Eminem is an American rapper, music producer and actor, considered one of the most controversial and successful artists of the early 21st century. He was born October 17, 1972 in Missouri. The real name of the rapper is Marshal Bruce Mathers, and when he came up with a stage name for himself, he decided to beat the first letters (M&M), and the nickname Eminem appeared.
Childhood
His father abandoned the family when Eminem was still a child. As a child, he tried several times to meet his father, but to no avail: he was not interested in the former family. The boy was raised by his mother, Deborah Mathers. She could not get a permanent job, moving from place to place every few months, so they often had to wander between Missouri and Detroit.
“I had to change schools two or three times a year,” Eminem recalls. “That was the worst.”
Since Deborah had very little money, they were forced to live in the poorest neighborhoods. Despite the fact that Eminem was constantly bullied and offended by local bullies, he still managed to sometimes make friends who admired his ability to rhyme words.
Such a nomadic life left a strong imprint on the personality of the artist. He didn't have really close friends, he was always the outcast kid at school, so most time he was left to himself.
“I was beaten in the bathroom, in the corridors, locked in closets,” he recalls.
Added to this were problems with a mother who abused medicines and was often out of her mind. Already famous, Eminem accused her in one of his songs of bullying him as a child. Deborah Mathers sued her son for $10 million in damages for the false accusations. Eminem chose to avoid legal squabbles by paying his mother $250,000.
Education
At the age of 17, after several unsuccessful attempts to pass school exams, Eminem decided to drop out of school. Despite poor studies, he was always interested in the language: he read comics avidly and studied the dictionary.
“I realized that no matter how badly I studied, no matter how bad grades I got, I speak English well. I felt that I would like to be able to manage all these words, to know them all, so that I could use them at any moment. You know, sometimes they are just stored somewhere in the depths of memory, like in a locked cabinet,” he says.
A school-expelled street teenager found an opportunity to express his passion for language through music, in a genre that has always been dominated by black performers. In Detroit, Eminem became a regular participant in the so-called "rap battles" - competitions in which two rappers took turns insulting each other with improvisations of their own composition. Pale and blue-eyed, Eminem looked very peculiar at these performances, but despite his race, he quickly became one of the most respected rappers in Detroit, showing unusual skill in these rap skirmishes.
Now he believes that it was a turning point in his life, thanks to which he came up with his pseudonym - Eminem:
“Finally I found something. You know, sometimes one guy has more girlfriends, another has better clothes, but none of them can do what I do. Do you understand what I mean? That guy can't write like me. And then I thought: maybe now Marshal will be respected?
This period in life - having to do all sorts of dirty work to make ends meet, participating in rap competitions, and desperately trying to get a record deal - was then reflected in Eminem's semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile.
Personal life and career
At the same time, Eminem began dating Kim Scott. In 1995, the couple had a daughter, Haley Jade Scott (details in this article). Inspired by the birth of his daughter, in 1996 Eminem recorded his first independent album Infinite. Although this album showcased the brilliance of his word processing skills, biting wit and storytelling, the low-budget record failed to generate profit or fame.
But success was not far off. In 1998, Eminem released his second Slim Shady album, which impressed superproducer Dr. Dre so much that he signed the white rapper to a contract. Slim Shady, produced by Dr. Dre, burst into the top positions of the world music ratings in 1999 and sold three million copies. Moreover, he brought Eminem two Grammy awards - for the single My Name is and for best album. The triumph of his next album was already expected. Marshal Mathers debuted on the charts in 2000 and sold nearly two million copies in its first week alone.
But alas, creative and commercial success was accompanied by troubles in his personal life. Following Eminem's mother, his wife Kim (whom he "killed" twice in his songs) sued. The couple later reconciled, but they divorced in 2001. Eminem and Kim reunited in 2006 and divorced again the same year.
Having achieved success in music, Eminem decided to try his hand at cinema. In 2002, he played the role of virtually himself in the movie 8 Mile. He also wrote the Oscar-winning soundtrack for this film.
(1972)
Who would have thought that blue-eyed blond from Kansas City to become one of today's most influential rappers? Eminem has changed all the stereotypes about a successful rap artist. You can talk about him endlessly: some songs are filled with hatred and anger, while other songs take to the soul so that tears well up in your eyes, and you start to think about many things...
