Eminem who is also known as Slim Shady or by his real name Marshall Mathers is one of the most prolific rappers of his generation. He knows it and he has made sure through his career that the whole world knows it. He has a unique rap style and a life story that makes his music compelling and ensures that he continues to succeed in a game that has not offered much success for white/male rappers.
Although a new generation of rappers have taken over and rap styles continue to evolve, Eminem’s music remains forever iconic and as people continue to nod to the beats of his song while marveling at his phenomenal wordplay, we might as well share some details of the man who rose up from nothing to become one of the most recognizable rap stars in the world.
Eminem Biography
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, the man who would grow up to adopt the stage name – Eminem, was born on the 17th of October 1972 to Deborah Rae Nelson and Mashall Bruce Mathers Junior. He had a rough childhood, especially, after his parents separated and he began moving around a lot with his mother. His youth was spent in the black neighborhood of Detroit and he was very often bullied by other kids both in school and on the block. Things were also not stable at home where Eminem frequently got into fights with his mother.
A young Eminem had been interested in storytelling but had been looking to channel that gift through comic book writing before he discovered hip-hop. At the age of 17, Eminem dropped out of school altogether after struggling for three years in ninth grade because he kept playing truant and getting bad grades. He began to work at several odd jobs helping with bills at home and using his mother’s absence from the house to put on the stereo and begin jotting down songs.
He had started rapping when he was 14 years old with a friend from high school named Mike Ruby. While Mike went by the stage name “Manix”, Eminem chose “M&M”, a name that would later evolve into Eminem. He and another friend who adopted the name Proof used to sneak into a neighboring school to have freestyle rap battles in the lunchroom. They would then go for open mic contests at the Hip-Hop Shop on West 7 Mile on Saturdays. The Hip-Hop Shop on West 7 Mile was considered the major point for the Detroit rap scene, and Eminem slowly cultivated an underground appreciation for his music in a scene that was largely made up of black rappers. His style rested heavily on rhyming and in the earlier days he would often write out long words and phrases on paper and work on rhymes for each syllable.
With his reputation growing steadily, rap groups began to approach Eminem and he eventually teamed up with Proof and four other rappers to form The Dirty Dozen also known as D12. The group released their first album in 2001 which they named Devil’s Night. Eminem was then signed to FBT Productions where he recorded and released his debut album titled Infinite. The album which was released in 1996 was a failure commercially and that failure with the feedback that he received made Eminem begin writing angrier and moodier tracks – a style that he would soon come to be known for. He was meanwhile working a minimum wage job washing and cooking at a family-style restaurant.
In 1997, he released the Slim Shady EP and then signed with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment. It was then that he achieved mainstream popularity and with The Slim Shady LP released in 1999, he earned his first Grammy Award in the category of Best Rap Album. The Marshall Mathers LP released in 2000 and The Eminem Show released in 2002 were both successful worldwide and also won Grammys for Best Rap Album. With those wins, Eminem became the first artist to win the Best Rap Album Grammy for three consecutive LPs. His 2004 album Encore was also wildly successful, and following a tour in 2005 Eminem went on a hiatus that saw him returning with Relapse in 2009 and the 2010 Recovery. The two albums again won Grammy Awards and Recovery became 2010’s worldwide best-selling album. Eminem’s next album was 2013’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which won two Grammy Awards before the rapper took a longer hiatus coming back again in 2017 with his ninth studio album, Revival, in 2017. His tenth studio album, Kamikaze, was released in 2018.
Eminem has had nine of his albums debut consecutively as number one on Billboard 200. He is the only artist to do so and he has had Rolling Stone rank him as the 83rd Greatest Artist of All Time on their list numbering 100. Rolling Stone has also called him the “King of Hip Hop”. Eminem also has an Academy Award win for Best Original Song for Lose Yourself, which he worked on when he starred in the film 8 Mile. He has also made cameo appearances in some other movies like the 2009 Funny People.
His Ex-Wife and Daughters
The woman that Eminem has married twice – Kimberly Anne “Kim” Scott – actually moved in with him and his mother when he was much younger. She and her twin sister Dawn ran away from home and started leaving with the Mathers. Eminem and Kim started an on-and-off relationship soon after and they had a daughter named Hailie in December 1995. They then got married in 1999 and in 2001, they got divorced. In January 2006, they got married again but by early April, he again filed for divorce and they both agreed to joint custody of Hailie.
Eminem also has custody of Kim’s twin sister’s daughter named Alaina as well as another daughter from Kim’s other relationship named Whitney. Eminem also has legal custody of his younger half-brother, Nathan.
Is He Gay?
Eminem is not gay. In fact, some of his lyrics have sparked some controversy with people assuming that he is homophobic. The rapper denies this and claims that he only uses words that are considered homophobic because they were used when he was growing up as words that were simply insults and were not directed as homosexuals. He has also voiced some support towards same-sex marriage, saying that people who love each other should all be allowed to be together.
How Much Money Does He Have?
Eminem’s current net worth is pegged at $190 million. With the success that he has had in his rap career, this is not surprising. Besides the success of his solo albums and the few appearances in films, Eminem also founded a label named Shady Records that has had such top-tier rappers as 50 Cents signed to it. The best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States worked really hard for his success and is certainly deserving of all the riches he now has.
