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Eminem, born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri, is one of today's most controversial music artists, specializing in gangsta rap. He spent most of his childhood moving back and forth between St. Joseph and Detroit, Michigan.
Eminem was always interested in rap, and started performing at the age of 14. He gained some popularity when a member of Soul Intent. He released his first independent album, named Infinite Soon after, he released the "The Slim Shady EP". He became famous in the hip-hop underground, because of his distinctive, cartoonish style and the fact that he's white (a rarity in all rap, especially mainstream gangsta rap). Some people called him rap's "great white hope."
It is said that Dr. Dre found Eminem's demo on the garage floor of Jimmy Iovine, the Interscope label chief. Though this did not directly lead to a recording contract, once Eminem won second place vs. Otherwize at the 1997 Rap Olympics MC battle, Dr. Dre agreed to sign him.
Once he joined Interscope, Eminem released the triple platinum The Slim Shady LP. There were two hit songs on it: "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience." Controversy came up because of the song's lyrics. In "97 Bonnie and Clyde", Eminem, along with his infant daughter, disposes of the bodies of his wife, her lover and his son. In "Brain Damage", Eminem describes being beaten by a bully in eighth grade, his principal and his mother while "Guilty Conscience" ends with Eminem and Dr. Dre encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover. In other songs, he makes repeated references to taking Percocet, hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana, LSD, Valium and other illegal drugs. Eminem appeared in Dr. Dre's CD, Dr. Dre 2001.
The Marshall Mathers LP was released in the summer of 2000, quickly selling 2 million copies. Two songs in particular received a lot of attention, "The Real Slim Shady", and "Stan". "Stan" sampled Dido's "Thank You" and was the story of a fan obsessed with Eminem, who winds up killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend because his idol doesn't respond quickly enough to his fanmail. In a much-talked about performance, Eminem sang "Stan" as a duet with Elton John at the Grammys in 2001. John received some criticism for performing with Eminem because of the latter's frequent use of the word "faggot" and making other, frequent, denigrating comments about homosexuals. In addition, The Marshall Mathers LP included a humorous claim that Christina Aguilera performed oral sex on Fred Durst (of Limp Bizkit) and Britney Spears (MTV VJ). Several songs also make fun of boy bands and other pop groups, specifically 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, among others.
Eminem's third major album, "The Eminem Show" was released in summer of 2002. It featured the single "Without Me", an apparent sequel to "The Real Slim Shady" in which he dissed boy bands, Moby and Lynne Cheney, among others.
Eminem has also acted in a number of Hollywood feature films, most notably the semi-autobiographical "8 Mile", released in 2002. He recorded several songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself".
Albums Released
The Eminem Show (2002)
Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Slim Shady LP (1999)
Slim Shady EP (1997)
Infinite (1995)
External Link
- Official website Requires Macromedia Flash