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Eminem (born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972 is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning American rapper, producer and occasional actor. He was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and was raised in Detroit. Discovered by rapper and producer Dr. Dre, Eminem got his big break when signing to Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and became a crossover sensation with his debut single "My Name Is" while simultaneously earning respect for his technical and lyrical ability. Eminem is noted for his ability to change his vocal pace and style multiple times within one song without losing the beat, and has been praised for his skill in alliteration and assonance. He's also infamous for the controversy surrounding many of his lyrics. With the enormous 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 protested that it promoted violence. Aftermath recently released a greatest hits album from Eminem called Curtain Call: The Hits, a compilation covering many of his previous commercial hit songs, in addition to three new tracks. Mathers has stated that he is taking a break from solo work but is in no way retiring, as he continues to produce and collaborate with his fellow Aftermath artists as well as G-Unit artists and rappers under his Shady Records label. To date, Eminem has sold over 70 million albums worldwide and is the best-selling rap artist of all-time. He's also, according to the Guinness World Records, the fastest-selling rap artist as "The Marshall Mathers LP" went to sell over 1.7 million domestic copies in its first week.
Early life By most accounts, the Mathers family was poor, which was the primary reason for their constant moves, during which Marshall and his mother would often find themselves living in trailers, mobile homes, and under the care of relatives. During this time, Debbie Mathers was legally taking the prescription drugs Vicodin and Valium; Marshall Mathers later claimed in numerous interviews and songs that his mother was abusing the drugs,* to which she retaliated with a lawsuit pressing defamation charges (see below). In the song "Cleaning Out My Closet" (The Eminem Show, 2002), Mathers also accuses his mother of having Munchausen syndrome by proxy, adding that "my whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn't." This was not the first time someone had suggested she had the disorder; a social worker had made similar comments following a 1996 investigation of her mistreatment of her second child, Nathan Samra-Mathers. Mathers was especially close to his uncle, Ronald Dean "Ronnie" Polkingharn, who was born just three months before him, on July 27, 1972. Polkingharn introduced Mathers to hip-hop and the two were best friends. On December 14, 1991, 19-year-old Polkingharn committed suicide, an event which Mathers has said was devastating, not just to him but to the entire extended family. Ronnie Nelson's older brother Steven suffered a stroke as a result of the stress. Mathers was so distraught he abandoned his musical career for a year. References to Ronnie's death appear in several songs, including "Stan", "Cleaning Out My Closet", "Mockingbird," and "My Dad's Gone Crazy." Mathers has a tattoo on his upper left arm that says "Ronnie R.I.P." Before dropping out of Lincoln High School in Warren at the age of 17 (after failing ninth grade three times), Mathers made a number of significant acquaintances at the school one of them included Evan Perks a 3 time chess champion that got shot in a drive by and also included the late rapper Proof, who was to become one of his closest friends, and future wife Kimberly Ann "Kim" Scott, with whom he soon developed a long-term relationship. When she became pregnant, Mathers started working on getting a record deal to support his new family; He discusses this in "Never 2 Far" (Infinite, 1996), saying "I got a baby on the way, I don't even got a car...I still stay with my moms...we gotta make some hit records or something because I'm tired of being broke..." When the Infinite album failed to generate the revenue and acclaim he had hoped for, she ended their relationship, preventing him from seeing his newborn child, a daughter named Hailie Jade Scott (born December 25, 1995); distraught, he attempted suicide with an overdose of Tylenol. After the attempt failed, he resumed his efforts to succeed in the music industry and reconcile with his ex-girlfriend. * He ultimately succeeded in doing both, marrying her on June 14, 1999, in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Mathers would go on to mention his daughter extensively in some of his songs, including "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" (The Slim Shady LP, 1999), which takes the form of a one-sided dialogue with Hailie, as well as "Hailie's Song" (The Eminem Show, 2002), "Mockingbird" (‘‘Encore’’, 2004), and "When I'm Gone" (Curtain Call: The Hits, 2005), all of which are proclamations of his love and dedication to her. In addition, he samples her voice in the track "My Dad's Gone Crazy" (The Eminem Show, 2002). Early career Interested in rap from a young age, Mathers began performing