Not as simple as it might seem ... Marshall Bruce Mathers III (this is Eminem's real name) was born on October 17, 1972. Strange, but various sources indicate different dates birth: many sites list 1972 and 1973, and according to MTV, he was born in 1975. When he was 6 months old, his father left the family. Marshall's early years were unstable and restless. He is often left to live with relatives. He becomes attached to Uncle Ronnie, his mother's brother. Eminem and his mother constantly move from place to place. But, in the end, when he was 12, they finally settled in Detroit, where Marshall spent most of his time reading comics and watching movies. But here he has a lot of problems. At school, he was beaten every day by some terrible student, he had to change schools every 3-4 months. And, of course, there could be no question of successful studies. In 1983 he is beaten so severely that he is in a coma. This, in the future, will greatly affect his work ...
Here are some more memories of Eminem about this period of his life:
“One day I was returning home from a friend, then a car with three black guys drove by me. They showed me middle finger, which I did to them in response. Everything would be fine, but they stopped the car. One of them came up and hit me in the face so that I fell, then he pulled out a gun… Then I caught myself and ran away”
The school where Eminem studied was predominantly black teenagers. One of the songs he wrote was "Brain Damage". Fully autobiographical, which tells about the relationship with his most important enemy - a teenager who studied two classes older named Di Angelo Bailey.
“I was in the fourth, and Bailey was in the sixth ... Once he came to the toilet when I was writing. Bailey hit me on the back so that I fell and doused myself.”
One winter, Eminem laughed at one of Di Angelo's friends. He went up to Marshall and began to bang his head on the ice. When Eminem bled from his ear and passed out, Bailey got scared and ran away. Eminem spent five whole days in a coma in the hospital.
In 1984, Eminem and his mother return to Kansas City, where Marshall meets with Uncle Ronnie again. "Actually, Uncle Ronnie was my very best friend", Said Marshall. Ronnie was a real fan of rap music, he recorded several of his cassettes especially for Marshall. In general, Ronnie had a very big influence on Eminem's further work. When he was only 9 years old, Ronnie brought a cassette that changed all Marshall's ideas about rap: Ice T "Reckless" At the age of 13, Marshall began his journey in the rap arena: he begins to invent and record his own rap. Marshall was so carried away by this that he rapped in school cafeterias, arranged freestyles (rapper battles in free style) there and eventually gained a reputation as a capable rapper.He then competed in local clubs with other aspiring rappers.At this time, his pseudonym "Eminem", or rather "M&M", but later he changed to “Eminem.” But being a white rapper imitating blacks was not easy, sometimes he got into fights because of this.At 15, Marshall met Kim Scott, his future wife, at school.
After graduating from the 9th grade, Eminem dropped out of school and began to seriously engage in rap, improving his skills. Every night Eminem performed live on one of the local radio stations. In 1992, during the summer, Ronia's uncle visits Marshall in Detroit. He advises him to stop rapping, to which Eminem replied: "I want to be a rap star, I wanna be a rapper, I wanna be a rapper - that's my occupation, that's what I want to do!". ("I want to become a rap star, that's what I want to do!") In 1992, Eminem begins performing in one of the most famous famous rap clubs in Detroit. Every week he takes part in various rap competitions. A year later, Eminem begins to win in them all the time, he is noticed and invited to speak on the best radio station in Detroit.
But on December 13, 1993, an unfortunate incident happens: Debbie calls Eminem at his friend's house. She called and said, "Ronnie's dead."
Uncle Ronnie committed suicide by shooting himself with a shotgun. Eminem on for a long time sink into depression. He does not leave his room, he constantly listens to those records that his beloved uncle gave him. From that moment on, Marshall stopped writing songs and rapping.
In March 1995, Eminem learns that Kim is pregnant. December 25, 1995 their daughter Haley is born. Eminem returns to creativity with an updated repertoire and becomes famous in the rap underground. A small record company finds out about him and agrees to work with him. Eminem starts writing songs for the radio.
