Marshall Bruce Mathers III, or more well-know as Eminem has changed the hip-hop industry. He was born on October 17, 1972 in Saint Joseph, Missouri and was raised in Detroit. Eminem was brought up in a poor household that saw his mother, Debbie Mathers, constantly move around from trailer to trailer. At times, Eminem was forced to live out of a car. Eminem’s mother become addicted to vicodin and valium and made life at home for Eminem and his sister very tough.
Eminem dropped out of high school at the age of 17 after failing the ninth grade three times. Before he dropped out, he met his eventual wife Kim Scott. They developed a long term relationship and eventually Kim became pregnant with their daughter Hallie. Eminem decided to begin his rapping career in order to make money to support his family.
Eminem’s upbringing was very difficult to say the least and he makes numerous references to his life throughout his music. He became interested in rap at an early age and began performing at the age of 13. His talents were discovered by rap legend Dr. Dre, and the Slim Shady album was the debut of Eminem’s rap career. He became famous in the hip hop genre because of his unique style and because of the fact that he was white.
Snoop Dogg refers to him as rap’s “great white American hope.” The Slim Shady LP was a huge success and was one of the most popular albums when it was released in 1999, going triple platinum by the end of that year. Although the album was immensely popular, it would come with tons of controversy. References to a trip with his daughter to dispose of the body of his wife in his songs would result in some series controversy. Eminem released his second album in 2000 titled The Marshall Mathers LP. This album became the fastest selling rap album of all time. Since 2000, Eminem has released two more new albums and a greatest hits album as well, all of which were a huge success.
While Eminem has become extremely successful over the years in the rap industry, his life has been anything but a cake walk. Growing up with a mother who couldn’t even take care of herself, moving from trailer park to trailer park made Eminem’s life hard from the beginning. He eventually made it to the big time with his music, but even still, the controversy that came along with his music made it hard to celebrate his success. Filled with controversy ranging from lawsuits, divorce, and drug abuse, Eminem’s life is not one of complete joy and success.
Even still, Eminem will go down as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Eminem is also an acclaimed actor and producer as well, and says for the time being he is going to focus on the producer side of music and give his singles career a break, or that is what we thought. On December 5th, 2006 Eminem will be releasing a compilation of albums titled Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, which will focus on some of his new talents as well as his own. So be prepared, the Eminem saga is not over yet. Whether you like him or not, as an artist, he is one of a kind.