as early as 13, later gaining some popularity with a group, Soul Intent. In 1996, he released an independent underground album, named Infinite (of which he sold about 500 copies out of the back of his car.) The album received no airplay and a mixed critical response, with people claiming Eminem's rapping style sounded too similar to Nas and AZ. It was after this, that stress, drama and negativity spread in his life. In 1997 he followed Infinite with The Slim Shady EP demo, which saw his lyrics take a decidedly darker turn, in songs like "No One's Iller" and "Murder Murder", the latter in which he talks about having to commit crimes to feed his daughter. He became famous in the hip-hop underground because of his distinctive, cartoonish style and the fact that he was white in a predominantly black genre. Fellow rapper Snoop Dogg refers to him as rap's "great white American hope" in the song "Bitch Please II" off of Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem had done a notable amount of work with fellow Detroit emcee Royce da 5'9" early in his career. They referred to themselves as Bad Meets Evil, with Eminem playing the evil and Royce playing the bad in the song of the same name on The Slim Shady LP. Royce da 5'9" and Eminem were considered to be two of the best underground emcees in Detroit and were both respected for their battling skills. The Jay-Z song "Renagade" uses Eminem's verses from a song originally done with Royce called "Renegade". The song's first verse ends with the words, "Royce, he's the king of Detroit..." which was replaced with Eminem making beat box noises for Jay-Z's Renagade (note that the two songs are spelled slightly differently). Eminem makes a reference to Jay-Z using his verses in a song when he claims "Go bring Jay-Z, tell him I'ma ghost-write for him on Dre's beats" from "Stir Crazy" that he recorded with The Madd Rapper. While the two were great friends and had mutual respect for one another both personally and musically, they eventually had a falling out. Royce later had an altercation with D12 and made numerous songs defaming and disrespecting the group; however, very few lines were aimed at Eminem himself, none of which were direct attacks. The relationship between the two is unknown at the moment but no talks of a collaboration have surfaced. Recent rumors suggest that the argument was subdued prior to Proof's death. It is said that rap artist and producer Dr. Dre found Mathers' demo on Interscope Records president Jimmy Iovine's garage floor. While this did not directly lead to a recording contract, Dr. Dre agreed to sign Mathers when he won second place versus Otherwize, (though some sources say it was, in fact, MC Juice who defeated him) at the 1997 Rap Olympics freestyle battle. Other sources state that an executive at the offices of Interscope handed the demo to Iovine who passed it to Dre, which resulted in a contract. Success
Legal troubles Mathers' rise to celebrity ushered the beginning of his numerous legal troubles. The first of these was his mother's lawsuit against him in September of that year. The lawsuit was motivated by comments on her drug use made in song My Name Is, specifically the lyric "I just found out my mom does more dope than I do," and similar accusations in numerous interviews. She denied the statements and demanded more than $10 million in damages for defamation in two lawsuits. After rumors of Debbie dropping the suit, she reached a settlement with her son in 2001 for $25,000, with over $23,000 of it going to her former attorney, Fred Gibson, by a court order.* Debbie's request for reconsideration of the settlement was denied by a judge.* Mathers' resentful reflections on the case can be heard on the songs "Marshall Mathers" (The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000) in the lyrics "my fuckin' bitch mom is suing for 10 million/ she must want a dollar for every pill I've been stealin'", and on "Without Me" (The Eminem Show, 2002) in the lyric "I just settled all my lawsuits/Fuck you, Debbie!" With Mathers' rise to stardom, new disputes arose between him and his wife, centering on her dissatisfaction over the graphic fictional account of her husband murdering her and dumping her body in a lake in the songs "Kim" (The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000) and "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", respectively. The tension between the couple came to a boiling point when he witnessed her kissing another man, one John Guerrera, outside the Hot Rocks Café in Warren on June 4, 2000. Mathers threatened Guerrera with an unloaded 9 mm semi-automatic firearm and allegedly proceeded to pistol-whip him.* Although, Guerrera is mentioned in "Sing For The Moment" on The Eminem Show, in the line "you're full of shit too, Guerrera, that was a fist that hit you!" On the previous day, Mathers was allegedly involved in a heated dispute in Royal Oak, Michigan with Douglas Dail, an associate of the rap group Insane Clown Posse, with whom Mathers had an ongoing rivalry. On The Marshall Mathers LP, on the track "Marshall Mathers," Eminem calls ICP's Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent Jay "Faggot 2 Dope," and "Silent Gay," as well as "you two little flaming faggots." Furthermore, a skit on this album features the character of "Ken Keniff" (a stereotypically mincing, predatory homosexual) graphically receiving oral sex from the ICP pair. During the confrontation, Mathers was observed to be holding a gun, which he kept pointed at the ground.