With another up-and-coming rapper, he founds a group known as The Motor City Duo Soul Intent. In 1996, Marshall debuted and released his first solo album entitled "Infinite". Although the album did not earn him much money, it earned him the respect of the public and several reviews in influential magazines, including Source (1997). Later that year, Eminem released his second album, the Slim Shady EP, “The Infamous Bastard,” the name he gave to his sinister alter ego. His heavy rap became more and more popular. Developing his own style, Eminem participated in and won the Wake Up Show, according to Source magazine. After ten months of performing in hip-hop clubs, he was invited to Los Angeles for the annual competition "Rap Olympics", where Marshall takes second place.
one of them best producers that time, Dr. Dre noticed Eminem and met him (in 1998). From that time on, their collaboration began. Release of Slim Shady LP under Dr. Dre (1999) proved that Dr. Dre is a rising star. The album went triple platinum! Eminem's gift, combined with his tough, violent, out-of-the-ordinary content, has generated a lot of controversy. But people still didn't have enough. It was this graphic nature and surreal humor that helped Marshall become the first rapper to win an MTV Music Award for Newcomer of the Year. Later, he receives two statuettes at the Grammy ceremony: the first for "Best Rap Album" and "Best solo performance".
1999 proved that it was Eminem's time, and the new millennium proved that it was just beginning. Prior to the release of his new album, Eminem appeared on Dr. Dre's 2001 album. They deserve Grammy award Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group. They later released the "Marshall Mathers LP" album. He was just a huge success. Sold 2 million copies in the first week! This album became the fastest selling album in history, and again received two Grammy awards: "Best Rap Album", and "Best Solo Performance". The debut of the "Marshall Mathers LP" made Eminem the most successful rapper since 2 Pac and Snoop Doggy Dogg.
Eminem has finally earned the respect he's worked for for so long. But while his professional life was flourishing, his personal life was crumbling before his eyes. His "school love", to whom he was married and from whom he had beautiful daughter filed for divorce. Also, on the other hand, he received an emotional blow from his mother, who was the subject of many of his songs, filed a lawsuit against him, claiming his comments caused her emotional distress and damaged her reputation. He was also criticized by sexual minorities, about whom he sang in some of his compositions. But despite all this, people still needed Eminem.
In 2001, producer Brian Grazer, who had long wanted to make a dramatic film about hip-hop, began working with Eminem and his music producer Jimmy Lovine to direct 8 Mile, an autobiographical film about the dawn of a Detroit slum rapper. After writing the script, Grazer hired acclaimed director Curtis Hanson and Kim Basinger, who won an Oscar for her latest collaboration with Hanson (LA Confidential), to play the rapper's mother, giving Eminem's screen debut more impact. In the film, Eminem plays Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith Jr., a young hip-hop talent.
After filming 8 Mile (the name given to the dividing line that runs through Eminem's hometown of Detroit - black and white / poor and rich), Eminem again concentrated on music and released his third album "The Eminem Show" (2002 year), which came out with the advent of the film. The film received a lot of positive feedback and reviews, Eminem was praised for delivering the same style. acting which he used in music.
In 2005, Eminem released the album Curtain Call: The Hits, which contains all of his best hits. In 2008, Eminem published a memoir, The Way I Am, which includes photographs, drawings, and lyrics.
Discography
1989-1994 - Steppin On To The Scene (Demo)
1995 - Soul Intent (Demo)
1996 - Infinite (Official Album)
1998 - The Slim Shady EP (Official Album)
1999 - Shady vs. Stretch (Vinyl)
1999 - The Slim Shady LP (Official Album)
2000 - Acid Attack
2000 - Collaboration
2000 - Crank Calls
2000 - Fucking Crazy
2000 - Rap Attack
2000 - The Marshall Mathers LP (Official Album)
2001 - Psycho
2001 - Unreleased Collection
2002 - 8 Mile (Official Soundtrack)
2002 - More Maximum
2002 - The Eminem Show (Official Album)
2002 - The Freestyle Show (2 CDs)
2003 - Don't Call Me Marshall
2003 - E (Japan Retail)
2003 - Straight From The Lab EP
2003 - The Angry Blonde (2 CDs)
2003 - The E True Hollywood Mixtape (Dj Break)
2003 - The Singles Boxset (11 Discs)
2004 - Diss Me, Diss You (2 CDs)
2004 - Double (2 CDs)
2004 - Eminem is back
2004 - Encore (Official Album)
2004 - Off The Wall
2004 - The Hits & Unreleased (2 CDs)
2005 - Curtain Call (Official Album)
2005 - The Anger Management Tour (Live)
2006 - Curtain Re-Call
2006 - E (Mix)
2006 - Eminem presents The Re-Up
2006 - Get The Guns
2006 - Pre-Up (Mick Boogie)
2006 - The Freestyle Manual (DJ Exclusive)
2007 - Diary of a Madman (DJ Fletch)
2007 - Eminelton Mixtape (DJ Crazy Chris)
2007 - Raw & Uncut
2007 - The Return of Marshall Mathers (Vol.2)
2008 - Attack Of The Martians (Dj Delz)
2008 - Black Juice (Official Single)
2008 - Global Warning (DJ Woogie)
2008 - King Mathers
2008 - T.B.A
2009 - Before The Relapse (Pre-Album Tape)
2009 - Gatman & Robin (DJ Messiah)
2009 - Recovery (Dj Young Mase)
2009 - Relapse (Official Album)
Filmography
2000 - Da Hip Hop Witch
2001 - The Wash
2002 - 8 Mile
2009 - Funny People
2010 - Have Gun - Will Travel
In January 2018, the rap luminary spoke about the sources of his inspiration in an interview with the French radio Skyrock. First of all, he greatly respects and appreciates those who made hip-hop what it is today. It is the forefathers of hip-hop who are responsible for the fact that rap exists at all. Among them are Rakime, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Masta Ace, Trecha from Nauchty by Nature and others.
