Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage names Eminem and Slim Shady, is an Oscar and multiple Grammy Award winning American rapper, record producer, and actor. Having sold over seventy million albums worldwide, Eminem is one of the highest-selling musicians of the early 2000s thus, making him one of the highest-selling rap artists of all time. Eminem was discovered by rapper and producer Dr. Dre. 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. Eminem is infamous for the controversy surrounding many of his lyrics. With the success of his highly acclaimed album, The Marshall Mathers LP and its subsequent nomination for four Grammy awards including Album of the Year, critics such as GLAAD denounced his lyrics as homophobic and misogynist, while others claimed that it promoted violence. In 2002, he starred in the semi-autobiographical movie 8 Mile.
Early Life of Eminem (1972-1994)
Eminem was born in St. Joseph, Missouri to Deborah (née Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers II, of Scottish, German, and English descent. Shortly after his birth, his father walked out, leaving Debbie and Marshall alone. Until he was 12, he and his mother moved to and from between St. Joseph and Warren, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, where he met D12 rapper Proof. He was reportedly interested in hip hop from a young age. Because he was small for his age and he was one of the few whites that lived in an African American neighboorhood he was reportedly picked on. Mathers decided that even though he was too small to fight back he would instead retaliate with words. Learning how to "battle" his foes with rap music gave him an outlet for his anger. Mathers began performing as early as 13 in a group called Bassmint Productions where they produced an EP called Steppin' onto the Scene.
Eminem as a Producer
Mathers is also active as a producer of rap records. Besides being the executive producer of D12's two albums, Devil's Night and D12 World, he has also executive produced Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me as well as 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. In addition, Mathers has produced and appeared on several songs by other famous rappers, such as Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block", Jay-Z's "Renagade" and "Moment of Clarity" Lloyd Banks' "Warrior Part 2", and "Hands Up", Tony Yayo's "Drama Setter", Trick Trick's "Welcome 2 Detroit", and Xzibit's "My Name" and "Don't Approach Me". Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Mathers himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator Jeff Bass. He also split the production with Dr. Dre on Encore. In 2004, Mathers was the Executive Producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur. He produced the UK #1 single "Ghetto Gospel" which featured Elton John. On certain tracks on the album, 2Pac's voice was slowed down and digitally altered to match the beat and make him say things like "2005" and "G-Unit", angering many fans. He has also produced "The Cross" off Nas's album God's Son. On August 15, 2006, Obie Trice released Second Round's on Me. Eminem produced 8 tracks on the album. He was also featured in the song "There They Go".
Acting Career of Eminem
Mathers made his Hollywood acting debut with the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile, released in November 2002. He has said the movie is not an account of his life, but a representation of growing up in Detroit. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song; it was not performed at the ceremony, reportedly because ABC wanted him to perform an edited version. Mathers voiced a character in 50 Cent: Bulletproof, who is an aging corrupt police officer that speaks in Ebonics. He has also done some voice acting, both on Crank Yankers and a web cartoon called The Slim Shady Show, which has since been pulled off-line and is instead sold on DVD. Eminem will star in the upcoming film Have Gun — Will Travel in which he will play a bounty hunter called Paladin. He will also be involved in either the soundtrack or scoring. He has also stated a movie production company called “Interscope/Shady/Aftermath Films” with Dr. Dre. The company has worked on 50 Cent's debut movie Get Rich or Die Tryin' and will work on Eminem's next movie Have Gun — Will Travel.
Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has praised Mathers for his "verbal energy" and for arousing popular interest in poetry and lyrics. Eminem is infamous for the controversy surrounding many of his lyrics. With the success of his highly acclaimed album, The Marshall Mathers LP and its subsequent nomination for four Grammy awards including Album of the Year, critics such as GLAAD denounced his lyrics as homophobic and misogynist, while others claimed that it promoted violence. In 2002, he starred in the semi-autobiographical movie 8 Mile.
Early Life of Eminem (1972-1994)
Eminem was born in St. Joseph, Missouri to Deborah (née Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers II, of Scottish, German, and English descent. Shortly after his birth, his father walked out, leaving Debbie and Marshall alone. Until he was 12, he and his mother moved to and from between St. Joseph and Warren, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, where he met D12 rapper Proof. He was reportedly interested in hip hop from a young age. Because he was small for his age and he was one of the few whites that lived in an African American neighboorhood he was reportedly picked on. Mathers decided that even though he was too small to fight back he would instead retaliate with words. Learning how to "battle" his foes with rap music gave him an outlet for his anger. Mathers began performing as early as 13 in a group called Bassmint Productions where they produced an EP called Steppin' onto the Scene.
Eminem as a Producer
Mathers is also active as a producer of rap records. Besides being the executive producer of D12's two albums, Devil's Night and D12 World, he has also executive produced Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me as well as 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. In addition, Mathers has produced and appeared on several songs by other famous rappers, such as Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block", Jay-Z's "Renagade" and "Moment of Clarity" Lloyd Banks' "Warrior Part 2", and "Hands Up", Tony Yayo's "Drama Setter", Trick Trick's "Welcome 2 Detroit", and Xzibit's "My Name" and "Don't Approach Me". Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Mathers himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator Jeff Bass. He also split the production with Dr. Dre on Encore. In 2004, Mathers was the Executive Producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur. He produced the UK #1 single "Ghetto Gospel" which featured Elton John. On certain tracks on the album, 2Pac's voice was slowed down and digitally altered to match the beat and make him say things like "2005" and "G-Unit", angering many fans. He has also produced "The Cross" off Nas's album God's Son. On August 15, 2006, Obie Trice released Second Round's on Me. Eminem produced 8 tracks on the album. He was also featured in the song "There They Go".
Acting Career of Eminem
Mathers made his Hollywood acting debut with the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile, released in November 2002. He has said the movie is not an account of his life, but a representation of growing up in Detroit. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song; it was not performed at the ceremony, reportedly because ABC wanted him to perform an edited version. Mathers voiced a character in 50 Cent: Bulletproof, who is an aging corrupt police officer that speaks in Ebonics. He has also done some voice acting, both on Crank Yankers and a web cartoon called The Slim Shady Show, which has since been pulled off-line and is instead sold on DVD. Eminem will star in the upcoming film Have Gun — Will Travel in which he will play a bounty hunter called Paladin. He will also be involved in either the soundtrack or scoring. He has also stated a movie production company called “Interscope/Shady/Aftermath Films” with Dr. Dre. The company has worked on 50 Cent's debut movie Get Rich or Die Tryin' and will work on Eminem's next movie Have Gun — Will Travel.