| Eminem |

Eminem performing in June 2009
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Marshall Bruce Mathers III |
| Also known as |
M&M (former) |
| Born |
October 17, 1972 (age 41)
St. Joseph, Missouri |
| Origin |
Detroit, Michigan |
| Genres |
Hip hop |
| Occupations |
Rapper, record producer, songwriter, actor |
| Years active |
1990–present |
| Labels |
Aftermath, Shady, Interscope (current)
Bassmint, FBT Productions, Mashin' Duck Records, Web (former) |
| Associated acts |
Bad Meets Evil, D12, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Nate Dogg, Obie Trice, Proof, Rihanna |
| Website |
eminem.com |
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972),
[1] better known by his
stage name Eminem and by his
alter ego Slim Shady, is an American
rapper,
record producer,
songwriter, and
actor. In addition to his solo career, Eminem is a member of his group
D12, as well as one half of the hip hop duo
Bad Meets Evil, alongside
Royce da 5'9". Eminem is one of the world's
best-selling music artists and is the best-selling artist of the 2000s.
[2] He has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including
Rolling Stone magazine which ranked him 82nd on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
[3] The same magazine declared him
The King of Hip Hop.
[4] Including his work with D12 and Bad Meets Evil, Eminem has achieved ten number-one albums on the
Billboard 200.
His worldwide albums sales stand at more than 115 million, singles 120
million, and the estimated sale of over 220 million records worldwide.
[5][6] In the United States, he has sold 49.1 million albums and 42 million tracks.
[7]
After releasing his independent debut album
Infinite in August 1996, Eminem rose to mainstream popularity with the release of his February 1999 album
The Slim Shady LP. The LP also earned Eminem his first
Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. His next two records
The Marshall Mathers LP, and
The Eminem Show,
also won Best Rap Album Grammy Awards, making Eminem the first artist
to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LPs. This was followed by
another studio release in November 2004 titled
Encore. Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released his fifth album
Relapse in May 2009. In June 2010, Eminem released his seventh studio album
Recovery.
Recovery was an international success and was named the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide, becoming the rapper's second album, after
The Eminem Show, to become the internationally best-selling album of its year. Eminem won Grammy Awards for both
Relapse and
Recovery, giving him a total of 13 Grammys in his career.
[8] His eighth studio album,
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was released in November 2013.
Eminem has opened other ventures, including his own record label
Shady Records with his manager
Paul Rosenberg. He also has his own radio channel,
Shade 45 on
Sirius XM Radio. In 2002, Eminem starred in the
hip hop drama film
8 Mile. He won the
Academy Award for Best Original Song, becoming the first rap artist ever to win the award.
[9] He has also made cameo appearances in
The Wash (2001),
Funny People (2009), and the television series
Entourage.
Life and career
1972–95: Early life and beginnings
Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972, in
St. Joseph, Missouri.
He is the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. (born c. 1951) and
Deborah R. "Debbie" Nelson (born 1955). Eminem is of English, German,
Scottish, and Swiss descent.
[10] Debbie was 14 when she first met 18-year-old Bruce
[11] and nearly died during Eminem's 73-hour birth.
[12]
His parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing Ramada Inns
along the Dakota-Montana border before their relationship went sour.
Bruce left the family shortly thereafter, moving to California.
[13] From later relationships, Bruce has two other children, Michael and Sarah (born c. 1982),
[14] while Debbie has a son Nathan Kane "Nate" Samara (known as
Nate Kane)
(born February 3, 1986). During childhood, Eminem and Debbie shuttled
between Missouri and Michigan, rarely staying in one house for more than
a year or two and mostly living with family members. In Missouri, they
lived in various cities and towns, including Saint Joseph,
Savannah, and
Kansas City,
[15] before finally settling in
Warren, Michigan when Eminem was eleven.
[13][16] As a teen, Eminem wrote letters to his father Bruce. According to Debbie, all of these came back "return to sender."
[13]
Friends and family contend Eminem was a happy child but also "a bit of a
loner" who often was bullied; one such persecutor, De'Angelo Bailey,
beat Eminem so significantly that he suffered a severe head injury. In
response, Debbie Nelson filed a lawsuit against the school in 1982, but
the case was dismissed the following year.
[12]
Eminem spent much of his formative years living in a largely black lower-middle-class Detroit neighborhood.
[13]
Debbie and her son were one of three white households on their block,
and Eminem was confronted and beaten up by African-Americans on several
occasions.
[13] As a child, Eminem developed an interest in storytelling and aspired to become a
comic book artist before discovering
hip hop.
[17] Eminem heard his first rap song, "Reckless" featuring
Ice-T, at age nine on the
Breakin' soundtrack, which he received as a gift from Debbie's half-brother Ronald "Ronnie" Polkinghorn.
[13]
Ronnie committed suicide ten years later; the loss affected Eminem so
greatly that he stopped speaking for days and was absent at the funeral.
[13]
His home life was seldom stable, and Eminem frequently fought with his
mother, who was once described by a social worker as having a "very
suspicious, almost paranoid personality."
[12]
Debbie bristled at any suggestion that she was less than an ideal
mother when her son became famous, contending that she sheltered Eminem
and was responsible for his success.
[12]
In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kim Scott to stay at their home;
several years later, Eminem and Scott would begin an on-and-off
relationship.
[12] After spending three years in ninth grade due to
truancy and poor grades,
[18] he dropped out of
Lincoln High School at age 17. Although he was highly interested in
English, he was never into literature (preferring to read comic books instead) and disliked math and social studies.
[19]
He worked several jobs to help his mother with bills, later maintaining
that he would often be kicked out regardless. When she would leave to
play bingo, Eminem would blast the stereo and write lyrics.
[13]
At the age of 14, he began rapping with high-school friend Mike Ruby,
the two adopting the names "Manix" and "M&M," which soon morphed
into Eminem.
[1][12] Eminem grew ready to test his skills by sneaking into neighboring
Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper
Proof for lunchroom
freestyle battles.
[20]
On Saturdays, the two friends attended open-mic contests at the Hip-Hop
Shop, located on West 7 Mile. The spot was considered the "ground zero"
for the Detroit rap scene.
[13] While struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, he gained the approval of
underground hip hop audiences.
[1][21][22]
To put together verses, Eminem wanted the most words to rhyme, and
would write long words or phrases out on paper and, underneath, proceed
to rhyme each syllable.
[19] Even though it would often make little sense, the drill helped him practice.
[19]
Based on his growing profile and reputation, he was recruited to join
several rap groups. The first of these was the New Jacks, and after they
disbanded, he joined Soul Intent, who released a single in 1995.
[1] This single also featured Proof, and the two rappers broke off on their own to form
D12, a six-member crew that functioned more as a Wu-Tang-styled collective than a regularly performing group.
[13]
Eminem had his first run-in with the law at age 20, when he was
arrested for involvement with a drive-by shooting with a paintball.
[12]
1996–99: Early career, Infinite, and The Slim Shady LP
Eminem was soon signed to FBT Productions, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass, and recorded his debut album,
Infinite, under their independent label
Web Entertainment.
[23] Subjects covered in
Infinite
included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade
Scott Mathers while on limited funds. During this period, Eminem's rhyme
style was primarily inspired by rappers
Nas and
AZ and his work lacked the comedically violent slant he would later gain fame for.
[24] Infinite
was largely ignored by Detroit disc jockeys, and the feedback Eminem
received—"Why don't you go into rock and roll?"—led him to craft
angrier, more moody tracks.
[13] During this time, he and Kim Scott lived in a high-crime neighborhood, where their house was burglarized numerous times.
[13] He held a minimum-wage job of cooking and dishwashing at the rustic, family-style restaurant Gilbert's Lodge at
St. Clair Shores for some time.
[25]
Eminem was described by his former boss as a model employee, once
working 60 hours a week in a six-month period shortly after Hailie’s
birth.