On January 25, Eminem's daughter Haley Jade Scott posted a photo on Instagram with a bare belly and part of her chest on her 22nd birthday. It clearly shows the perfectly inflated press and the slender waist of the girl. In the first days, the picture gained more than 100 thousand “likes”.
But attention to the singer's daughter was riveted not only because of her figure. At the end of 2017, Eminem released new album Revival, in which he dedicated one of the tracks to his daughter. The lyrics of the Castle song are reminiscent of a confession in which the rapper apologizes to Hailey for his excessive publicity. scandalous relationship with her mother.
Haley herself, the daughter of Eminem and Kimberly Ann Scott, lives in Michigan and is busy getting higher education. In her free time from school, the girl likes to play volleyball and community service at your university. He has Eminem's other marriages; she has half-sisters Whitney and Alaina.
In early February, Eminem erupted harsh criticism to those who reacted negatively to his latest album Revival. By the way, the record was really worthy of criticism, showing a rather sluggish start to sales, despite the fact that eminent musicians took part in its recording, and Eminem's fans have long been waiting for new songs from him.
Criticism is expressed in the remix of the song Chloroseptic and recorded with 2 Chainz and Phresher. The text, which consists almost entirely of obscene language, contains a response to criticism of Eminem's latest album, swearing at contemporary rappers and advising everyone who is dissatisfied with his work to go where they should.
For Valentine's Day, Eminem, along with Ed Sheeran, made a cruel gift to all the lovers of the world, recording a video dedicated to the reverse side of the relationship between lovers: quarrels, breakups, unwanted pregnancies, psychological problems. The text of the song tells about a quarrel between two lovers after a woman unexpectedly became pregnant by a man, and he began to force her to have an abortion.
The clip was posted on Youtube and received over 4 million views in a day.
On March 1, 2018, Forbes magazine published a list of the richest hip-hop performers this year. American rapper Eminem ranked fourth on this list. The first went to Jay-Z (Jay-Z), the second - to Sean Combs (Diddy), the third - to Dr. Dre (Dr. Dre). According to the article, Eminem made about $100 million in 2017.
Also in March, in an interview with Vulture magazine, he gave details of his worries about his latest divorce from Kim Scott. According to the artist, he sought consolation on the gay dating site Grindr, and then in strip clubs and regular dating sites. Most often, he uses the Tinder portal, hoping that he will meet his soul mate in it.
After such confessions, his fans were divided into those who were disappointed in what they heard and those who took it all as a joke.
In mid-March, Eminem criticized a number of American politicians and the US National Rifle Association for refusing to ban the free circulation of weapons in America. The clip was released immediately after the sensational incident involving a shootout at a school in Florida.
The song was performed in Los Angeles at the annual iHeartRadio Music Awards, where Eminem was the headliner. The composition was dedicated to the seventeen victims of the Parkland school shooting.
Moreover, at the same ceremony, Eminem brought his acquaintance, a pacifist student, who, after the singer's performance, delivered a whole speech against the free sale of weapons.
In April 2018, Eminem entered the list of the fifty best-selling musicians and bands of all time according to Business Insider, although he did not even enter the top ten.
