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 is 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 - nobody famous 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," Marshall recalls. Ronnie was a fan of rap music, he recorded several of his rap tapes for Marshall. "And I thought, damn, 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 everything Marshall thought about 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 rapping in school cafeterias, doing freestyles there, and eventually gained a reputation as a capable rapper. He takes the name Eminem. At 15, Marshall meets his future wife, Kim Scott, at school. In the same year, he founded his first rap group. "I would never do it without him" - says Eminem about Ronnie: "If it wasn't for him, I would never do this." At the age of 17, Marshall leaves school, after which he tried several strange low-paying professions. Eminem performs every night at 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, this is my job, this is 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 like Nas and AZ in total No more than 1000 copies of the album were sold. The record company was unable to recover 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 a well-known hit in the underground, Eminem was invited to take part in the recording of singles by rapper MC Shabaam Sahddeq ("Five Star Generals") and the 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 received an MTV award for 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 famous magazine Rolling Stone interviewed 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 more world 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 shadow of "independent hip-hop" and became perhaps the most advanced rapper of our time. The stunning success of his 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 turned 12, his mother finally settled permanently 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 after the 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 has filed a rumored $10 million lawsuit against 26-year-old Marshall Bruce Mathers III, that's his full name. 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 attach much importance to this: "I, a white man, working in the music that the blacks came up with. I understand this culture and I'm not going to steal anything from it. However, no one can choose where to be born and what skin color to have. Whether you are a rich neighborhood kid or a ghetto kid, 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 categories at once - "Best Male Video Clip", "Best Direction" and "Best Newcomer". It is this last nomination and brought the rapper victory. He's not going to rest on his laurels. After completing his touring performances, Eminem intends to immediately go into the studio to begin work on a new album. If you manage to keep this uncompromising characteristic of only him alone, everything will be O.K. However, on his side now in the first place White color skin. When a "black", swearing with the last English words, sings about hatred and violence (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!
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 take the soul so that tears well up in your eyes. Fate played with him more than once bad joke and sent him a lot of sudden unpleasant surprises ... But still, he managed to get out of all this shit, and moreover, 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 years in a not very prosperous family. His father and mother were members of a show band that performed in taverns along the state lines. However, after the birth of Marshal, 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 lives with them, nevertheless - childhood without a father is a bad childhood.
His Debbie's mother could not sit still, and Marshall's childhood was spent in a trailer on endless journeys from Missouri to Michigan. Of course, with this lifestyle, he had no way to make friends and go to school normally. His only friend was Uncle Ronnie, who introduced him to hip-hop: Eminem recalls that the first rap record he heard was Ice-T's Rhyme Pays, 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 quarter, where, according to Eminem's memoirs, besides the three of them (in 1986 he was born brother Nathan) there were only two other whites - a couple of crazy bikers next door. I am indifferent to skin color, - my mother explained her choice of place of residence. "But the kids on the block were causing us trouble," she added innocently.
The problems were like this:
Once 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 did not need sneakers: returning the next day, Marshal found them in the same place, stuck in the mud.
The school, which consisted mainly of black teenagers, also had enough trouble. One of the first songs Eminem wrote was "Brain Damage"- Brain damage. Entirely autobiographical, it told of his relationship with his main enemy, a teenager two years older named DiAngelo Bailey.
I was in the fourth and he was in the sixth,” Eminem recalls. - Once he came to the toilet when I was writing. He hit me in the back so that I fell and doused myself.
Another time during the winter, Eminem laughed at one of Bailey's young friends. Then he approached him, knocked him down and began to beat his head on the ice. When Eminem bled from his ear and passed out, Bailey got scared and fled. Eminem spent five days in a coma in the hospital.
It was at school that Eminem began to participate in the so-called "battles" - competitions that young MCs arranged among themselves. There he defined himself a suitable nickname - he simply read his initials, written as " M&M". He had problems with competitions - as soon as he took the microphone, they started shouting to him: “Hey you, white bastard, get out to play your rock and roll!” He was saved by the fact that by that time he already had several true friends among the blacks. In addition, it was difficult to dispute his exceptional talent - few people could rap as artistically as he did.