[12]
Shortly before Christmas, he was fired from his job at Gilbert's Lodge.
"It was, like, five days before Christmas, which is Hailie's birthday. I
had, like, forty dollars to get her something."
[13] After the release of
Infinite, Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
[1]
By March 1997, he was fired from Gilbert’s Lodge for the last time, and
was still living in his mother’s mobile home with his daughter and
Scott.
[12]
Things began to pick up when Eminem developed his sadistic,
ultra-violent alter ego Slim Shady. The character, "a drug-dealing,
bloodthirsty thug who spits furious rhymes about murder, rape, drugs and
living by the law of the urban jungle," tapped into Eminem's rage and
resentment.
[12] In the spring of 1997, he recorded his debut EP, the
Slim Shady EP, issued later that winter by
Web Entertainment.
[13]
The EP features constant references to drug use, sexual acts, mental
instability, and over-the-top violence. Other departures were his
exploration of more serious themes—such as dealing with poverty and
marital and family difficulties—and his direct and self-deprecating
response to criticism.
[1] Hip-hop magazine
The Source featured Eminem in its "Unsigned Hype" column in March 1998.
[26] After being evicted from his home, he traveled to
Los Angeles to participate in the 1997
Rap Olympics, an annual nationwide
rap battle competition. He placed second, and the staff at
Interscope Records who attended the event sent a copy of the
Slim Shady EP to company CEO
Jimmy Iovine.
[13] Iovine played the tape for record producer
Dr. Dre, founder of
Aftermath Entertainment.
Dr. Dre recalled, "In my entire career in the music industry, I have
never found anything from a demo tape or a CD. When Jimmy played this, I
said, 'Find him. Now.'"
[13]
Dr. Dre faced criticism from associates for hiring a white rapper, but
maintained confidence in his decision: "I don't give a fuck if you're
purple: If you can kick it, I'm working with you."
[13] Eminem, who had idolized Dr. Dre since listening to his group
N.W.A
as a teenager, was nervous to work with him on the album: "I didn't
want to be starstruck or kiss his ass too much..... I'm just a little
white boy from Detroit. I had never seen stars, let alone Dr. Dre."
[27] However, he became more comfortable working with Dr. Dre after a series of highly productive recording sessions.
[28]
Eminem released
The Slim Shady LP in February 1999. It became one of the most popular albums of the year, going
triple platinum by the end of the year.
[29]
With the album's popularity came controversy surrounding many of the
album's lyrics. In "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", he describes a trip with his
infant daughter, disposing of his wife's body. Another song, "
Guilty Conscience",
ends with his encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover.
"Guilty Conscience" marked the beginning of the friendship and musical
bond that Dr. Dre and Eminem would share. The two label-mates would
later collaborate on a line of hit songs, including "
Forgot About Dre" and "What's the Difference" 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. Dr. Dre would go on to make at least one guest appearance on all of Eminem's studio albums under the label
Aftermath.
[30]
The album has now been certified 4× platinum by the RIAA. With the
release of it, Eminem was accused of imitating the style and subject
matter of underground rapper
Cage.
[31][32]
2000–02: The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show
The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It went on to sell 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking the records set by
Snoop Dogg's
Doggystyle as the fastest-selling hip hop album and by
Britney Spears'
...Baby One More Time as the fastest-selling solo album in United States history.
[33][34] The first single released from the album, "
The Real Slim Shady",
was a success and created some controversy by insulting celebrities and
making dubious claims about them; he states, among other things, that
Christina Aguilera performed
oral sex on
Fred Durst and
Carson Daly.
[35] In his second single, "
The Way I Am", he reveals to his fans the pressures from his record company to top "
My Name Is" and sell more records. Although Eminem had parodied shock rocker
Marilyn Manson
in the music video for "My Name Is", the artists are reportedly on good
terms; Manson is name-dropped in "The Way I Am" and also appeared in
its music video, as well as performing a remix of the song with Eminem
in concert.
[36] In the third single, "
Stan" (which samples
Dido's "
Thank You"),
Eminem attempts to deal with his new-found fame, taking on the persona
of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend,
mirroring "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" on
The Slim Shady LP.
[21] In the music video of "Stan", Eminem was shown writing with his left hand, ending the fan debate over his dominant hand.
Q magazine named "Stan" the third-greatest rap song of all time,
[37] and the song came tenth in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com.
[38] The song has since become highly acclaimed and was ranked 290th in
Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.
[39] In July 2000, Eminem became the first white person to be featured on the cover of
The Source magazine.
[26] The Marshall Mathers LP has been certified 10× Platinum by the RIAA.
Eminem performing on tour in promotion of
The Eminem Show.
Eminem performed with
Elton John at the
43rd Grammy Awards ceremony in 2001;
[40] the
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), an organization that perceived Eminem's lyrics to be
homophobic, condemned the openly
gay John's decision to perform with Eminem.
[41] Entertainment Weekly
put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "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 ceremony, GLAAD held a protest outside the
Staples Center, the venue where the Grammy ceremony was held.
[43] Music tours that he participated in for 2001 included the
Up in Smoke Tour with rappers
Dr. Dre,
Snoop Dogg,
Xzibit, and
Ice Cube,
[44] the
Family Values Tour with the band
Limp Bizkit,
[45] and headlining the
Anger Management Tour with
Papa Roach,
Ludacris, and
Xzibit.
Eminem released
The Eminem Show
in May 2002. It became another hit for the rapper, reaching number one
on the charts and selling well over 1.332 million copies in its first
full week of sales.
[29] It featured the single "
Without Me", in which Eminem makes derogatory comments about
boy bands,
Limp Bizkit,
Dick Cheney and
Lynne Cheney, and
Moby, among others.
The Eminem Show has been certified 10× Platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA). The album reflected on the impact of his rise to fame, his
relationship with his wife and daughter, and his status in the hip-hop
community. He also addresses the charges he faced over assaulting a
bouncer he saw kissing his wife in 2000.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
Allmusic felt that while there was clear anger present on several tracks, this album was considerably less inflammatory than
The Marshall Mathers LP.
[46] However,
L. Brent Bozell III, who previously criticized
The Marshall Mathers LP for its lyrical content that Bozell perceived to be
misogynistic, noted
The Eminem Show for its extensive use of obscene language, giving Eminem the nickname "Eminef" for the
bowdlerization of
motherfucker, an obscenity prevalent in the album.
[47] The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002.
[48]
2003–07: Encore and musical hiatus
On December 8, 2003, the
United States Secret Service admitted that it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the United States.
[49] The lyrics that had led to this were "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". These lyrics come from the track "We As Americans", which
was later released on a bonus CD accompanying deluxe editions of
Eminem's fourth major album,
Encore.
[50]
Encore was released in 2004. The album was another chart-topper. Its sales were driven partly by its first single, "
Just Lose It", which features attacks on
Michael Jackson. On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It",
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" refer to Jackson's
legal troubles, although Eminem does state in his song "that's not a
stab at Michael / That's just a metaphor / I'm just psycho". 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",
[51] and
Steve Harvey, who declared, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back."
[51] In the video, Eminem parodied
Pee-wee Herman,
MC Hammer, and "
Blond Ambition"-era
Madonna.
[52] Regarding Jackson's protest,
"Weird Al" 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."
[53] Black Entertainment Television was the first channel to stop airing the video. MTV, however, announced that it would continue airing the video.
The Source, through its CEO
Raymond "Benzino" Scott,
wanted not only for the video to be pulled, but for the song to be
removed from the album and for Eminem to publicly apologize to Jackson.
[54] In 2007 Jackson and Sony bought
Famous Music LLC from
Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem,
Shakira, and
Beck, among others.
[55]
Despite the comedic theme of the lead single,
Encore had its fair share of serious subject matter, including the anti-war track "
Mosh". On October 25, 2004, a week before the
2004 US Presidential election, Eminem released the video for "Mosh" on the Internet.
[56] The song was strongly critical of President
George W. Bush, with lyrics such as "fuck Bush" and "this
weapon of mass destruction that we call our president".
