Eminem
| Eminem | |
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Eminem performing in November 2014
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| Born | Marshall Bruce Mathers III October 17, 1972 St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S. |
| Residence | Rochester Hills, Michigan, U.S. |
| Other names |
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| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1988–present |
| Spouse(s) | Kimberly Scott (m. 1999; div. 2001) (m. 2006; div. 2006) |
| Children | 3 |
| Musical career | |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Instruments |
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| Labels |
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| Website | |
Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Throughout his career, he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. With 47.4 million albums sold in the U.S. and 220 million records globally, he is among the world's best-selling artists of all time and is consistently cited as one of the greatest and most influential artists in any genre. He is the only artist to have eight albums consecutively debut at number one on the Billboard 200.[1] Rolling Stone ranked him 83rd on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, calling him the "King of Hip Hop".
After his debut album Infinite (1996) and then Slim Shady EP (1997), Eminem signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with The Slim Shady LP, which earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. His next two releases, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP and 2002's The Eminem Show, were worldwide successes, with each being certified diamond in U.S. sales and both winning Best Rap Album Grammy Awards—making Eminem the first artist to win the award for three consecutive LPs. They were followed by Encore in 2004, another critical and commercial success. Eminem went on hiatus after touring in 2005, releasing Relapse in 2009 and Recovery in 2010. Both won Grammy Awards and Recovery was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide, the second time he had the international best-selling album of the year (after The Eminem Show). Eminem's eighth album, 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2, won two Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album; it expanded his record for the most wins in that category and his Grammy total to 15.[2] In 2017, he released his ninth studio album, Revival.
In addition to his solo career, Eminem is an original member of the Midwest hip hop groups Soul Intent and D12. He is also known for his collaborations with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5'9"; the two are collectively known as Bad Meets Evil. Eminem has developed other ventures, including Shady Records, with manager Paul Rosenberg, which helped launch the careers of artists such as 50 Cent. Eminem has also established his own channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio. In November 2002, he starred in the hip hop film 8 Mile, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself", becoming the first rap artist to ever win the award.[3] Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009), and The Interview (2014), and the television series Entourage (2010).
Contents
- 1 Life and career
- 1.1 1972–1991: Early life
- 1.2 1992–1997: Early career, Infinite and family struggles
- 1.3 1998–1999: Introduction to Slim Shady, The Slim Shady LP and rise to success
- 1.4 2000–2002: The Marshall Mathers LP, lyrical conflicts and The Eminem Show
- 1.5 2003–2007: Encore, more lyrical conflicts and musical hiatus
- 1.6 2008–2009: Comeback, Relapse and Refill
- 1.7 2010–2011: Recovery and Bad Meets Evil reunion
- 1.8 2012–2013: The Marshall Mathers LP 2
- 1.9 2014–2016: Shady XV, vinyl box set, and Southpaw
- 1.10 2017–present: Revival
- 2 Artistry
- 3 Personal life
- 4 Impact
- 5 Honors and awards
- 6 Other ventures
- 7 Discography
- 8 Tours
- 9 Books
- 10 See also
- 11 References
- 12 External links
Life and career
1972–1991: Early life
Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972,[4] in St. Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah Rae "Debbie" Nelson.[5][6][7] His mother nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him.[8] Eminem's parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border before their separation. Bruce left the family, moving to California[9] and having two other children: Michael and Sarah.[10] Debbie later had son Nathan "Nate" Kane Samara.[7] During his childhood, Eminem and Debbie shuttled between Michigan and Missouri, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and living primarily with family members. In Missouri, they lived in several places, including St. Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City.[11][12]As a teenager, Eminem wrote letters to his father; according to Debbie, all came back marked "return to sender".[9] Friends and family remember Eminem as a happy child, but "a bit of a loner" who was often bullied. One bully, De'Angelo Bailey, severely injured Eminem's head (mentioned in his song "Brain Damage"); Debbie filed a lawsuit against the school in 1982, which was dismissed the following year.[8] Eminem spent much of his youth in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood.[9] He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was beaten by black youths several times.[9] As a child he was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic-book artist before discovering hip hop.[13] Eminem heard his first rap song ("Reckless", featuring Ice-T) on the Breakin' soundtrack, a gift from Debbie's half-brother Ronnie Polkinghorn, who later became a musical mentor to him. When Polkinghorn committed suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking for days and did not attend his funeral.[9][14]