At first, he recalls Eminem, - people said: “And you are cool for a white man,” and I regarded this as a compliment. Then I grew up and thought: “What the hell does this 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 Bob could say to me was once said by a woodpecker in Detroit. Like, “I don’t give a fuck if he’s green or orange, this dude is cool!”
Eminem dropped out of ninth grade after five retakes of the transfer exams. Mom was extremely pleased with this. She told her son, "Get out and help me pay the bills or I'll kick you out of the house." Eminem went to work.
He was a seasonal worker, waiter and cook in a restaurant. The owner of the restaurant recalled that he was a good worker, only constantly rapping, shoving everything into the text, down to the dishes listed on the menu. I had to yell at him to do it quietly - the restaurant was a family one.
At the same age, he began to participate in more serious "battles" in independent rap competitions. According to eyewitnesses, in "freestyle" (i.e., in speech improvisation), he almost always won. Later, he liked to talk about it, because he did not want to be considered " battle MC"- in his opinion, this narrows the idea of \u200b\u200bthe artist.
Then he met the future mother of his child, his future wife and, in a way, the lyrical heroine of his 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. In one of the walls of the dwelling, for a long time, there was a hole from a bullet that accidentally flew through the window. In two years, the young family had to buy four televisions and five VCRs, which were regularly stolen from them. Worst of all, the thief was a real psycho: one day he appeared when Kim was alone, and brought sandwiches and peanut butter without taking anything. But in the other - pulled out everything except the bed and the couch, including clothes and dishes.
At the age of 19, Eminem suffered the biggest grief in his life: his beloved shot himself with a shotgun uncle ronnie. It was the hardest time for him. Then he recorded his record " Infinite”, Absolutely untenable and of little interest to anyone. An independent studio who contacted him sold just over 1,000, destroyed the remainder of the run, and broke with him.
I didn’t have any money at all,” Eminem recalls, “sometimes my friends bought me clothes.
His last hope was the annual competition of rappers - Rap Olympics taking place in Los Angeles. The night before leaving, Eminem showed up at the house and found the door locked and a note stating 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 drove to Los Angeles. I was up to my ears in shit.
He didn't win the Olympics. His manager, Paul Rosenberg, recalls sitting in the audience hearing a black 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 about to cry.
However, the victory came from an unexpected quarter. Eminem smashed several cassettes of what would become " The Real Slim Shady LP". Legend has it that the great doctor dre, singer and one of the best rap producers, found a cassette on the floor of the company's chief's garage Interscore Jimmy Yovina. Both of them listened to the recording.
In my entire career, says Dre, I haven't 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 pseudonym, but it turned out badly. And then he picked up the first thing that was spinning in his head: "Slim Shady, you filthy bastard, dark side soul of Eminem. It was like a revelation.
slim Shady- these are all those evil thoughts that come into my head. Things I shouldn't be thinking about. I think it's important that people can tell when I'm being serious and when I'm being silly. Because most of my songs are funny. I have a warped sense of humor.
First album, "The Slim Shady LP" produced the effect of an exploding bomb. First, due to exceptional talent, few people famous artist. Secondly, because of the color of his skin. And, thirdly, because of the completely extreme content of the record. A frail, white-haired man with bright blue eyes was spitting into the world an 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 made the most noise was " 97′ Bonnie And Clyde”- a conversation between a father and a little daughter, whom he asks to help him throw the corpse of his mother killed by him into the river. Here is a small 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 slept. And she spilled ketchup on her T-shirt. Mom had a name - Kim. The audience was shocked: this mocking text told about real people. Eminem was declared the devil in the flesh, not paying attention to the subtlety: the text was read not from his face, but from the face of Slim Shady, who allows himself to do those things about which a common person only dreams in moments of rage. Slim Shady is America's Mr. Hyde, with that country's panache.
Eminem became famous and again faced the problem of color, only now from an unexpected side: everyone who came to interview him, the first thing they asked was how he dared, being white, to rap. It soon began to annoy him. I've had race issues all my life, from where I grew up to being a rapper. I've reached the boiling point. Anyone who draws 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 life as a national minority, a person has developed a corresponding complex, but this is not entirely true. Simply, 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 unleashed 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 him. Meanwhile, everything is not so innocent: according to eyewitnesses, at his concerts, the underage audience meets the dirtiest passages with a special roar of approval. Eminem, however, refuses to take responsibility for this.