[57] The video features Eminem gathering up an army of people, including rapper
Lloyd Banks, 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 was re-elected, the
video's ending was changed to Eminem and the protesters invading while
Bush was giving a speech.
[58]
In 2005, some industry insiders speculated that Eminem was
considering ending his rapping career after six years and several
multi-platinum albums. Speculation began in early 2005 about a
double-disc album to be released late that year, rumored to be titled
The Funeral.
[59] The album later manifested itself as a
greatest hits album under the name
Curtain Call: The Hits in December. In July 2005, the
Detroit Free Press
broke news of a potential final bow for Eminem as a solo performer,
quoting members of his inside circle who said that he would begin to
fully embrace the role of producer and label executive. On the same day
of the release of the compilation album, Eminem denied that he was
retiring on Detroit-based WKQI's "Mojo in the Morning" radio show, but
implied that he would at least be taking a break as an artist, saying
"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."
[60] He released
The Re-Up with the members of his record label,
Shady Records. It was released in 2006.
In 2005, Eminem was a subject of
Bernard Goldberg's book,
100 People Who Are Screwing Up America; he ranked No. 58.
[61] Goldberg cited a 2001 column by
Bob Herbert of
The New York Times claiming, "In Eminem's world, all women are
whores and he is eager to rape and murder them."
[62] Goldberg cited Eminem's song "No One's Iller" from the
Slim Shady EP as an example of
misogyny in his music.
[63] In summer 2005, Eminem embarked on his first US concert run in three years, the
Anger Management 3 Tour, featuring
50 Cent,
G-Unit,
Lil Jon,
D12,
Obie Trice,
The Alchemist, and others. In August 2005, Eminem canceled the European leg of the tour and subsequently announced that he had entered
drug rehabilitation for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication".
[64] Curtain Call: The Hits was released on December 6, 2005, under Aftermath Entertainment.
[65] In its first week it sold nearly 441,000 copies in the US and was Eminem's fourth straight No. 1 album on the
Billboard Hot 200.
[66] The album has been certified 2× Platinum by the
RIAA.
[67]
In September 2007, Eminem called into New York radio station
Hot 97
during an interview with 50 Cent and said he was "in limbo" and
"debating" about when and if he would release another album. He said,
"I'm always working – I'm always in the studio. It feels good right now,
the energy of the label. For a while, I didn't want to go back to the
studio..... I went through some personal things. I'm coming out of those
personal things [and] it feels good."
[68]
2008–09: Relapse and Refill
Eminem, along with D12, performing in May 2009
Eminem made an appearance on his
Sirius channel
Shade 45
in September 2008, during which he said, "Right now I'm kinda just
concentrating on my own stuff, for right now and just banging out tracks
and producing a lot of stuff. You know, the more I keep producing the
better it seems like I get 'cause I just start knowing stuff."
[69] It was around this time that Interscope finally confirmed the existence of a new Eminem album,
[70] with Spring 2009 later being stated as the period in which the album is due.
[71] In December 2008, he gave more details on the album, which he recently reported was being titled
Relapse.
He said, "Me and Dre are back in the lab like the old days, man. Dre
will end up producing the majority of the tracks on 'Relapse'. We are up
to our old mischievous ways ... let's just leave it at that."
[72]
On March 5, 2009, Eminem reported in a press release that he would be releasing two new albums that year.
Relapse, the first album, was released on May 19, while the first official single, "
We Made You", and its music video were both released on April 7.
[73] While
Relapse
did not manage to sell as well as Eminem's previous efforts, it was
still a commercial success that received some critical acclaim, while
also re-establishing his presence in the hip hop world.
Relapse was named one of the top albums of 2009.
Relapse has sold more than five million copies worldwide. During the 2009
MTV Movie Awards,
Sacha Baron Cohen
descended upon the audience wearing an angel's costume and landed on
top of Eminem with his buttocks facing toward Eminem's face, resulting
in Eminem storming out of the awards ceremony in disgust. Three days
later, Eminem stated it was a staged act that they had planned together.
[74] On October 30, Eminem performed at the
Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans as a headliner in his first full performance in 2009.
[75] The performance included several songs from
Relapse, as well as many of Eminem's older hits and an appearance by D12. On November 19, Eminem announced on his website that
Relapse: Refill would be released on December 21. The album was a re-release of the
Relapse album with seven bonus tracks, including "
Forever" and "Taking My Ball". In a statement he described the forthcoming CD:
"I want to deliver more material for the fans this year like I originally planned ... Hopefully these tracks on
The Refill will tide the fans over until we put out
Relapse 2
next year ... I got back in with Dre and then a few more producers,
including Just Blaze, and went in a completely different direction which
made me start from scratch. The new tracks started to sound very
different than the tracks I originally intended to be on
Relapse 2, but I still want the other stuff to be heard."
[76]
2010–11: Recovery and Bad Meets Evil reunion
Eminem and Rihanna performing "Love the Way You Lie" at E3 Expo Party in 2010
On April 14, 2010, Eminem
tweeted,
"There is no Relapse 2", to his followers. This caused people to
believe that he was not releasing an album at all, but it simply meant
that the album title would be changed to
Recovery. He confirmed this by tweeting, "RECOVERY", with a link to his website. Eminem said, "I had originally planned for
Relapse 2 to come out last year. But as I kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to
Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album. The music on
Recovery came out very different from
Relapse, and I think it deserves its own title." His seventh studio album,
Recovery, was released on June 18.
[77] In the US,
Recovery sold 741,000 in its first week to land atop the
Billboard 200.
[78][79]
It became Eminem's sixth consecutive number-one album in the US and
achieved international commercial success, charting at number one in
several other countries. It stayed at number-one on the US
Billboard 200 chart for five consecutive weeks and a total of seven weeks.
[80][81] Recovery was reported by
Billboard
to be the best-selling album of 2010, making Eminem the first artist in
Nielsen SoundScan history to have two year-end best-selling albums.
[82] Recovery is the best-selling digital album in history.
[83] The first single, "
Not Afraid", was released on April 29, and debuted at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100. The music video was released on June 4.
[84] "Not Afraid" was followed by a second single, "
Love the Way You Lie", which debuted at number 2 and then rose to the top.
[85] "
Love the Way You Lie"
was the best-selling single of 2010 in the United Kingdom, even though
it did not reach number 1 there; this is the first time this has
happened in the UK since 1969.
[86] Despite some criticism toward its consistency,
Recovery received positive reviews from most music critics. As of November 21, 2010, the album had sold three million copies in the US.
[87] Recovery was also named the best-selling album worldwide of 2010, joining
The Eminem Show, which was the best-seller of 2002, giving him two worldwide year-end number one albums.
[88][89] With
Recovery, Eminem achieved the record for most successive US No.1 albums by a solo artist.
[90]
Eminem appeared at the
2010 BET Awards,
[91] performing "Not Afraid" and "
Airplanes, Part II", with
B.o.B.
He also performed at the Activison E3 concert. In June 2010, Eminem and
Jay-Z announced they would perform together in a pair of concerts in
Detroit and New York. The event was dubbed
The Home & Home Tour. The first two concerts rapidly sold out, prompting the scheduling of an additional show at each venue.
[92] BET also named Eminem the number one rapper of the 21st century.
[93] Eminem opened the
2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010, performing "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie", with
Rihanna singing the chorus.
[94] Due to the success of
Recovery and the Home & Home Tour, he was named the 2010
Hottest MC in the Game by MTV
[95] and "Emcee of the Year" by hip hop news website HipHopDX.
[96] Eminem and Rihanna collaborated once again to make "
Love the Way You Lie (Part II)",
the sequel to their hit single "Love the Way You Lie". Unlike on the
original "Love the Way You Lie", on the sequel Rihanna is the main
vocalist. The song is said to be from the female perspective.