In mid-April, Marshall Mathers became the headliner of the Coachella festival, where he staged a show in augmented reality. Visitors to his concert with smartphones had the opportunity through a special application in augmented reality to see a giant copy of the performer, and then a head in a terrifying mask, shredding the audience with a chainsaw and an ax. At the end of the horror film, an American flag appeared and rockets with nuclear charges were launched, which exploded right there, near the stage.
On April 23, Eminem celebrated his 10th anniversary of being sober. In addition to freedom from alcohol, the rapper also noted freedom from drugs and psychotropic drugs. In honor of this event, the performer presented his fans with a commemorative coin dedicated to this event.
Plans for 2018 include the release of own line skin care products. Surely everyone noticed that the rapper at 45 looks pretty young! The line will include an anti-aging cream, sun protection lotion with a factor of +100 and other products in a porcelain palette rich in shades. The formula is still a secret, but, most likely, journalists will still find out the secret ingredient.
Also in 2018, Rihanna's new album will be released, in which Eminem will also participate.
In 2014, New Zealand's ruling party released a campaign video. It featured a slightly modified melody from "Lose Yourself". According to the representatives, they bought the instrumental on the site - it was signed as "Eminem style". The rapper's side sued. The judge ruled in favor of the rapper and ordered the party to pay $400,000.- White
Eminem is the most famous rapper in the world. However, he is white. On the track "White America", Marshall talks about the influence of his white skin color on his career. “When I was underground, no one gave a fuck I was white,” he reads. The thought is that the color of his skin helped his career a lot. “No one would listen to me if I were black” is one of the main thoughts of the song. As a result, a white guy in the black genre became the best-selling rapper in the world.
- Vicodin and Valium
Two painkillers from the long list of Eminem's pill experience. He said that he began to use in small doses, but gradually increased momentum. The result was an overdose in 2007. “The first test of Vicodin is “wow”. I was not only pleased, I stopped feeling pain. I don't remember when it became a problem. I got better and better on the pills. People tried to explain to me that I was sick. He sent them to hell. It's not heroin or coke," Eminem said in the movie "How To Make Money Selling Drugs".
- “Eight Mile”
A cult movie about battle rap starring Eminem. The action takes place in Detroit. Marshall plays an aspiring rapper named B-Rabbit and his goal is to win a battle tournament reminiscent of Mortal Kombat's arcade mode, and at the end face the local Shao Kahn. The soundtrack to the film was the track "Lose Yourself" - a song, perhaps, which was not more important in the artist's career. She also brought Marshall an Oscar. The rapper missed the award ceremony because he did not believe in his own success.
- gay
The rapper has repeatedly offended the LGBT community in his lines, and they wrote complaints about discrimination. Marshall's performance on the same stage with Sir Elton John in 2001 did not help relieve tension. famous singer, by the way, greatly helped the rapper overcome addiction, and Eminem even gave him two diamond penis rings for his wedding. "Payback" came in 2009 at the MTV ceremony. Actor Sacha Baron Cohen, in the guise of his cinematic gay alter ego Bruno, descended on a cable in a Cupid costume on Eminem sitting in the hall. Better to see once. Later, however, it became known that the trick was rigged. Eminem said that after returning to the hotel, he laughed at this joke for several hours.
Later, in an interview with the NY Times, the rapper explained that he does not have any dislike for gay people and even supports same-sex marriage. “If two people love each other, then why not? I believe everyone should have the chance to be equally unhappy.” - said the artist.
- Dirty Dozen
She is the group D12 (dirty dozen). The group included Eminem and five of his high school friends. The team was a trash tent from the rap world and read mainly about drugs, dirty sex and reprisals against haters. After the death of a Proof member in 2006, the group's activity declined. "Purple Pills" is one of the band's most famous songs. It contained so many references to drugs and sex that it was played on the radio in a censored version. So she changed her name to "Purple Hills". Bizzare's especially nasty verse even had to be completely cut out.
In 2015, D12 (already in the format of the trio Swift, Bizarre and Kuniwa) came to the Cubana festival. There, Bizarre was shot during a bar fight.
- Detroit
Eminem's hometown. From Marshall's stories - this is such a huge plant for the production of hopelessness. The city, the former capital of the American auto industry, experienced an economic crisis and an outflow of population in the 2000s, and went bankrupt in 2013. Marshall, despite everything, loves this place. “We will never turn our backs on you, because we are you. My home,” he writes in a letter to Detroit.