My records are censored, so now let the parents take care of their children, he argues. - Those who copy their idols are idiots. A normal person, if he jumps from a bridge, is 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 played a trick on him more than once: witnesses tell how the guards 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 initially thought it was a joke, but then the kid took out something that looked like a cannon. And then the "Detroit punks" closed: when he was pulled away from the teenager, he was literally smeared on the asphalt.
His second album, The Marshall Mathers LP”, Eminem dedicated to the memory of his beloved uncle Ronnie, but did not change one iota of his attitude to life and material. The album immediately hit number one on Billboard, beating out Britney Spears.
On the night of June 4th, Eminem, with a friend whom he had 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 way, when an enraged Eminem ran up to them with a gun in his hand and pointed the weapon in Guerra's face, threatening to kill. There was a short fight, during which the gun fell to the ground, it was picked up by Eminem's companion and handed over to the patrol that arrived. The gun was not loaded. The police arrested them both, and then Kim stepped forward and sent a patrol. They took her too. Guerra immediately sued. The court charged Eminem with armed assault and possession of an unregistered weapon. And the journalists were sophisticated in their assumptions: was Eminem going to make art a reality, since on his second disc there was a song “ Kim"- a kind of prologue to "97′ Bonnie And Clyde", a monstrous dialogue of quarreling wife and husband, full of threats and hysteria.
The situation was further complicated by the fact that a week later a letter arrived in 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 had nothing to do with the author of the letter. So is Eminem really, as his detractors claim, pursuing fame in every possible way? In one interview, he was asked the question: does he want fame?
Will it sound okay if I say no? - after hesitating, he inquired. 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 it is believed that he is not a dude. Because dudes do not survive in military conditions - where real hip-hop is born. Marshall went through fire, water and 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 Em to this day. Therefore, guys, take an example from him, you won’t miss, trust me!
Eminem was born to musicians Debbie Nelson and Marshall Bruce Mathers II. The parents named their son the same as his father. From infancy, problems began in the family. First, the father abandoned the family, as a result of which the mother had to leave the baby with relatives. Then the family constantly moved from city to city and finally settled in Detroit. Marshall rarely appeared at school, and when he came to class, he arranged rap freestyles. At the age of 12, the future musician had serious problems. One of the high school students began to pursue him, so Marshal changed several schools. But, despite the frequent change of schools, in early 1983 he was beaten and spent more than a week in a coma. After that, the family moved to Kansas. Here Marshal met with his uncle Ronnie, which forever changed the future of the young man. Uncle gave his nephew an Ice T cassette, after listening to which the boy understood what he wants to become in the future. Already at school, rap became a matter of life for Marshall. At the age of 15, he founded his first band. Then a creative pseudonym appeared - Eminem. After 2 years, Marshal dropped out of school and began performing live on local radio stations. The rapper's first album was released in 1996, but did not bring success. The reason for this was a lot of competition in the style of hip-hop in Detroit. On top of that, Eminem was accused of plagiarism. The rapper recorded the second album for himself. The musician had to work in order to take care of his one-year-old daughter, and the music did not bring money. Then Eminem decided that if the album "Slim Shady EP" was not successful, then he would leave music forever. The black rapper "Doctor Dre" believed in the young rap artist and did not lose: in 1999, Eminem's music made a splash, and the "My Name Is" video did not leave the television screens. The sharp lyrics of Eminem's compositions caused a lot of controversy in society. Some people believed that they revealed social problems, others saw them as incitement to hatred of same-sex marriage.