[97] In December 2010, in
Billboard's "The Top 25 Music Moments of 2010", The "Great Eminem Recovery" was named the number one music moment of 2010.
[98] Eminem appeared at the
2011 Grammy Awards on February 13, 2011, performing "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" with
Rihanna and
Adam Levine, and "
I Need a Doctor" with
Dr. Dre and
Skylar Grey.
[99] In February 2011, it was announced that "
Space Bound" would be released as the fourth single from
Recovery, and that a music video for the song would also be released and was shot with former porn star
Sasha Grey.
[100][101] The long-awaited video was released on June 24 on the
iTunes Store.
[102]
Eminem performing in 2011.
In 2010, Eminem started collaborating with
Royce da 5'9" on their first
EP as
Bad Meets Evil. The duo was formed in 1999 and has reunited. The EP, entitled
Hell: The Sequel, was released on June 14, 2011.
[103] Eminem was featured on "
Writer's Block" by
Royce da 5'9", which was officially released on April 8, 2011.
[104] On May 3, 2011, they released the lead single "
Fast Lane" for the upcoming sequel, for which a music video was shot.
[105] In March 2011, within days of each other, both
The Eminem Show and
The Marshall Mathers LP were certified diamond by the RIAA. This makes Eminem the only rapper to have two diamond-certified albums.
[106]
Also, Eminem climbed to the top of the Facebook charts by being the
most followed person with more than 60 million "likes", outscoring
Lady Gaga,
Justin Bieber,
Rihanna, and
Michael Jackson.
[107] Eminem is also the first artist in five years to have two number one albums in a 12-month period:
Recovery and the collaborative
Hell: The Sequel.
[108] Early in 2011, Eminem leaked "2.0 Boys", for which
Yelawolf and
Slaughterhouse collaborated upon signing to
Shady Records in January 2011 and performing it in April 2011.
[109] Bad Meets Evil released their next single, "
Lighters", on July 6, 2011, and they premiered a music video in late August.
[110][111] On August 6, 2011, Eminem took several of his songs throughout his music career to a live performance at the
Lollapalooza 2011, performing with various artists featured in their respective songs.
[112]
2012–present: The Marshall Mathers LP 2
On May 24, 2012, Eminem announced he was working on his next studio album.,
[113] set to be released in 2013.
[114] Even without a title or release date, the album was included in multiple "Most Anticipated Albums of 2013" lists; including
MTV,
Complex Magazine where it was listed in sixth position; and
XXL Magazine, where it was listed in fifth.
[115]
On June 30, 2012, Eminem talked about the album with
DJ Whoo Kid, on his own radio station, Shade 45. He stated that the material is taking shape, and that
Dr. Dre will be involved in some way.
[116] On August 30, 2012,
Slaughterhouse member
Royce da 5'9"
gave his thoughts on the album, stating "I'm not so sure how the world
is going to respond from some of the things that I've heard from him."
Close friend and fellow rapper 50 Cent is also confirmed to feature on
the album.
[117] Eminem also was featured on Pink's album
The Truth About Love on the track "Here Comes The Weekend".
On February 11, 2013,
Shady Records President and Eminem manager
Paul Rosenberg announced that Eminem's eighth studio album would be released after
Memorial Day,
2013. "We fully expect to be releasing a new Eminem album in 2013. He's
been working on it for some time," said Rosenberg. "It's safe to say
that it will be post-Memorial Day at some point, but we're not exactly
sure when. We've got some dates locked in for him to perform live in
Europe in August, so we're trying to see what else lines up." The album
remained untitled.
[118] On March 22, 2013
Dr. Dre said that Eminem was close to finishing the album and that he worked together with Eminem on it.
[119] Producer
No I.D. has been confirmed to produce on the album.
[120]
On August 14, 2013, a song titled "
Survival" featuring Liz Rodrigues, with production by
DJ Khalil was premièred in the multiplayer trailer for the video game
Call of Duty: Ghosts. A following press release revealed the first single from his eighth studio album would be released soon.
[121][122] During the
2013 VMAs, it was revealed that Eminem's next album would be titled
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (a sequel to his previously released album
The Marshall Mathers LP) and would be released on November 5, 2013.
[123]
The lead single "
Berzerk" was released on August 25, 2013. It debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following singles were "
Survival", which was showcased during the
Call of Duty: Ghosts reveal trailer,
[124] "
Rap God", and "
The Monster" featuring
Rihanna.
On November 3, 2013, Eminem was made the first
YouTube Music Awards Artist of the Year.
[125]
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was released as planned on November 5, 2013, by
Aftermath Entertainment,
Shady Records, and
Interscope Records.
The standard edition contains 16 tracks, while the deluxe edition also
includes a second disc with another 5 tracks. It became Eminem's seventh
album to debut at No 1 on the
Billboard 200. The album also has the second-largest debut sales week of the year.
[126][127] After the album was released Eminem became first lead artist since
The Beatles to have four singles score in the Top 20 of the
Billboard Hot 100 chart.
[128][129][130]
On November 10, 2013, Eminem won the “Global Icon” award at the 2013 MTV EMA Music Awards.
[131]
In the
United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart,
becoming Eminem’s seventh consecutive No. 1 album in the UK. By
achieving such a feat, Eminem became the first American act to score
seven consecutive UK Number 1 albums and is now on par with
The Beatles in second place for the most chart-topping U.K. albums in a row.
[132][133][134] The album also secured Eminem's position in Canada as the best-selling artist and with the best-selling album in 2013.
[135]
In January 2014, Mark Bass of the
Bass Brothers
confirmed that D12, had been recently recording at the F.B.T. studio
and he had been mixing their recorded material. He also confirmed that
Eminem was featured on at least three songs that have been completed.
[136]
Other ventures
Shady Records and D12
Main articles:
Shady Records and
D12
As Eminem succeeded in multi-platinum record sales, Interscope granted him his own record label. He and his manager
Paul Rosenberg created
Shady Records in late 1999. He followed this by signing his own Detroit collective D12 and rapper
Obie Trice
to the label. In 2002, Eminem signed 50 Cent through a joint venture
between Shady and Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. In 2003, Eminem and Dr. Dre
signed
Atlanta rapper
Stat Quo to the Shady/Aftermath roster.
DJ Green Lantern,
the former DJ for Eminem, was signed to Shady Records until a dispute
related to the 50 Cent and Jadakiss feud forced him to depart from the
label; he is no longer associated with Eminem.
The Alchemist
is now officially Eminem's tour DJ. In 2005, Eminem signed another
Atlanta rapper, Bobby Creekwater, to his label along with West Coast
rapper
Cashis.
[18]
On December 5, 2006, Shady Records released compilation album,
Eminem Presents: The Re-Up.
It started out as a mixtape but Eminem found that the material was
better than expected and released it as a full album. It was meant to
help launch the new artists under the roster, like Stat Quo, Cashis and
Bobby Creekwater.
[137] Around the time of recording
Infinite,
Eminem and rappers Proof and Kon Artis gathered the group of rappers
now collectively in the group D12, short for "Detroit Twelve" or "Dirty
Dozen", performing in the manner of the multi-man group
Wu-Tang Clan.
[138] In 2001, Eminem brought his rap group, D12, to the popular music scene, and the group's debut album
Devil's Night came out that year.
[139] The first single released off of the album was "
Shit on You", followed by "
Purple Pills", an ode to
recreational drug use.
For radio and television, the censored version was heavily rewritten to
remove many of the song's references to drugs and sex and was renamed
"Purple Hills". While that single was a hit, the album's second single, "
Fight Music", was not as successful.
[140]
After their debut, D12 took a three-year break from the studio, later regrouping to release their second album,
D12 World, in 2004, which featured the popular hit single release "
My Band".