* Being taken into police custody during the Hot Rocks Café incident, Mathers was charged with misdemeanor charges of brandishing a firearm in public, assault with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of concealed weapon possession, in two separate trials. After a plea bargain in the John Guerrera case, which concluded on April 10, 2001, Mathers pleaded guilty to weapon possession in exchange for the assault charges being dropped, receiving two years of probation,* and was ordered to pay $100,000 in damages at the conclusion of the case evaluation in 2002.* In the Dail case, he pleaded nolo contendere to the charges of firearm possession and brandishing, receiving one year of probation, enforced concurrently with the sentence from the first case.* He would later recount the former incident in the songs "Say Goodbye Hollywood", "Soldier" (The Eminem Show, 2002) and the preceding interlude "The Kiss". While the trials were in the beginning stages, things were only getting worse for Mathers, when on July 7, 2000, Kim attempted suicide in the couple's Clinton Township, Michigan home by cutting her wrists. (Mathers talks about this incident from Hailie's point of view in the song "When I'm Gone.") This prompted Marshall to file for divorce a few months later,* which was promptly countered by Kim with a lawsuit that sought to deny him custody of their daughter and $10 million in defamation damages.* Within weeks, however, they settled the lawsuit, and agreed to joint custody of their daughter, with Kim gaining physical child custody, granting him "liberal visitation rights."* By the end of the year, the couple reconciled, agreeing to dismiss divorce claims and live together.* Mathers mentions her suicide attempt and the Hot Rocks Café incident on the Xzibit song "Don't Approach Me" (Restless, 2000). The reconciliation, however, would not last, as she filed for divorce in 2001, which was finalized in October of that year, granting joint physical and legal custody of Hailie to both parties, as well as requiring Mathers to make child support payments.* There was further turbulence in their relationship when Kim was sentenced to two years of probation for felony cocaine possession in 2003. This was not her first such incident, as she had previously faced similar charges in 2001, although they were eventually dropped.* The incident was not to be her last, however, as she was sentenced to 30 days in jail in 2004, after failing a drug test for cocaine while still on probation.* Mathers makes numerous references to her cocaine use on the Encore album, including "you're a fucking cokehead slut" and "mama developed a habit" in the songs "Puke" and "Mockingbird," respectively. Their relationship since their divorce remained in an indecisive "on-again, off-again" state for a long time. The aftermath Mathers was no stranger to drugs and alcohol, as suggested by a large number of his songs, including the acclaimed "Drug Ballad" and "Under the Influence." The song "I'm Shady" (The Slim Shady LP, 1999) includes the explanatory line "well, I do take pills (ecstasy or prescription drugs), don't do speed / don't do crack, don't do coke / I do smoke weed / don't do smack / I do do shrooms, do drink beer / I just wanna make a few things clear." Other tracks do suggest cocaine use, although he has never been in a law enforcement incident involving drugs. However, with the sentence of two years of probation taking effect in 2001, during which he was subject to mandatory regular drug testing, his recreational drug use was put to an end. This fact is supported with references to his drug use in his music, which all but disappeared after 2001, and comments by late band mate Proof, who states that Mathers "sobered up".* However, with rising pressures and workload in his professional career, he found it difficult to get the rest he wanted, and turned to Zolpidem sleeping pills for relief. His use of the drug eventually became so severe, that in August 2005, he cancelled the European leg of his ongoing tour, and checked into a drug rehabilitation clinic for treatment. * Remarriage and second divorce Mathers remarried Kim on January 14, 2006 in Michigan. His best man was longtime friend and D12 member Proof (who was shot to death in a Detroit night club three months later), while Kim's maid of honor was their daughter Hailie. They walked down the aisle to Mathers' song "Mockingbird." Guests at the wedding included the other members of D12, as well as the members of G-Unit. Kim's mother attended the wedding, while Mathers' mother did not. However, less than 11 weeks after remarrying Kim, he filed for divorce at the Macomb County clerk's office.