The next serious work of the rapper was the album "The Marshall Mathers LP", which caused a lot of talk in society in 2000. by the most popular compositions became "The Real Slim Shady" and "Stan". The second composition was recorded together with the singer Dido. The video of the song was also received ambiguously by the public. However, the song "Stan" made it to the Top 500. best songs according to the prestigious Rolling Stone magazine. Eminem was constantly criticized by the press. So in one of his compositions, he insulted his mother, for which she sued her son. Not only the press took up arms against the rapper, but also public organizations. The Association of Gays and Lesbians boycotted the artist at the Grammy, but despite this, the rapper was awarded this prestigious award three times only in 2001. In the same 2001, Eminem began collaborating with the D12 group. Soon the album "Devil's Night" was released, the singles of which were such tracks as Purple Pills "and Fight Music". A year later, Eminem again made a scandal: in the "Without Me" video, the musician showed his contempt for the group "Limp Bizkit" and famous musician Moby. Six months later came out new album rapper "The Eminem Show", which sold around the world with a circulation of 20 million records. The apogee of the musician's work was the released film "Eight Mile", which is largely autobiographical for Eminem. The film was liked by both critics and the public, and the musician himself received an Oscar for the soundtrack "Lose Yourself". In the fall of 2004, the 5th album of the musician was released, which did not have much popularity. At the Grammy Awards ceremony, all the laurels went to the young hip-hop performer Kanye West. In 2005 greatest hits musicians were included in the collection "Curtain Call: The Hits". For the next few years, little was heard about the musician. Only in 2007 did the composition “OuchDown” come out, but then Eminem again disappeared into the shadows. In 2009, together with the best performers hip hop Dre and the song "Crack a bottle" was recorded, which stayed at number one on the Billboard Chart for several weeks. Latest album musician is called "The Marshall Mathers LP 2". It came out in November 2013. In Michigan, Eminem founded The Marshall Mathers Foundation, a charitable foundation that helps children from disadvantaged families. This act is probably connected with the difficult childhood of the musician. Eminem's personal life
Eminem was married twice to the same woman - Kimberly Ann, whom he met at school. The lovers began to live together from the age of 15, but got married only after 10 years of marriage, in 1999. A year later, the couple divorced. In 2006, the couple again signed, but less than a year later they again filed for divorce. Eminem and Kim have a daughter, Haley Jade Scott. You can talk a lot about Eminem's personality, but it is worth noting that he has already left a bright mark on the history of hip-hop music.Marshall Bruce Mathers III- rapper, actor, producer, composer, writer, songwriter.
Eminem was born on October 19, 1972 in St. Joseph, Missouri. Mother - Debbie Nelson, a little-known singer, who at the age of 15, having married a fellow musician, gave birth to his son. The baby was named after his father - Marshall Bruce Mathers.
The father left the family when the baby was only six months old. The mother with the boy constantly moved and left him to live with relatives. For some time the family stopped in Detroit, where Marshall went to school. However, he studied poorly, often skipping classes. And when he attended school, he constantly arranged rap freestyles and he constantly won them. Later, a certain high school student began to terrorize the guy, so the school had to be changed again.
In 1983 11-year-old Marshall was severely beaten, because of which he even spent ten days in a coma. A year after that, she and her mother return to their native land - to Kansas City.
Now, remembering the past famous rapper notes that it is difficult childhood and years of suffering have so influenced him and shaped his work. And listening to other people's rap compositions in his youth, the future Eminem already knew then that he could do much better.
Since 1985 The 13-year-old boy is already starting to record his own rap, and is so into rap music that he can't live a day without it. Therefore, he already at school earned a reputation as a capable rapper. It was then that the name Eminem appeared.
In 1987 15-year-old Eminem creates his own rap group. At the same time, he meets his future wife, Kim Scott.
In 1989 17-year-old Eminem drops out of school and starts working in various low-paying jobs. He even then performs live at night on one of the local radio stations.
In 1995 Eminem debuts with Soul Intent, which also featured DJ Butterfingers and Proof. best friend Eminem and a future member of the group "D-12". Little is known about this release today. Their CD included the track "Fucking Backstabber", which was dedicated to the African-American rapper Champtown. There was also the track "Biterphobia", which some call one of the best tracks of an aspiring rapper. The group's disc is almost impossible to find today, because its circulation was negligible, due to the lack of sponsors from the group.
In 1996 Eminem made his solo debut with the album "Infinite". However, the album was received rather coldly due to the oversaturation of Detroit hip-hop. The guy was also accused of copying famous rappers. Today Eminem treats this CD as a demo.
This year, the rapper had a daughter. Their young family lived in a terrible lack of money, and only by an effort of will the rapper continued to work on the album "The Slim Shady EP", hoping that his work would finally lead to success.
