After being born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the young Mathers (getting the Eminem moniker form his initials) lived with his mother, having never actually met his father, moving around for much of his early life, since his mother was so poor she couldn't afford to pay rent and had to in order to screw the system. Aged 5 they arrived in Detroit. Having being put in a coma aged 9 after a beating at school, the teenage Mathers had given up on the education system, and was regularly in trouble with the law, including a time when he shot paintballs at prostitutes.
However, he had an ambition, ever since his mentor, his uncle Ronnie, had played him Ice T's Reckless (taken from the soundtrack to Breakin'), and couldn't get enough. Then again, since his school was in a predominantly white neighbourhood, he grew up around rap and hip-hop. So with this in mind, he began teching himself to rap-'I started writing my own rhymes and playing beats on the table', to quote him in Eminem mode.
With this in mind, him and his best friend Proof (a black rapper who now backs him onstage), started going to rap concerts together, formed hip-hop groups, and even took part in freestyle battles with friends. Spurred on by this, Eminem emerged in the public eye for the first time when he was aged 17 at an open mike rap contest. He didn't even get in a syllable before getting booed off stage-he was white, he had no right to be there. He was clearly a wannabe white-boy rapper, and this was at the time of Vanilla Ice...
When mathers was 19, Ronnie committed suicide. This galvanised Mathers, so he persevered with the rap scene, slowly but surely making a name for himself. This led to a local Detroit label producing his first release in 1996, Infinite-'It didn't sell a single copy, we couldn't give it away.' Mathers had to persevere with a menial job as a chef to support his daughter born that same year, Haillie Jade.
Despite not getting through the original pressing of 1000 copies, Eminem stayed true to his quest, next taking him to the 1997 Rap Olympics. In the end he came in second, behind none other than Dr. Dre. This led to a deal being signed on Dre's Aftermath label, and The Slim Shady EP. The next year, The Slim Shady LP was recorded in just 12 days, and went on to sell 4.5 million copies worldwide after it's 1999 release. This after a guest spot on the breakthrough Devil Without A Cause album for the other Detroit-based white rapper-Kid Rock. Then he released his first single, Just Don't Give A Fuck, at the end of 1998.
Rather than everyone writing him off for his skin color, Eminem topped the charts with his breakthrough single My Name Is, despite subject matter including abusing just about every drug going, and his mother filing a $10m lawsuit against him for the line proclaiming she 'smokes more dope than I do'. However, his fast-paced, free-flowing delivery had millions hooked. Especially the way the lyrics were presented, comic book-style tales of murder and mayhem delivered with pitch black humour and numerous comic voices, pitched from the realm of white trash which is, above all, sarcastic. This said, the follow up single, Guilty Conscience, stirred plenty of contraversy with it's tales of rape and robbery, but still dominated TRL.
However, when 2000 came 'round, Slim Shady seems to have matured somewhat. Despite still having a number of bees in his bonnet, the lyrics have changed from the series of punchlines to more thoughtful and personal lyrics, with a more angry and political edge, for The Marshall Mathers LP-the most eagerly anticipated rap album of the year. This time, he has to deal with fame and fortune, as well as his recent marriage to long-term girlfriend, Kim.
The content is certainly a lot darker than before, especially on the track Kim, which turns out to be the precursor to '97 Bonnie and Clyde from the first album, and also the most disturbing thing Kurt Loder has ever heard. There are other links into the first album as well. Both start with a Public Service announcement, as well as Paul Rosenberg and Ken Kaniff both having quick skits.
At other times he rants against boy and girl groups, the Insane Clown Posse (for numerous comments made about him and Haillie Jade in magazines), as well as all the people that reacted in the traditional 'offended' manner to the first album. And he still has time to throw in the next hit, The Real Slim Shady.
But rather than live up to the pin-up lifestyle he has received, Mathers has shunned it. Still based in Detroit with his new family, he would rather hang out with old friends (including Kid Rock) than live it up in LA hanging out with the stars which so many rapper have done in the past.
Then, the predictable Two-Successful-Albums-Make-You-Fair-Game backlash started, with cheapshot remarks flying in, and many clebrities starting an anti-Slim bandwagon. The notorious Debbie Briggs-Mathers released the single Why Do You Always Do Me Like You Are, and Emily Ellis released Slim Shady Please Shut Up, which was rather popular with Christina Aguilera, if you catch what I'm getting at...
At the same time his marriage broke up and he was instantly sued for the regulation $10m by his now ex wife for the aforemeantioned track Kim, for the usual pointless litigation reasons. However, they seem to be back together now, so that could be a couple of worries less. He picked the perfect time to release The Way I Am, biting back at all the criticism he picked up over time (and was smart enough to tag on the End of Days track Bad Influence). On the British side of things, Daily Mail readers managed to squeeze in complaints (what else?) that Stan would be his Christmas single, which clearly surprised a lot of people.
2001 saw people lining up to fill numerous bandwagons against Eminem, since all his lyrics are 'homophobic, mysogonistic, and outright offensive'. This led to a contraversial performance at The Grammies, performing Stan with Elton John, whilst protestors raged outside. Shortly before, his UK tour caused a storm, again with the same reasons of an attention-seeking minority finding the nearest convenient target.
2001 saw him being quite busy. As well as setting up his own label, Shady Records, he also brought his 'otherproject' D12 into the limelight, with their Devil's Night album. Not only did they get a large following with the single Sh!t On You with no airplay (for obvious reasons...), they also gained a huge hit with Purple Pills (or ...Hills, depending on how strict the censorship laws about drug references), as well as Fight Music doing reasonable business, despite being about as pleasant as a cahinsaw enema.
And what next for Slim Shady? Well, apparently he's going to retire from rap after the third album, but first he is starring in the film (loosly) based on his life, 8 Mile, as well as being involved with the soundtrack.
Official Site/ Eminem World/ Eminem2000.