In 2015, the song “Detroit Vs. Everybody", the city's rap anthem. It was read not only by Eminem, but also by countrymen Royce Da 5’9”, Danny Brown and Big Sean. Later released a remix with the rest of the Detroit lads.
- Dr. Dre
Doc and Marshall met by chance: in the garage of the director of Interscope Records, the Doctor found the “Slim Shady EP” and became interested in the young talent. Eminem had already released his debut album “Infinite” by that time, which failed in sales. Marshall is depressed and hasn't rapped in six months. Dre finds a rapper, and so begins their long-term collaboration.
Thanks to Dre, the “Slim Shady EP” turns into a full-fledged album “Slim Shady LP”, which made Eminem a star. The success secured the video for the song "My Name Is" - the artist's first hit.
- “The Eminem Show”
Fourth studio album 2002. This time is considered the peak of Marshall's creative form, and the "Eminem Show" itself is, if not his best album, then very close to it. Eminem talked about serious things: racism, politics and the impact of music on society. At the same time, he remained the same embittered psycho, juggling with rhymes and verbal ulcers. You can read about the disc in our material. - Fat Eminem
This is now Marshall in great physical form, but in 2007, the rapper seriously recovered due to his addiction to Vicodin and Valium. The drugs affected the stomach and he had to seize the pain. By that time, the rapper weighed 104 kilograms. Everything changed after the overdose. Marshall came out of rehab and decided to lose weight. He ran 27 kilometers a day and was engaged in the Madness program. .
- "Infinite"
Debut album in 1996. The record was released with the expectation of Detroit rap radio stations, but no one needed a release there either. The rare reviewers who reached the album accused Marshall of copying the style of Nas and AZ. Thematically, "Infinite" was very different from the rapper's subsequent albums. Marshall read about wanting to get rich, the struggles of raising a young daughter, and loving his girlfriend, Kim. On subsequent releases, the rapper will already begin to behave shockingly, lower the stars and wish Kim death.
- Kim
They met in the house of Marshall's mother - homeless children were constantly spinning in it. He was 15 at that time, she was 12. A few years later, the couple had a daughter, Haley. Over the next few years, Marshall and Kim's relationship gets worse and worse.
Eminem dedicated three songs to Kim: "Searching", "97 Bonnie & Clyde" and "Kim". If the first one is a declaration of love, then the last two are a badibag in the literal sense of the word. In the text "97 Bonnie & Clyde", Marshall and their daughter dump Kim's dead body into the lake. To record the voice of his daughter, the rapper had to lie to his wife that he was just going out to eat with her.
Little known fact: Eminem actually has three daughters - Hayley, Alaina and Whitney. Hayley is her own, Alaina is her adopted, but Whitney was born to Kim and her boyfriend Eric Hater, but Marshall later adopted her.
- Shady Records
A label founded by Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg in 1999. The first signatories are D12 and rapper Obie Trice. In 2002, aspiring rapper 50 Cent joined the label. You know what happened to him next. He left the label in 2014.
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the label, a series of cartoons was released “ShadyXV Quinceañera”- brutal short films in the style of early Disney.
The current lineup of Shady Records besides Eminem is D12, Slaughterhouse, Skylar Grey, Yelawolf, Westside & Conway, Boogie.
- Eminem
The name that everyone knows. But not everyone knows where it came from and what it means. At the beginning of his career, the rapper called himself M&M after the first letters of his first and last name. He later changed his stage name to Eminem. There is also a version that the rapper did this because of possible problems with M&Ms. Another fan theory is that Eminem means "Every Mom Is Nice Except Mine". - Humor
Eminem is known for his funny videos: he will either dress up as a superhero with a huge fake ass, or caustically go over several celebrities, or parody Elvis or his own mother. This applies mainly to his character Slim Shady, as today's Eminem prefers to remain more serious in his songs. To see Marshall's comedic talent, we recommend watching this selection of the best moments of the interview and evening shows with his participation.
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 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 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. 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 Source magazine 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 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 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 work as 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 probation was added to the two-year probation 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. The overwhelming success of his debut album "The Slim Shady" literally shook the rap world to its foundations. Eminem became one of the most commercially successful artists of 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 himself 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, such as 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 the compositions "My Name Is _" and "Guilty Conscience" to it. 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 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 nominations at once - "Best male video clip", " Best Direction" and " Best Rookie". 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, first of all, the white color of the skin. When "black", cursing 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!
