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years
paying his dues, and his lyrics, which cover topics
such as poverty and single parenthood, reflect a
rough upbringing. His unlikely acceptance by the pop
mainstream has made some wonder how his popularity
will affect the future of hip-hop music.
Before
he had the world singing along to "My Name Is
…," he was Marshall Mathers, a poor kid
growing up in Warren, Mich. "It's like the
real, stereotypical, trailer park, white
trash," Eminem told Rap Pages. As a
child, he and his mother moved constantly, staying
at relatives' homes in places as disparate as Warren
and Kansas City, Mo. As a result, Marshall found it
difficult to make friends, and he retreated into his
comic books and television. "I didn't really
start opening up until eighth grade, going into
ninth," he said.
When
Mathers was 12, his mother finally settled down on
the east side of Detroit. There, he attended Lincoln
Junior High School and Osbourne High School, hanging
out with friends and listening to artists like LL
Cool J and the 2 Live Crew. He battled against other
rappers at his high school, and quickly gained a
reputation as a nimble rhymer. But his penchant for
skipping school led him to fail the ninth grade.
After dropping out of high school, he held down
several odd jobs, while continuing to work on his
craft. "I tried to go back to school five years
ago," he said, "but I couldn't do it. I
just wanted to rap and be a star one day."
Mathers
rapped in several groups such as Basement
Productions, the New Jacks, and Sole Intent, before
deciding to go solo. In 1997, he released an album, Infinite,
through a local company called FBT Productions; it
was met with derision from the local hip-hop
community. "I was getting a lot of feedback
saying I sounded like Nas or Jay-Z," he
admitted. Despite the criticism, Eminem continued to
promote himself through shows and appearances at
radio stations and freestyle competitions across the
nation. His perseverance garnered him a notice in
the Source's influential "Unsigned
Hype" column. Later that year, he won the 1997
Wake Up Show Freestyle Performer of the Year award
from L.A. DJs Sway and Tech, and earned second place
in Rap Sheet magazine's "Rap
Olympics," an annual freestyle rap competition.
In
1998, Eminem put out The Slim Shady EP, which
contained the original version of "Just Don't
Give A …" "Slim Shady is the evil side
of me, the sarcastic, foul-mouthed side of me,"
he said during an interview with the Source.
The EP made him an underground star, and Eminem was
invited to appear on underground MC Shabaam
Sahdeeq's "Five Star Generals" single, Kid
Rock's Devil Without a Cause, and other rap
releases. At the end of the year, Eminem put out a
popular 12-inch, "Nuttin' to Do/ Scary
Movies," with fellow Detroit rapper Royce the
5'9".
Meanwhile,
a copy of The Slim Shady EP made its way into
the hands of Dr.
Dre, the legendary creator of The Chronic
and N.W.A., and current president of Aftermath
Entertainment. Dr. Dre quickly signed Eminem to his
label, and the two began preparing The Slim Shady
EP for a full-fledged release, adding songs like
"My Name Is …" and "Guilty
Conscience." Early in 1999, Eminem made the
world take notice with his charismatic video for
"My Name Is …" parodying everyone from Marilyn
Manson to the president of the United States.
Shortly afterward, The
Slim Shady LP debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard
Album Chart. Its sensationalistic depiction of
rampant drug use, rape, sex, and violence horrified
some; equally disturbing was Eminem's various
four-letter-word insults directed at his mother and
songs like "'97 Bonnie and Clyde," where
Eminem fantasized about killing the mother of his
child.
In
his defense, Eminem claimed that he was just
speaking his mind. "I do feel like I'm coming
from a standpoint where people don't realize there
are a lot of poor white people," he explained
in the Source. "Rap music kept my mind
off all the bullshit I had to go through." His
cynical take on life struck a chord with millions of
rap fans, and drove The Slim Shady LP to
double-platinum-plus sales. He began to tour,
including a solo jaunt with the Beatnuts and
Mixmaster Mike.
While
most in the hip-hop community greeted Eminem with
open arms, others took a more cautious approach,
wondering why rock stations across the country who
never played rap music added "My Name Is
…" to their playlists. Was it because Eminem
was the first "legitimate" white rapper to
gain widespread popularity? "I'm white in a
music started by black people. I'm not ignorant to
the culture and I'm not trying to take anything away
from the culture," he said in his defense.
"But no one has a choice where they grew up or
what color they are. If you're a rich kid or a
ghetto kid you have no control over your
circumstance. The only control you have is to get
out of your situation or stay in it."
Throughout
the year, Eminem has continued to record for other
artists, making appearances on Sway and Tech's This
or That compilation, DJ Spinna's Heavy
Beats Vol. 1, Missy
Elliott's Da
Real World, the Soundbombing 2
compilation, and Dr. Dre's highly anticipated sequel
to The Chronic, Chronic 2001. And in
June and July of 1999, the rapper took to the road
with the Warped Tour, filling in for Cypress
Hill, which decided to forgo the tour in favor
of recording its next album.
After
wrapping up his touring commitments, Eminem took a
short break before returning to the studio to record
the follow-up to The Slim Shady LP. During
the break, he basked in the glow of his many awards,
including the MTV Video Music Best New Artist Award
for "My Name Is …" and the Grammy award
for Best Rap Album.
As
hectic as 1999 was, 2000 shaped up to be even more
of a roller coaster ride. The millennium year saw
the release of his third album, The
Marshall Mathers LP, which promptly sold
nearly 2 million copies its first week out, an
amount second only to 'N
Sync.
Then
came the controversies, which included being sued by
his own mother, an arrest for pulling a gun at a
nightclub, his wife's suicide attempt, almost
getting banned from Canada, an impending divorce, a
boycott by the members of GLAAD, getting sued by his
wife, and his lyrics being cited in a Senate hearing
on violence in the entertainment industry.
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