Eminem's home life was seldom stable; he frequently fought with his mother, whom a social worker described as having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality". When her son became famous, Debbie was unimpressed by suggestions that she was a less-than-ideal mother, contending that she sheltered him and was responsible for his success. In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kimberly Ann "Kim" Scott to stay at their home; several years later, Eminem began an on-and-off relationship with Scott.[8] After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades,[15] he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17. Although he was interested in English, he never explored literature (preferring comic books) and disliked math and social studies.[16] Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills, later maintaining that she often threw him out of the house anyway. When she left to play bingo, he would blast the stereo and write songs.[9]
At age 14, Eminem began rapping with high-school friend Mike Ruby; they adopted the names "Manix" and "M&M", the latter of which evolved into "Eminem".[4][8] Eminem sneaked into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle rap battles.[17] On Saturdays, they attended open mic contests at the Hip-Hop Shop on West 7 Mile, considered "ground zero" for the Detroit rap scene.[9] Struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, Eminem was appreciated by underground hip hop audiences.[4][18][19] When he wrote verses, he wanted most of the words to rhyme; he wrote long words or phrases on paper and, underneath, worked on rhymes for each syllable.[16] Although the words often made little sense, the drill helped Eminem practice sounds and rhymes.[16]
1992–1997: Early career, Infinite and family struggles
Eminem in Germany, 1999
Eminem was soon signed to Jeff and Mark Bass's FBT Productions, and recorded his debut album Infinite for their independent Web Entertainment label.[20] The album was a commercial failure upon its release in 1996.[21] One lyrical subject of Infinite was his struggle to raise his newborn daughter, Hailie Jade Scott Mathers, on little money. During this period, Eminem's rhyming style, primarily inspired by rappers Nas, Esham and AZ, lacked the comically violent slant for which he later became known.[22] Detroit disc jockeys largely ignored Infinite, and the feedback Eminem did receive ("Why don't you go into rock and roll?") led him to craft angrier, moodier tracks.[9] At this time Eminem and Kim Scott lived in a crime-ridden neighborhood, and their house was robbed several times.[9] Eminem cooked and washed dishes for minimum wage at Gilbert's Lodge, a family-style restaurant at St. Clair Shores.[23] His former boss described him as becoming a model employee, as he worked 60 hours a week for six months after Hailie's birth.[8] He was fired shortly before Christmas, and later said, "It was, like, five days before Christmas, which is Hailie's birthday. I had, like, forty dollars to get her something."[9] After the release of Infinite, his personal problems and substance abuse culminated in a suicide attempt.[4] By March 1997 he was fired from Gilbert's Lodge for the last time, and lived in his mother's mobile home with Kim and Hailie.[8]
1998–1999: Introduction to Slim Shady, The Slim Shady LP and rise to success
Eminem attracted more attention when he developed Slim Shady, a sadistic, violent alter ego. The character allowed him to express his anger with lyrics about drugs, rape, and murder.[8] In the spring of 1997 he recorded his debut EP, the Slim Shady EP, which was released that winter by Web Entertainment.[9] The EP, with frequent references to drug use, sexual acts, mental instability and violence, also explored the more-serious themes of dealing with poverty and marital and family difficulties and revealed his direct, self-deprecating response to criticism.[4] Hip-hop magazine The Source featured Eminem in its "Unsigned Hype" column in March 1998.[24]
Eminem (left) at the ARCO Arena for the Up in Smoke Tour, June 2000
Eminem released The Slim Shady LP in February 1999. Although it was one of the year's most popular albums (certified triple platinum by the end of the year),[27] he was accused of imitating the style and subject matter of underground rapper Cage.[28][29] The album's popularity was accompanied by controversy over its lyrics; in "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" Eminem describes a trip with his infant daughter when he disposes of his wife's body, and in "Guilty Conscience" which encourages a man to murder his wife and her lover. "Guilty Conscience" marked the beginning of a friendship and musical bond between Dr. Dre and Eminem. The label-mates later collaborated on a number of hit songs ("Forgot About Dre" and "What's the Difference" while also providing uncredited for, vocals on "The Watcher"" from Dr. Dre's album 2001, "Bitch Please II" from The Marshall Mathers LP, "Say What You Say" from The Eminem Show, "Encore/Curtains Down" from Encore, and "Old Time's Sake" and "Crack a Bottle" from Relapse), and Dre made at least one guest appearance on each of Eminem's Aftermath albums.[30] The Slim Shady LP has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.[31]
2000–2002: The Marshall Mathers LP, lyrical conflicts and The Eminem Show
Eminem and Proof at Voodoo Experience in October 2000
Eminem performed with Elton John at the 43rd Grammy Awards ceremony in 2001,[40] with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD, an organization which considered Eminem's lyrics homophobic) condemning John's decision to perform with Eminem.[41] Entertainment Weekly placed the appearance on its end-of-decade "best-of" list: "It was the hug heard 'round the world. Eminem, under fire for homophobic lyrics, shared the stage with a gay icon for a performance of "Stan" that would have been memorable in any context."[42] On February 21, the day of the awards ceremony, GLAAD held a protest outside the Staples Center (the ceremony's venue).[43] In 2001 Eminem appeared in the Up in Smoke Tour with rappers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and Ice Cube[44] and the Family Values Tour with Limp Bizkit,[45] headlining the Anger Management Tour with Papa Roach, Ludacris and Xzibit.