[139] In April 2006, D12 member (and Eminem's childhood friend)
Deshaun "Proof" Holton was killed in a club brawl on
8 Mile Road
in Detroit, Michigan, with US military veteran Keith Bender, Jr., who
also died in the fray. The eruption is suspected to have been due to an
argument over a game of pool. Proof was then allegedly shot by the
bouncer Mario Etheridge, Bender's cousin. He was taken by private
vehicle to St. John Health's Conner Creek Campus, an outpatient
emergency treatment site, but pronounced dead on arrival. Eminem and
former Detroit
Shady Records artist
Obie Trice spoke at the funeral.
[141] D12 member
Bizarre said that Eminem is not featured on his new album
Blue Cheese & Coney Island because "he's busy doing his thing".
[142] D12 released a mixtape in 2011 titled
Return of the Dozen Volume 2 only featuring Eminem on one song, "Fame" unlike the group's previous mixtape
Return of the Dozen where Eminem is not on any tracks.
Acting career
Although he had a small part in the 2001 film,
The Wash, Eminem made his official Hollywood acting debut with the semi-autobiographical film
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 in 2003. "Lose Yourself" would go on to become the longest running No. 1
hip hop single.
[143] However, the song was not performed at the ceremony, due to Eminem's absence at the ceremony. His collaborator,
Luis Resto, who co-wrote the song, accepted the award.
[144]
Eminem has participated in various voice acting roles. Some of these include the video game
50 Cent: Bulletproof, where he voices an aging corrupt police officer who speaks in
Ebonics and guest spots on the
Comedy Central television show
Crank Yankers, and a web cartoon called
The Slim Shady Show, which has since been pulled off-line and is instead sold on DVD.
[145] He will be involved in either the soundtrack or scoring.
[146] He was also in the running for the part of David Rice in 2008's film
Jumper after
Tom Sturridge was dropped just two weeks before filming. Concerns over not having a more prominent actor prompted the director,
Doug Liman, to consider other actors for the role. He eventually selected
Hayden Christensen over Eminem.
[147] He also had a cameo appearance in the 2009 movie
Funny People, in which he is involved in an argument with
Ray Romano.
It was reported on November 8, 2009, that Eminem will star in the upcoming
3D horror anthology,
Shady Talez, to be produced by
John Davis.
[148][149] A four-issue comic book series based on the film was expected to be published sometime in 2010.
[150]
Eminem appeared alongside
Christina Aguilera on the
Entourage Season 7 finale titled '
Lose Yourself' as himself.
[151]
Eminem is set to play a boxer in the upcoming film
Southpaw. Peter Schiff will produce the film,
[152] and
Antoine Fuqua is reportedly the leading candidate to direct.
[153] In January 2011, a report surfaced that Eminem will star in the upcoming
thriller,
Random Acts of Violence. His co-star
Paul Walker died in a car accident on November 30, 2013.
[154]
Eminem was offered the lead role in the 2013 sci-fi film
Elysium but reportedly turned it down, leading director
Neill Blomkamp to instead cast
Matt Damon.
[155]
Memoirs
On October 21, 2008, Eminem released a tell-all autobiography entitled
The Way I Am,
which details his struggles with poverty, drugs, fame, heartbreak and
depression, along with stories about his rise to fame and commentary on
past controversies. This book also contains some of the original lyric
sheets from songs such as "
Stan" and "
The Real Slim Shady."
[156]
Eminem's mother, Debbie Nelson, also released an autobiography entitled
My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem
in November 2008, which explains Nelson's life growing up, meeting
Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. (Eminem's father) and Eminem's rise to, and
struggle with, fame.
Advertising
Eminem was featured in two commercials that aired during
Super Bowl XLV. The first, for
Lipton's
Brisk Iced Tea, was a one-minute spot that featured him as a
claymation figure.
[157] The other was a two-minute ad, at that time the longest in Super Bowl history, for the
Chrysler 200. It featured Eminem driving through Detroit and ended with him taking the stage at the
Fox Theatre with "Lose Yourself" playing as the soundtrack.
[158][159]
Charity
Eminem has also founded his own charity named The Marshall Mathers
Foundation, assisting disadvantaged youth. The foundation frequently
works in conjunction with a charity founded by Norman Yatooma, a high
profile Detroit attorney.
[160]
Artistry
Influences and rapping technique
Eminem has named several MCs who influenced his
rapping style, including
Esham,
[161] Kool G Rap,
[162] Masta Ace,
[163] Big Daddy Kane,
[162] Newcleus,
[163] Ice-T,
[163] Mantronix,
[163] Melle Mel (specifically the track "
The Message"),
[163] LL Cool J,
[163] Beastie Boys,
[163] Run–D.M.C.,
[163] Rakim,
[163] and
Boogie Down Productions.
[163]
In the book
How to Rap,
Guerilla Black
notes that Eminem studied other MCs to create his rapping technique:
"Eminem listened to everything and that's what made him one of the
greats".
[164]
In the same book, Eminem is praised for various aspects of his rapping
technique by numerous other MCs; these techniques include his varied and
humorous subject matter,
[165] connecting with his audience,
[166] carrying a concept over a series of albums,
[167] complex rhyme schemes,
[168] his ability to bend words so that they
rhyme,
[169] his use of
multisyllabic rhymes,
[162] fitting many rhymes in each bar,
[170] complex rhythms,
[171] clear
enunciation,
[172] use of
melody,
[173] and
syncopation.
[174] He is also known to write the majority of his lyrics down on paper, as documented in his book
The Way I Am, as well as taking a few days or a week to craft lyrics,
[175] being a "
workaholic",
[176] and "
stacking" vocals.
[177]
Alter egos
Eminem uses alter egos in his songs to use different styles of
rapping and subject matters. His most famous and popular alter ego,
"Slim Shady", originated from the
Slim Shady EP. While under this personality, Eminem makes violent and dark songs with a comical twist.
[178] Though his Slim Shady persona has remained, Eminem did not include it in
Recovery as much because he did not feel it fit the theme.
[179]
Another character Eminem has portrayed is Ken Kaniff. Ken was
originally played by fellow Detroit rapper Aristotle in the Slim Shady
LP, who appeared in a prank call skit toward Eminem. After the Slim
Shady LP, an argument led to Eminem taking the character of Ken Kaniff
and playing him in several skits starting in the
Marshall Mathers LP and onward (except for
Encore and
Recovery).
In his Ken Kaniff personality, Ken is a homosexual who pokes fun at
Eminem's songs. Aristotle, the original creator of Ken Kaniff, became
angry over Eminem taking his character and created a
mixtape in which he raps in his Ken persona denigrating Eminem.
[180]
Featurings and productions
See also: Eminem production discography and Eminem guest appearances
Although he typically collaborates with various rappers under
Aftermath Entertainment and
Shady Records, such as
Dr. Dre,
50 Cent,
D12,
Obie Trice and also,
Yelawolf, Eminem has collaborated with many other artists, including
Redman,
Kid Rock,
DMX,
Lil Wayne,
Missy Elliott,
Jay-Z,
Drake,
Rihanna,
Nicki Minaj,
Xzibit,
Method Man,
Jadakiss,
Fat Joe,
Sticky Fingaz,
T.I., and
Young Jeezy among others. Eminem rapped a verse in a live performance of
Busta Rhymes' "
Touch It" remix at the 2006 BET Music Awards on June 27, 2006. Eminem was featured on
Akon's single "
Smack That" which appeared on his album
Konvicted. He was featured on
Lil Wayne's hit song "
Drop the World". He is featured on the lead single off
50 Cent's fifth studio album
Street King Immortal titled "
My Life".
Eminem is also an active rap producer. Besides being the executive producer of D12's first two albums,
Devil's Night and
D12 World, he has 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.
[181] In addition, Eminem has produced songs by other famous rappers, such as
Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block",
Jay-Z's "
Renegade" and "Moment of Clarity"
Lloyd Banks' "
On Fire", "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".
[182] Most of
The Eminem Show was produced by Eminem himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator
Jeff Bass.