In 1997 Eminem's demo tape is accidentally found in the garage of the chief of "Interscope" by the eminent producer, black rapper Dr. Dre. He will be interested in a young talented newcomer. As the rapper recalls, Dr. Dre literally saved his life, because his daughter was a year old, and she had nothing to even buy diapers for. Out of desperation, Eminem began to get addicted to drugs.
But the producer does not immediately sign a contract with Eminem. He waits for the rapper to win the "LA battle".
In 1999 Dr. Dre pushes for a re-release of "The Slim Shady EP", which becomes a bestseller. His success was reinforced by the video "My Name Is", which blew up the music channels.
So the first popularity came to Eminem, and with it the constant debate about his work, which many considered rather controversial. Some listeners also noted that the rapper's lyrics are aimed at incinerating hatred towards certain sections of society.
This year, Eminem, together with his manager, creates his own record label "Shady Records".
In 2000 comes out second studio album Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP", which immediately caused a lot of controversy. The entire rap of the album was read by the author not in the third person, but from his own own name. Video clips for the compositions also caused a lot of criticism and discontent of certain categories of the population. By the way, for one of the compositions, where Eminem spoke unflatteringly about his mom, she sued him.
Various public organizations took up arms against the rapper. For example, the gay and lesbian association is threatening to boycott the rapper's Grammy nomination.
In 2001 Eminem receives three Grammy awards at once. From the stage, the musician will thank all those who perceived his album as quality music, and not a cause for scandal.
In the same year, Eminem became a member of the group "D12", releasing with her the first album of the group "Devils Night". Some of the band's singles are wildly popular, which provides further prospects for the group.
In the same year, Eminem's book is published, which the singer calls "Angry Blonde". It included the lyrics of almost all of his songs written at that time.
In 2002 the rapper's video for the promotional single "Without Me" is released. In it, Eminem lashes out at "Limp Bizkit" and "Moby".
Already in July, "The Eminem Show" is released, the rapper's third studio album, which has sold over 20 million copies and receives diamond status.
In October, the autobiographical film "8 Mile" is released, in which the rapper appeared as the impoverished rapper Jimmy Smith. The picture was received quite warmly by the public, and the soundtrack to the film brings Eminem an Oscar.
In 2004 Eminem appears only in the composition of "D12", which releases the disc "D12 World", which received great popularity among the public.
In November of this year, the rapper's next studio album, "Encore", is released, but he does not receive a single Grammy award. Eminem in all nominations bypasses new star hip-hop Kanye West. The album will also be considered unsuccessful by critics, after which rumors will circulate that this was the last album for the rapper.
In 2005, at the end of the year, Eminem will release "Curtain Call: The Hits" - a collection of his best songs, including three new songs.
In 2006 Eminem releases on his own behalf a compilation of the best tracks and introduces new musicians in it: Boby Creekwater and Cashis.
In 2007, together with T.I. Eminem is recording the song "TouchDown". After that, the white rapper will leave show business for more than 1.5 years.
In 2008 The second book "The Way I Am" is published. This is Eminem's autobiography, a kind of confession of a rapper in many things. The book becomes a bestseller. It also comes with a bonus disc.
In 2009 Eminem returns to the world of show business, recording with 50 cent and Dr. Dre track "Crack A Bottle", which in a short time conquers the "Billboard Chart". It also becomes known that the rapper's new album will be released in May. Since Eminem left the scene due to drug addiction, the promotional album "Relapse" was completely devoted to the topic of drugs. In the wake of the album's success, a clothing collection of the same name will also emerge.
The rapper also promises that "Relapse 2" will be released by the end of the year, which will include joint tracks with Jay-Z, Stat Quo and T.I. joint tracks with Kanye West, Drake and Lil Wayne.
In 2010 Eminem's new album "Recovery" is released, which debuts at the top of the US charts and instantly receives gold status. The rapper's popularity is resurgent. He is recognized as "the hottest MC of the year".
