Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage name Eminem,[1] is an American rapper, record producer and actor from Detroit, Michigan. Having sold seventy million albums worldwide,[2] Eminem is one of the highest-selling musicians of the early 2000s and one of the highest-selling rap artists of all time.[2] Eminem was discovered by rapper and producer, Dr. Dre. When Dr. Dre first heard Eminem's mixtape, he thought Eminem was black.[3] Dr. Dre later signed Eminem to his record label, Aftermath Entertainment.

Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has praised Mathers for his "verbal energy" and for arousing popular interest in poetry and lyrics.[4] Eminem is infamous for the controversy surrounding many of his lyrics. With the success of his highly acclaimed album,[5] The Marshall Mathers LP and its subsequent nomination for four Grammy awards including Album of the Year,[6] critics such as GLAAD denounced his lyrics as homophobic and misogynist, while others claimed that it promoted violence. In 2003, he starred in the hit 8 Mile[7]

Contents

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* 1 Biography

o 1.1 Early life

o 1.2 Rise to fame

o 1.3 Drug use

o 1.4 Eminem in D12

o 1.5 Recent events

* 2 Ventures

o 2.1 Acting career

o 2.2 Shady Records

o 2.3 Eminem as a producer

* 3 Controversy

o 3.1 Alleged homophobia

o 3.2 Violence towards women

o 3.3 Criticism from other artists

o 3.4 Criticism of George W. Bush

o 3.5 Michael Jackson

* 4 Discography

* 5 Filmography

* 6 Awards

* 7 References

* 8 External links

Biography

Early life

Eminem was born in St. Joseph, Missouri to Deborah (nйe Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers II, of Scottish, German, and English descent.[8] He was partially raised in Roseville/Sterling Heights, Michigan and was reportedly interested in hip hop from a young age. He later moved to Detroit, where he met D12 rapper Proof.[9]. Mathers began performing as early as 13 in a group called Bassmint Productions where they produced an EP called Steppin' onto the Scene. In 1995, he recorded his first official tape, Fuckin’ Backstabber/Soul Intent. In 1996, he released an independent underground album named Infinite. Eminem recalls:

“ Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like Nas and AZ. Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself. It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up.[10][11] ”

Mathers followed Infinite with The Slim Shady EP, which saw his lyrics take a decidedly darker turn, in songs like "No One's Iller" and "Murder Murder", the latter of which he talks about having to commit crimes to feed his daughter.[12][13]

After this album he received much attention and mixed reviews in the hip-hop underground scene, due to his distinctive style and the fact that he was white in a predominantly black genre.

Mathers had done a notable amount of rapping with fellow Detroit MC Royce da 5'9" early in his career. They referred to themselves as Bad Meets Evil, with Eminem playing 'The Bad' and Royce playing 'The Evil'. Royce da 5'9" and Eminem were once considered to be two of the greatest underground MCs in Detroit and were noted for their lyrical ability.

Rise to fame

After being signed to Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records, Eminem released The Slim Shady LP, which went on to be one of the most popular albums of 1999, going triple platinum by the end of the year.[14] With the album's popularity came controversy surrounding many of the album's lyrics. In "'97 Bonnie and Clyde",