[183] He split the production with Dr. Dre on
Encore. In 2004, Eminem was the Executive Producer of
2Pac's posthumous album
Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother
Afeni Shakur.
[184] He produced the UK No. 1 single "
Ghetto Gospel" which featured
Elton John.
[185] He has produced "The Cross" off
Nas's album
God's Son.
[186] On August 15, 2006,
Obie Trice released
Second Round's on Me. Eminem produced 8 tracks on the album. He was featured in the song "There They Go".
[187] Eminem produced some tracks on Trick-Trick's album,
The Villain. He is also featured in "Who Want It".
[188] Eminem also produced four songs on
Cashis's 2013 album
The County Hound 2.
With regard to the productions on his own records, Eminem is seen as
having an unusual style in that rather than write to beats he typically
starts with an idea of how he wants his song to be structured based on
the lyrics and then creates music according to that.
[189] A notable exception to this was the song "Stan", which came from an idea and scratch track produced by Mark the 45 King.
[189] After not significantly contributing production for his own records on
Relapse and
Recovery, on 2013's
The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Eminem produced a significant amount of the album. He spoke on
producing his own songs saying, "Sometimes, I may get something in my
head, like an idea or the mood of something that I would want, and I'm
not always gonna get that by going through different tracks that other
people have made. They don't know what's in my head. I think maybe it
helps, a little bit, with diversity, the sound of it, but also, I would
get something in my head and want to be able to lay down that idea from
scratch."
[190]
Comparisons to other artists
As
Asher Roth
gained prominence being a white performer in a predominantly black
musical genre, Roth has earned many comparisons to Eminem, so much so
that he devoted a track on his album to the famed rapper, entitled "As I
Em."
[191]
Eminem and
Christian hip hop artist
KJ-52 were often compared to each other, as many called KJ-52 the "Christian counterpart" of Eminem.
[192] KJ-52's single, "Dear Slim," became famous and controversial among Eminem fans when it was featured on the hit show
Total Request Live. KJ-52 began to receive
hate mail (including death threats) from Eminem's fans, though KJ-52 claimed that the song was not intended to be disrespectful.
[193] This also led to the single being disparaged by
VH1 as No. 26 on their "Top 40 Worst Moments in Hip Hop".
[194]
Personal life
Family
Eminem has been the subject of much scrutiny, both as a rapper and in his personal life.
[34]
He was married twice to Kimberly Anne "Kim" Scott, whom he met in high
school. He first met Kim when he was 15 and she was 13 while he was
standing on a table with his shirt off rapping LL Cool J's "I'm Bad."
[195]
Kim had run away from her home as a teenager, along with her sister
Dawn. They moved in with Marshall and his mother when he was 15. They
began their on-and-off relationship in 1989. Their daughter Hailie was
born on December 25, 1995. The couple married in 1999. In 2000, they
filed for divorce shortly after Kim's second drunk driving conviction.
[196] They first divorced in 2001.
[197]
They remarried in January 2006 but he soon ended their second marriage
by filing for divorce in April 2006. The couple agreed to share custody
of Hailie.
[198]
In early 2010, Eminem responded publicly to tabloid reports of his pending reunion with Kim with a firm denial.
[199] Eminem also has custody of Kim's niece Alaina (child of Kim's twin sister Dawn),
[197] who has been referenced by name in some songs, including "
Mockingbird", "
Airplanes Part II", and "
Going Through Changes".
Additionally, Eminem has custody of Whitney, a child Kimberley Scott
had with another man. Whitney is mentioned in the songs "Deja Vu" and
"Going Through Changes". Eminem had legal custody of his younger
half-brother, Nate Kane, during his adolescence. Nate is mentioned in "
Cleanin' Out My Closet", "My Mom", and "
Headlights".
Regarding his religious views, Eminem said in 2009 "I definitely pray
a lot more than I used to. I don’t feel like I’m crazy wacky religious.
But I do believe in God, and I do pray."
[200]
On November 5, 2013, Eminem released the track "Headlights" on his eighth studio album
The Marshall Mathers LP 2[201] as an apology to his mother Debbie.
[202]
Legal troubles
In 1999, Eminem's mother Debbie sued him for around US$10 million over his alleged
slander of her in lyrics on
The Slim Shady LP; she won about US$1,600 in damages in 2001.
[203]
Eminem was arrested on June 3, 2000 during an altercation with Douglas Dail at a car audio store in
Royal Oak, Michigan, where he pulled out an unloaded gun and kept it pointed at the ground.
[204] The following day, in
Warren, Michigan, he allegedly saw his then wife, Kim, kiss bouncer John Guerrera in the parking lot of the
Hot Rock Café, resulting in Eminem assaulting the bouncer and then being arrested.
[197][204][205] Eminem recreated the Guerrera assault in a skit on his fourth album
The Eminem Show
on a track called "The Kiss (Skit)". Eminem was charged with possession
of a concealed weapon and assault. He pled guilty to the charges and
was given two years
probation for both episodes.
[206]
On July 7, 2000, Eminem's then-wife, Kim Scott, attempted suicide by slashing her wrists.
[207] Kim sued Eminem for
defamation after he depicted her violent death in his song "
Kim".
[197][205]
On October 26, 2000, Eminem was to perform at a concert in Toronto's
Skydome.
[208] However,
Ontario Attorney General
Jim Flaherty
argued that Canada should stop Eminem at the border. "I personally
don't want anyone coming to Canada who will come here and advocate
violence against women," he said.
[208]
Flaherty claims to have been "disgusted" when reading transcriptions of
Eminem's song "Kill You", which includes lines such as "Slut, you think
I won't choke no whore / till the vocal cords don't work in her throat
no more?"
[208] The opinion of the general public to the requests made by the province were negative. Others said the issue was one of
free speech.
Liberal MPP Michael Bryant suggested that the government lay
hate crime charges against Eminem for the advocacy of violence against women found in his lyrics.
[208] In a
The Globe and Mail editorial, author Robert Everett-Green wrote, "Being offensive is Eminem's job description."
[209] Eminem's Toronto concert went on as planned that night.
[210]
D'Angelo Bailey, a sanitation worker, sued Eminem in 2001 and accused
him of invading his privacy by publicizing (in the song “Brain Damage”)
unreasonable information that put him in a false light. Bailey admitted
that he picked on Eminem but said he merely "bumped" him at school and
threw a "little shove." On October 20, 2003, the charges were dismissed
in court.
[21]
On June 28, 2001, Eminem was sentenced to one year probation on
weapons charges that stemmed from an argument with an employee of
Psychopathic Records, assessing him a fine around $2,000 as well as several hours of community service.
[211]
On March 31, 2002, French
jazz pianist
Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem and
Dr. Dre, claiming the beat for "Kill You" was stolen from his jazz instrumental "Pulsion".
[212]
Loussier demanded that all sales of the album be halted and any
remaining copies destroyed. A trial date was set to begin in June 2004.
The case was later settled.
[213]
On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was
"looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of
the United States,
George W. Bush,
[214]
after the song "We as Americans", as an unreleased bootleg, circulated
with the lyrics "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
incident was later referenced in the video for his song
"Mosh"
as one of several news clips on a wall, along with other newspaper
articles about other unfortunate incidents in Bush's career. The song
eventually appeared on the album's bonus disc, where the lyrics were
extensively censored.
In 2005, Eminem's aunt and uncle, Jack and Betty Schmitt, sued him,
alleging that he has promised them a $350,000 house and the money to
keep it up, and instead has kept it in his name and tried to evict them.
[21]
In 2007, his music publishing company,
Eight Mile Style LLC, together with Martin Affiliated LLC, filed suit against
Apple Inc. and
Aftermath Entertainment
claiming Aftermath did not have the appropriate authority to negotiate a
deal with Apple for digital downloads of 93 Eminem songs on Apple's
iTunes service.
[215][216] The case against Apple was settled shortly after trial began in late September 2009.