*, citing "a breakdown in the marriage relationship," (which, in Michigan, is the only reason one can give for cause of divorce.) On April 5, 2006, the news was leaked to the Detroit Free Press and MTV's Total Request Live. Alleged homophobia With the enormous popularity of The Marshall Mathers LP, the controversy surrounding him grew even larger, especially when it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Though Mathers had always claimed that his lyrics were not meant to be taken seriously, and that he had nothing against homosexuals or women, the gay rights group GLAAD organized a boycott of the Grammys. Mathers responded to this by rapping "Stan" on-stage with openly gay singer Elton John, ending the performance by hugging John. This gesture failed to appease many of his critics. He said he did not know Elton John was gay, but he told Kurt Loder after the awards show that he respected him: "Of course I'd heard of Elton John," Eminem said, "but I didn't know he was gay. I didn't know anything about his personal life. I didn't really care, but being that he was gay and he had my back, I think it made a statement in itself saying that he understood where I was coming from" *. Violence towards women The two 'eye-opening' songs most often cited as examples in The Marshall Mathers LP of Mathers' supposed misogyny were "Kill You" and "Kim." Critics claimed the former portrayed extremely violent abuse against women in general and contained a line about him raping his own mother. The latter is not so much a song as it is a reenactment of a fictional fight between him and his wife, although his shouted, hoarse lines do rhyme. Despite his conflicting expressions of love and hate throughout the track, he ends up slitting Kim's throat at the end, accompanied by cries of "Bleed, bitch, bleed!" Several people objected to the graphic description of domestic violence. On the clean version of the CD, the track was removed and replaced with a song almost entirely devoid of profanity called "The Kids." Criticism of other artists Eminem's provocative style has resulted in a number of high-profile feuds erupting between the rapper and some of his music industry peers. He has at one time or another had disputes with artists including Ja Rule, former Source magazine co-owner Raymond "Benzino" Scott, Everlast, Royce Da 5'9", Canibus, Insane Clown Posse, Vanilla Ice, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Mariah Carey, Fred Durst, DJ Lethal, Jermaine Dupri, Moby, and Christina Aguilera. "We as Americans" On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was "looking into" allegations that Mathers had threatened the President of the United States after the unreleased song "We As Americans" leaked onto the Web. The lyrics in question: "Fuck money / I don't rap for dead presidents / I'd rather see the president dead / It's never been said, but I set precedents...". The song was being recorded to possibly be on Encore, but wound up on a bonus CD accompanying the album instead. The second use of the word "dead" was backmasked in that version. The skit was also used in Immortal Technique's song "Bin Laden", stated near the end. Immortal Technique also attacks the president on the song. Michael Jackson On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Eminem's first single off Encore, Michael Jackson called into the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his displeasure with the video, which parodies Jackson's child molestation trial, plastic surgery, and an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. The lyrics to "Just Lose It" also refer to Jackson's legal troubles. Many of Jackson's supporters and friends spoke out about the video, including Stevie Wonder, who called the video "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit",* and Steve Harvey who declared, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back." * In the video, Eminem also parodied Pee Wee Herman, MC Hammer, and a Blonde-Ambition-touring Madonna. Black Entertainment Television was the first channel to stop airing the video. MTV, however, announced it would continue airing the video, and "Just Lose It" became the Others dismissed "Just Lose It" as a tame "Weird Al" Yankovic-style knockoff.* Regarding Jackson's protest, Yankovic, who parodied the Eminem song "Lose Yourself" on a track titled "Couch Potato" on his 2003 album Poodle Hat, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "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". George W. Bush criticism On October 26, 2004, a week before the U.S. presidential election, 2004, Eminem released the video for his song titled "Mosh" on the internet. The song features a very strong anti-Bush message, with lyrics such as "fuck Bush" and "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president." The video features Mathers gathering up an army of people presented as victims of the Bush administration and leading them to the White House. However, once the army breaks in, it is revealed that they are there to simply register to vote, and the video ends with the words "VOTE Tuesday November 2" on the screen. After Bush won the election, the video's ending was changed to Eminem and the protesters invading while Bush was giving a speech. None of the publicity helped the album however, which saw its sales stall at 5 million copies, a number dramatically lower than his past two albums. September 11, 