In 2011 the rapper receives two Grammys: for the best rap album ("Recovery") and the best solo performance (single "Not Afraid").
year 2012 Eminem is hard at work preparing for the release of his new eighth album. The title of the album and its release date are not yet known. But for the record, the rapper has already recorded several songs, two of which are joint compositions with Lady Gaga and Pink.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972. He went from an unknown rapper from the crime streets of Detroit, Michigan to the best selling artist in the US in the 2000s. Eminem's success cannot be underestimated. He has sold over 172 million albums worldwide, making him one of the elite artists to do so. Eminem is a dynamic rapper and more a 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 a bang by fans, and the rest is history. Now Eminem is playing stadium shows around the world that sell out in seconds. He also collaborated with many other artists, including Dr. Dre (Dr. Dre), 50 Cent (50 Cent), Kid Rock (Kid Rock), Drake (Drake) and other popular and talented rappers and singers. In addition to his talent as a rapper/songwriter, Eminem is also involved in recording music. The talented performer opened record company Shady Records with his manager Paul Rosenberg.
Despite his talents, Eminem has recently caused a lot 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 a dead president. This has never been said, but I'm setting precedents", made the security service worried. 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 about 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, it was actually an obscure white rapper who discovered him. Evan "Kidd" Bogart, who at the time was an intern at Interscope, was the first to discover Eminem. Bogart (son of legendary music producer Neil Bogart) was in a rap competition that featured Eminem. He went back to Interscope and brought with him an Eminem tape, which 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 for being one of the few single 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 proved to be a very frightening experience for the poor white child and would not be the last as he was constantly finding adventure.
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 living in other worlds. His passion for comics helped him in part to develop his alter ego, Slim Shady, as well as the characters that Eminem comically portrayed in music videos.
7. Opposite sex - marital problems
Eminem is not the only person in the world who has had marital problems. 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 the largest number once married was his grandmother Betty, who went down the aisle 5 times. Eminem, who has only been married twice, must marry more than once to keep up with his granny.
6. Oscar Winner - "8 Mile" (8 Mile)
Few people expected Eminem to star in feature film. Even fewer people thought he could do it well. The film "8 Mile" is based on the childhood of Eminem. The film turned out to be a resounding success due to the excellent performance of wonderful actors, among whom was Eminem himself. Eminem was just amazingly good in the film, which earned him a lot of positive reviews. In addition, the film was very successful financially. In addition, his hit "Lose Myself" was used in the film and nominated for an Oscar. Despite Eminem not attending the ceremony (not his style), the world was shocked and delighted when he was awarded the Oscar. He got it, starring in just one film, to the envy of Leonardo DiCaprio (Leonardo DiCaprio), Glenn Close (Glenn Close) and Robert Downey Jr.
5. What is "Daddy Warbucks"?
Many people have heard about Eminem's difficult and troubled childhood. But did you know that Eminem's mother, Debbie Nelson (Debbie Nelson) and father Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. (Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr.) musical group called "Daddy Warbucks"? The music-loving family nearly fell apart when Bruce's father moved to California, leaving Eminem and Debbie behind. Debbie was an avid music fan and took Eminem to gigs 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 then 12-year-old Eminem in 1984, which started it all, and the rest is history.
4. Shady Records - Would you like to record here? Fight the owner 
Eminem opened his record company Shady Records in 1999 with his manager Paul Rosenberg. The company signed a contract with 10 performers, and on this moment there are five groups. 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 with Shady Records, you will have to fight the master himself. Newcomers to the music world have to participate in rap battles against Eminem during the signing process. I would like to hear 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 found time to establish foundations and support some charitable organizations. Eight Mile Boulevard Association, Marshall Mathers Foundation, ninemillion.org and Small Steps Project are just a few long list charities assisted by Eminem. The Marshall Mathers Foundation is especially dear to his heart, as it focuses on working with underprivileged teenagers in Michigan.
2. Courts - Your mother
Eminem often uses aggressive and offensive language in his lyrics. Some people love it, while others hate 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 almost died giving birth to Eminem for 70 hours is suing her son over the words of his songs, which she felt portrayed her in a negative light. In 2001, she received $1,600 in compensation during litigation. Debbie Nelson wrote the biography because of the public's somewhat negative attitude towards her. In her biography, she tried to describe her side and role in Eminem's childhood. Recently, Eminem 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 a very large mental and emotional stress, which can devastate a person. He suffered from prescription addiction