The Eminem Show was released in May 2002. It was another success, reaching number one on the charts and selling over 1.332 million copies during its first full week.[27] The album's single, "Without Me", denigrates boy bands, Limp Bizkit, Dick and Lynne Cheney, Moby and others. The Eminem Show certified Diamond by the RIAA examines the effects of Eminem's rise to fame, his relationship with his wife and daughter and his status in the hip-hop community, addressing an assault charge brought by a bouncer he saw kissing his wife in 2000. Although several tracks are clearly angry, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic found The Eminem Show less inflammatory than The Marshall Mathers LP.[46] L. Brent Bozell III, who had criticized The Marshall Mathers LP for misogynistic lyrics, noted The Eminem Show's extensive use of obscenity and called Eminem "Eminef" for the prevalence of the word "motherfucker" on the album.[47] The Eminem Show sold 30 million copies worldwide[39] and was the best-selling album of 2002.
2003–2007: Encore, more lyrical conflicts and musical hiatus
On the Anger Management Tour promoting Encore
Also in 2003 Eminem, a lifelong fan of Tupac,[50] provided production work for three tracks on the Tupac Resurrection soundtrack [51] He would follow this up the next year by producing 12 of the 16 tracks on Tupac's Loyal to the Game album.[51]
Encore, released in 2004, was another success. Its sales were partially driven by the first single, "Just Lose It", which contained slurs about Michael Jackson. On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Jackson phoned the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his displeasure with its video (which parodies Jackson's child molestation trial, plastic surgery and the 1984 incident when Jackson's hair caught fire during the filming of a commercial). In the song Eminem says, "That's not a stab at Michael / That's just a metaphor / I'm just psycho". Many of Jackson's friends and supporters spoke out against the video, including Stevie Wonder (who described it as "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit")[52] and Steve Harvey (who said, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back").[52] The video also parodied Pee-wee Herman, MC Hammer and Madonna during her Blond Ambition period.[53] "Weird Al" Yankovic, who parodied the Eminem song "Lose Yourself" on "Couch Potato" for his 2003 album Poodle Hat, told the Chicago Sun-Times about Jackson's protest: "Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my 'Lose Yourself' parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career. So the irony of this situation with Michael is not lost on me."[54] Although Black Entertainment Television stopped playing the video, MTV announced that it would continue to air it. The Source, through CEO Raymond "Benzino" Scott, called for the video to be pulled, the song removed from the album and Eminem to apologize publicly to Jackson.[55] In 2007 Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music from Viacom, giving him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira, Beck and others.[56]
Despite its lead single's humorous theme, Encore explored serious subject matter with the anti-war song "Mosh". The song criticized President George W. Bush as "This weapon of mass destruction that we call our president", with lyrics including "Fuck Bush".[57] On October 25, 2004, a week before the 2004 US Presidential election, Eminem released the video for "Mosh" on the Internet.[58] In it, Eminem gathers an army (including rapper Lloyd Banks) of Bush-administration victims and leads them to the White House. When they break in, it is learned that they are there to register to vote; the video ends with "VOTE Tuesday November 2". After Bush's reelection, the video's ending was changed to Eminem and the protesters invading the White House during a speech by the president.[59] Also in 2004 Eminem launched a satellite music channel, Shade 45, on Sirius radio,[60] which was described by his manager as "essentially a destination to get and hear things that other people aren't playing," [61]
In 2005, industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering ending his rapping career after six years and several Multi-Platinum albums. Rumors began early in the year about a double album to be released late that year, entitled The Funeral;[62] the greatest hits album, entitled Curtain Call: The Hits, was released in December. In July the Detroit Free Press reported a possible final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting members of his inner circle as saying that he would embrace the roles of producer and label executive. The day of Curtain Call: The Hits's release, Eminem appeared on WKQI's "Mojo in the Morning" show. Denying that he was retiring, he suggested he would take a break as an artist: "I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going ... This is the reason that we called it 'Curtain Call', because this could be the final thing. We don't know."[63] The following year, Eminem released Eminem Presents: The Re-Up on Shady Records.
In 2005, Eminem was ranked 58th in Bernard Goldberg's book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America.[64] Goldberg cited a 2001 column by Bob Herbert of The New York Times, in which Herbert wrote "In Eminem's world, all women are whores and he is eager to rape and murder them",[65] and the song "No One's Iller" from the Slim Shady EP as examples of Eminem's misogyny.[66] That summer Eminem began his first
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