2001 attacks Later in 2005, Eminem appeared on the song, "Bin Laden", written and produced by Immortal Technique and DJ Green Lantern. The song blames U.S. conservatives, the Reagan Doctrine and President George W. Bush for the September 11, 2001 attacks It is available on the mixtape "Shade 45: Sirius Bizness" *. It must be noted however, that Eminem never wrote any new material for the song and only appears through samples of other songs he made, the most notable being 'Patiently Waiting' from 50 Cent's debut album Get Rich Or Die Tryin, in which he claims that the hijackers that hit the World Trade Center were actually aiming for the headquarters of Shady Records. Drug rehabilitation In summer 2005, Mathers embarked on his first US concert run in three years, the Anger Management 3 Tour, featuring Lil' Jon, 50 Cent and G-Unit, D12, Obie Trice, The Alchemist, and others. In August 2005, Mathers cancelled the European leg of the tour and subsequently announced that he had entered drug rehabilitation for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication." At the same time as he was entering rehab, his aunt and uncle, Jack and Betty Schmitt, sued him, charging that he had reneged on a promise to build a $350,000 house for them and supply them with money for the house's upkeep. The couple claimed that Mathers had kept the house in his name, and then issued them eviction orders. Literary praise Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has praised Mathers for his "verbal energy" and for arousing popular interest in poetry and lyrics. * Other works and ventures
Shady Records Dr. Dre's leading protégé, Mathers succeeded in multi-platinum record sales. He was granted his own record label, a sub-label of Aftermath Entertainment. He and his manager Paul Rosenberg created Shady Records in late 2000. Mathers and Dr. Dre had signed 50 Cent on a joint venture between Aftermath & Shady Records. His own Detroit collective D12 and rapper Obie Trice were signed to the Shady Records label. In 2003, Mathers and Dr. Dre signed on Atlanta rapper Stat Quo to the Shady/Aftermath roster. DJ Green Lantern, the former deejay for Mathers, was signed to Shady Records until a dispute with 50 Cent forced him to depart from the label; he is no longer associated with Mathers. The Alchemist is now officially Mathers' tour deejay. In 2005, Mathers officially signed another Atlanta rapper known as Bobby Creekwater to his label along with west coast rapper Ca$his. In the Anger Management Tour of 2003 The Alchemist hurt his wrist, preventing him from being the tour's DJ. Clinton Sparks filled in for him, and his name is mentioned on the album numerous times. 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 produced numerous tracks on 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 "Renegade" 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 executive-produced 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur. He also produced the UK Number 1 single 'Ghetto Gospel' which featured Elton John. On certain tracks on the album, 2Pac's voice was slowed down or sped up, and digitally altered to say things like "2005" and "G-Unit," angering many fans. He also produced Akon's Smack That Retirement?
Eminem in D12 In 2001, Mathers brought his rap group, D12, to the popular music scene. In 2001, D12 released their hit debut album Devil's Night. The first single released off of the album was "Purple Pills," an ode to recreational drug use (although this was preceded in the UK by a song called "Shit On You," which was included on the special edition version of the album). The version of the song released on the radio and music television was heavily rewritten to remove many of the song's obscene lyrics, and renamed "Purple Hills." While the first single was a massive hit, the album's second single, "Fight Music," was not as successful, in part due to its timing in relation to the 9/11 attacks. After their debut, D12 took a three-year break from the studio, later regrouping to release their sophomore album, D12 World, in 2004, which featured the popular hit single release "My Band." The other members of D12 have also appeared as guests on all of Mathers' albums since The Marshall Mathers LP. D12's third album was tentatively scheduled for a 2006 release. D12 member Bizarre had said that the crew had spent time in the studio. However, it can be expected that the album may be postponed due to the untimely death of D12 member Proof. Grammy Award History Grammy Stats Album of the Year Song of the Year Record of the Year Best Rap Solo Performance Best Male Rap Solo Performance Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group Best Rap Song Best Rap Album Best Short-Form Music Video Best Song Written For a Motion Picture, Television Special or Other Media Discography Albums and EPs Collaboration with his group, D12 Filmography Awards and nominations Academy Awards Golden Globe Nomination Grammy Awards Grammy Award nominations MTV Movie Awards MTV Video Music Awards MTV Europe Music Awards American Music Awards See also Official Resources News vls:Eminem | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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