[217]
In July 2010, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in
F.B.T. Productions, LLC v. Aftermath Records
that F.B.T. Productions and Eminem were owed a royalty of 50% of the
net revenue Aftermath obtained by licensing Eminem's recordings to
companies like
Apple Inc.,
Sprint,
Nextel,
Cingular, and
T-Mobile. In March 2011 the
Supreme Court of the United States upheld this ruling.
[218]
Drug issues
Eminem has spoken about his addiction to prescription drugs, including
Vicodin,
Ambien, and
Valium.
[219] His group-mate
Proof from D12 stated that Eminem "sobered up" in 2002 from drug and alcohol dependence.
[220] During production of
8 Mile,
Eminem worked on the set 16 hours a day and began to have trouble
sleeping. An associate provided Eminem with an Ambien that effectively
"knocked [him] out," which led him to get a prescription.
[19]
This would be Eminem's first experience with drug addiction that would
follow him for several years afterward. Near the end of production on
Encore, Eminem would "just go into the studio and goof off [with] a pocketful of pills."
[19]
Eminem began taking the drugs to "feel normal," which involved taking a
"ridiculous amount […] I could consume anywhere from 40 to 60 Valium
[in a day]. Vicodin maybe 30."
[19]
Essentially, the drugs never allowed Eminem to sleep for more than two
hours a night, after which he'd only take more. He grew to 230 pounds
and was eating fast food regularly: "The kids behind the counter knew me
– it wouldn't even faze them. Or I'd sit up at Denny's or Big Boy and
just eat by myself. It was sad."
[19]
Publicly, he became rather unrecognizable due to the added weight;
once, he overheard two teens arguing whether it was him or not,
maintaining that "Eminem ain't fat."
[19]
Eminem's struggle with prescription drugs peaked in a December 2007 overdose on
methadone. He had first bought methadone from a dealer asserting it was "just like Vicodin, and easier on [your] liver."
[19]
Eminem continued to buy more until collapsing in his bathroom one
night, after which he was rushed to the hospital. Doctors informed him
that he had taken the equivalent of four bags of heroin, and was "about
two hours from dying."
[19]
After missing Christmas with his children, Eminem checked himself out
of the facilities and, not yet fully detoxed, was completely drained of
strength. When he tore his meniscus "after falling asleep for literally
10 minutes," he underwent surgery; following this, he went home and had a
seizure.
[19]
He relapsed within three weeks, and after a month his addiction was in
full swing again. He began to attend church meetings to get clean, but
after being asked for autographs, he instead called a rehab counselor
who helped him for the first time.
[19]
Eminem began exercising and running excessively, and effectively went
sober on April 20, 2008. Friend Elton John was a mentor during this
time; John would call Eminem once a week to check on him.
[19]
Proof's death
On April 11, 2006, Eminem’s best friend and fellow D12 member,
Proof, was killed by club
bouncer Mario Etheridge by gunshot wounds to the head and chest at the CCC Club on
8 Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan, after Proof fatally shot Keith Bender, Jr.
[221] On April 19, 2006, Eminem, D12, 50 Cent, and thousands of others attended Proof's funeral at The Fellowship Chapel, Detroit.
[222] Eminem made two songs about Proof's death on his album
Recovery, titled "Going Through Changes" and "You're Never Over", and mentions Proof in other songs such as "Deja Vu", "
Beautiful", and "Cinderella Man". In 2010, the Eminem song "Difficult" was leaked online; the song is a tribute to Proof.
[223]
Homophobia controversy
Eminem was involved in many controversies over lyrics which have been perceived as being
homophobic; an Australian politician attempted to ban entry for Eminem because of these lyrics.
[224] Eminem, however, denies that he is homophobic and says that during his upbringing such obscene words as
faggot and
queer were commonly spoken as being derogatory in general and not implicitly aimed toward homosexuals. During an interview with CBS
60 Minutes, journalist
Anderson Cooper had a conversation about the issue with Eminem:
[225]
- Cooper: Some of the lyrics, like, you know, in the song
"Criminal" you say "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge,
That'll stab you in the head, whether you're a fag or lez, Or the
homosex, hermaph or a trans-a-vest, Pants or dress - hate fags? The
answer's "yes""
- Eminem: Yeah, this scene I came up in. That word was thrown
around so much, you know, faggot was like thrown around constantly to
each other, like in battling.
- Cooper: Do you not like gay people?
- Eminem: No, I don't have any problem with nobody. You know what I mean? I'm just like whatever.
Eminem is a friend of singer
Elton John, who is gay.
[226] When asked in an interview with the
New York Times about
same-sex marriage
being legalized in his home state of Michigan, Eminem responded, "I
think if two people love each other, then what the hell? I think that
everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable, if they want".
[227] He said that his "overall look on things is a lot more mature than it used to be."
[228]
Legacy
Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s (decade) on the US
Nielsen SoundScan,
[229] and the estimated sale of over 200 million records worldwide,
[5][6] making him one of the
best-selling music artists in the world.
[230][231] He has totaled over 3 billion views on his music videos on his official
Vevo page on YouTube.
[232] Eminem was ranked 83rd on
Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
[233][234] He was also named the Best Rapper Alive by
Vibe magazine in 2008.
[235] In December 2009, Eminem was named the Artist of the Decade by
Billboard magazine.
[236] In 2010, MTV Portugal ranked Eminem as the seventh biggest icon in pop music history.
[237] During 2010, Eminem's music generated 94 million streams, more than any other music artist.
[238] Also according to
Billboard,
Eminem has two of his albums among the top five highest selling albums
of the 2000s (decade). In the UK, Eminem has sold over 12.5 million
records.
[239] Eminem has also sold more than 33 million track downloads and 40.9 million albums in the United States alone.
[238][240]
Including his work as a part of groups, Eminem has achieved ten No. 1
albums on the Billboard 200, seven solo (five studio albums, two
compilations), two with D12 and one with
Bad Meets Evil.
[241] Eminem has had 13 number one singles worldwide. His albums
The Eminem Show,
The Marshall Mathers LP, and
Encore ranked as the 3rd, 7th, and 40th best-selling albums of the 2000–2009 decade respectively by
Billboard magazine.
[242][243] In August 2011 Eminem was named "The King of Hip-Hop" by
Rolling Stone.
[4]
The magazine looked at solo rappers who released music between 2009 and
the first half of 2011 by analyzing their album sales, rankings on the
R&B/hip-hop and rap charts, YouTube views, social media, concert
grosses, industry awards and critics' ratings,
[4] and the data accumulated named Eminem the king of the time period.
Eminem's second major label studio album,
The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling solo album in United States history.
[33] The album has been ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time by such magazines as
Rolling Stone,
Time, and
XXL.
[244] Rolling Stone placed the album at number seven on its list of the best albums of the 2000s (decade).
[245] The album's third single, "
Stan", is one of Eminem's most critically acclaimed songs, having been ranked by
About.com as Eminem's best song and referred to by
Pitchfork Media as "a cultural milestone".
[246] In 2005, Eminem was ranked 79th on the
VH1 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time.
[247]
Several contemporary rap pioneers and superstars have cited Eminem as
an influence, or have even stated that he is one of the greatest rappers
of all time, such as
David Banner,
[248] Talib Kweli,
[249] Kool G. Rap,
[250] and
Redman.
[251]
Tours
Discography
Filmography
Bibliography
Autobiographies
| 1. |
Angry Blonde |
2000 |
148 |
| 2. |
Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem |
2003 |
278 |
| 3. |
The Way I Am: My Life |
2008 |
208 |
Awards and nominations
Eminem has thirteen
Grammy Awards. He has been praised for having "verbal energy", high quality of lyricism and has been ranked number nine on MTV's list of
The Greatest MCs of All Time.
[257][258] In 2003, he was listed as number thirteen on MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music
[259] and number 82 on
Rolling Stone's "The Immortals".
[3] In 2008, the readers of
Vibe Magazine voted him "The Best Rapper Alive".
