught new music star, Eminem immediately knew all the charm of his new position: firstly, his father unexpectedly showed up, whom Eminem had never seen before, and secondly, his own mother filed a lawsuit in the amount of 10 million dollars, citing the fact that Eminem's songs , "plunged her into emotional stress, damaged her reputation and caused her to lose her sense of dignity". The protracted trial ended in her defeat - the court considered that all the mother's claims against her son could be estimated at $ 25,000, of which 23 thousand, Debbie had to pay her lawyer. Eminem's personal life was in jeopardy - having received a message from well-wishers that his wife Kim has fun with a friend, Eminem arranged a showdown at a nightclub, threatening his wife's friend with a gun.The police intervened and charged him with illegal use of weapons, and the impressionable Kim, despite the fact that the gun was unloaded, which turned out at the time of detention her wife, reflecting on his temper, 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 the song "Kim" as one of her insults - a kind of prologue to " "97 Bonnie and Clyde", an impressive monologue of the husband, full of threats and tantrums, addressed to his wife. Creative achievements musicians also carried not only awards. In Canada, an attempt was made to outlaw his songs, members of GLAAD announced a boycott of him, and his poetry was cited as an example in the United States Senate hearing on promoting violence in the entertainment industry. “My records have a censorship stamp, so let parents take care of their children now,” Eminem answered all the indignant. In May 2000, Eminem's third album, The Marshall Mathers LP, was released, which he dedicated to the memory of Ronnie. The album immediately hit number one on Billboard, beating out Britney Spears, and sold 2 million copies in its first week. The music video for The Real Slim Shady was awarded Video of the Year and Best Male Video at the MTV Music Awards. By the way, they also named the author of the song " Best Artist The song "Stan" became even more famous, which once again confirmed that the rapper does not express personal feelings in his compositions, but only tries to show people the world in which he grew up. No wonder the song that angered most gays, together agreed to sing with him one of the most famous representatives sexual minorities Elton John. duet of two famous musicians sounded at the Grammy ceremony, where Eminem was awarded three nominations at once, including "Best Rap Album" for "The Marshall Mathers LP". Together with his group D12, Eminem goes on a protracted tour, which becomes one of the most successful in the history of America. In May 2002, Eminem released his new album called "The Eminem Show". The success of this work in Once again shocked the world of show business - from now on and forever Eminem became 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 with him more than once: witnesses tell how the guards several times did not let him into the dressing room intended for him, as in the restaurant where he once worked, the waitress demanded from him a document certifying his age in order to give him alcohol. The most characteristic case occurred in San Francisco: there, on the street, Eminem ran face to face with a teenager who demanded a fee from him for passage through the territory. He, at first, thought 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 pavement. Eminem's life is very reminiscent of a movie - some kind of social or psychological drama. So, it's no surprise that Eminem came to the movies. His first job was the role of a simple boy named Rabbit, who dreams of becoming a rapper, in the movie 8 Mile. Together with director Curtis Hanson, Eminem tried to tell almost autobiographical story. Partner in the film - Brittany Murphy and director Curtis Hanson in complete delight with his game. 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 in front of the camera." The fantastic popularity of Eminem as a musician entails not only a pleasant pastime and great opportunities for self-expression, but also a test and strength of spirit. Life in constant stress due to tours, performances and filming, and, most importantly, because of the 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.”