[260] He was also named "Best Rapper Ever" in a poll conducted by music fans on the
Vibe website.
Ironically, "
The Real Slim Shady", one of the songs from his second Grammy-winning album,
The Marshall Mathers LP,
slammed the Grammy Awards in its second verse, and stated the opinion
that negative feelings about his material would keep him from ever
winning one.
Eminem to receive global icon award
[261]
Business ventures
See also
References
Notes
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- ^ Jump up to: a b "The Immortals: Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c By Chris Molanphy (August 15, 2011). "Introducing the King of Hip-Hop". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Top 10 Hip-hop Best Sellers of All Times".
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Saturday Night Football Goes "Berzerk" with Eminem".
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- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Bozza, Anthony (April 29, 1999). "Eminem Blows Up". Rolling Stone (New York City: Wenner Media LLC) (811). ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
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- Jump up ^ Bozza 2003, p. 14
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- Jump up ^ Bozza, 2003. p. 24
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Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup,
Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate
(December 11, 2009), "The 100 greatest movies, TV shows, albums, books,
characters, scenes, episodes, songs, dresses, music videos and trends
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- Jump up ^ [2][dead link]
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- Jump up ^ 50 Cent To Feature On Eminem's Next Album, Says Dr. Dre Will Appear On "Street Immortal" | HipHop DX
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- Jump up ^ http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/5869529/canadas-digital-music-sales-rise-in-2013-unlike-the-us
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- Jump up ^ This post was written on October 29, 2009 by: (2009-10-29). "Shady Talez". Horror Society. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
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- Jump up ^ "Eminem movie project 'Random Acts of Violence' reported"[dead link]. freep.com. Detroit Free Press. January 8, 2011.
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- Jump up ^ "Eminem's Chrysler Commercial Hailed as One of Top Super Bowl Ads of 2011". TheCelebrityCafe.com. February 7, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-07.
- Jump up ^ "Marshall Mathers Foundation: Celebrity Supporters".
- Jump up ^ Hess, Mickey (2009). "Esham". Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide: Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast. ABC-CLIO. pp. 411–413. ISBN 0-313-34323-3.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Edwards, 2009, p. 88.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Eminem, with Sacha Jenkins, 2008, The Way I Am, Dutton Adult, p. 20.
- Jump up ^ Edwards, 2009, p. x.
- Jump up ^ Edwards, 2009, pp. 5, 38.
- Jump up ^ Edwards, 2009, p. 7.
- Jump up ^ Edwards, 2009, p. 34.
- Jump up ^ Edwards, 2009, pp. 66, 107.
- Jump up ^ Edwards, 2009, p. 85.
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- Jump up ^ "Eminem Says 'Slim Shady' Wasn't Right for Recovery". MTV News. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
- Jump up ^ "Who is Ken Kaniff? Is he a real person? And why eminem is so upset with him?". Answerbag. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
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- Jump up ^ "Elton John goes hip-hop!". NME. UK. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- Jump up ^ "Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-12-09. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- Jump up ^ "Obie Trice Back For 'Seconds' On New CD". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- Jump up ^ Reid, Shaheem (January 28, 2008). "Eminem Brings Weight To Trick Trick LP; Newcomer Says Slim Shady Hasn't Gotten Fat, Though". MTV News. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Interview With Marc Labelle". HitQuarters. November 28, 2005. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
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- Jump up ^ "Asher Roth Is on His Way to Stardom". Philadelphia Weekly. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- Jump up ^ "The Christian Slim Shady? | Teens". Christianitytoday.com. January 3, 2001. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
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- Jump up ^ He
met Kim when he was 15 and she was 13. He was standing on a table with
his shirt off rapping LL Cool J's "I'm Bad." — 50 Things You Didn't Know
About Eminem | Complex
- Jump up ^ All about Kim MarshallMathers.com. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Marshall (Eminem) Mathers and Kimberley Scott Marriage Profile About.com. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- Jump up ^ Slim Shady LP booklet. Dedication below Thank You's. 1999. p. Thank you's.
- Jump up ^ "Eminem & Wife Reunion Denied". National Ledger. February 8, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
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- Jump up ^ "Eminem Finally Apologizes to Mom on ‘Headlights’". Rolling Stones. 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
- Jump up ^ Bozza 2003, p. 69
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Tour tickets available for a price". The 411 Online. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Eminem and Kim to divorce again BBC; Retrieved 2008-07-03.
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- Jump up ^ "Eminem wife's suicide bid". BBC News. July 10, 2000. Retrieved 2011-06-14.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Mackie, Richard; Marissa Nelson (October 26, 2000). "Ontario wants rap star banned". Globe and Mail (newspaper) (Toronto). pp. A1, A4.
- Jump up ^ Everett-Green, Robert (October 26, 2000). "Bad rap for a rapper". Globe and Mail (newspaper) (Toronto). p. A25.
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- Jump up ^ Finn, Robin (May 25, 2007). "A Defender of the Controversial, and Now of Imus". New York Times.
- Jump up ^ "Secret Service checks Eminem's 'dead president' lyric". CNN. December 5, 2003. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Crainsdetroit.com". Crainsdetroit.com. September 23, 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
- Jump up ^ "Apple, Eminem headed for trial as talks break down," Stempel, Jonathan, 2009 September 23, reuters.com
- Jump up ^ "Eminem's Music Publisher, Apple Settle Dispute". Cbsnews.com. October 6, 2009. Retrieved 2010-09-12.[dead link]
- Jump up ^ Petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied., March 21, 2011
- Jump up ^ McGee, Tiffany (May 4, 2009). "Eminem Bounces Back from 20-Pill-a-Day Addiction". Retrieved 2010-11-28.
- Jump up ^ "Has Eminem Gone The Way Of Mase And MC Hammer?". MTV News. March 4, 2002. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
- Jump up ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (April 14, 2006). "Arts Briefly: Rapper Who Was Killed Fired First Shot, Police Say". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
- Jump up ^ Bozza, Anthony (April 20, 2006). "Proof positive". The Observer (The Guardian UK). Retrieved 2012-12-15.
- Jump up ^ [3]
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- Jump up ^ "EMINEM DISCUSSES HOMOPHOBIC LYRICS WITH ANDERSON COOPER". Towelroad.com. November 10, 2010. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
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- Jump up ^ Artists of the decade
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- ^ Jump up to: a b "The Nielsen Company & Billboard's 2010 Music Industry Report". Business Wire. January 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
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- Jump up ^ Billboard 200 albums, Billboard.com
- Jump up ^ Billboard 200 albums, Billboard.com
- Jump up ^ Magazines that have ranked The Marshall Mathers LP as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time:
- Jump up ^ Nigel D. (December 10, 2009). "Rolling Stones Top 100 Albums Of The Decade | RealTalkNY". Realtalkny.uproxx.com. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
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- Jump up ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjydpCB-rps
- Jump up ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St0670cSFe4
- Jump up ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a36MzQcfG8
- Jump up ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HID1QfQw4l8
- Jump up ^ "Dainty Group - Tijdlijnfoto's". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
- Jump up ^ "50 Cent: Bulletproof". IGN.com.
- Jump up ^ "Eminem In New Judd Apatow "Funny People" Movie". Rap Basement. May 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
- Jump up ^ "How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2012)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
- Jump up ^ Yohance Kyles (2013-01-31). "Eminem Produced Series ‘Detroit Rubber’ Debuts Online". AllHipHop.com. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
- Jump up ^ Seamus Heaney praises Eminem. BBC. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- Jump up ^ The Greatest MCs of All Time MTV. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- Jump up ^ "Listology: MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music". Listology.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- Jump up ^ "Eminem Is The Best Rapper Alive | Eminem | Rap Basement". Rapbasement.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- Jump up ^ "Eminem To Receive Global Icon Award At MTV EMA!". http://www.mtv.co.uk/. 9 November 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
Further reading
External links
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Accolades for Eminem
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