1972–95: Early life and beginnings
Eminem was born as Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri, 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.[12] Debbie was 14 when she first met Bruce[13] and nearly died during Eminem's 73-hour birth.[14] His parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing Ramada Inns along the Dakota-Montana border before their relationship went sour. Bruce abandoned the family shortly thereafter, moving to California.[11] From later relationships, Bruce has two other children, Micheal and Sarah (born c. 1982),[15] while Debbie has a son Nathan Kane "Nate" Samara (known as Nate Kane) (born February 3, 1986). During childhood, Eminem and his mother 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,[16] before finally settling in Warren, Michigan when Eminem was eleven.[11][17] As a teen, Eminem wrote letters to his father Bruce, all of which, according to his mother, came back "return to sender."[11] 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.[14] In response, Debbie Nelson filed a lawsuit against the school in 1982, but the case was dismissed the following year.[14]
Eminem spent much of his formative years living in a largely black lower-middle-class Detroit neighborhood.[11] 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.[11] As a child, Eminem developed an interest in storytelling and aspired to become a comic book artist before discoveringhip hop.[18] Mathers heard his first rap song at nine—"Reckless" featuring Ice-T on the Breakin' soundtrack—which he received as a gift from Debbie's half-brother Ronald "Ronnie" Polkinghorn.[11] Ronnie committed suicide several years later; the loss affected him so greatly he stopped speaking for days and was absent at the funeral.[11] 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."[14] Debbie bristled at any suggestion that she was less than an ideal mother when her son became famous, contending that she sheltered Mathers and was responsible for his success.[14] In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kim Scott to stay at their home; several years later, Mathers and Scott would begin an on-and-off relationship.[14] After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades,[19] 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.[20] 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, Mathers would blast the stereo and write lyrics.[11]
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.[2][14] Mathers grew ready to test his skills by sneaking into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle battles.[21] 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.[11] While struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, he gained the approval of underground hip hop audiences.[2][22][23] 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.[20] Even though it would often make little sense, the drill helped Mathers practice.[20] Based on his growing profile and reputation, Mathers 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.[2] 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.[11] Mathers 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.[14]
1996–99: Early career, Infinite, and The Slim Shady LP
Mathers 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.[24] Subjects covered in Infinite included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Scott Mathers while on limited funds. Mathers' rhyme style was primarily inspired by rappers Nas and AZ during this period, and lack the comedically violent slant he would gain fame for.[25] Infinite was largely ignored by Detroit disc jockeys, and the feedback Mathers received—"Why don't you go into rock and roll?"—led him to craft angrier, more moody tracks.[11] During this time, Mathers and Scott lived in a high-crime neighborhood, where their house was burglarized numerous times.[11] Mathers 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.[26] Mathers 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.[14]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."[11] After the release of Infinite, Mathers' personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.[2] By March 1997, Eminem was fired from Gilbert’s for the last time, and was still living in his mother’s mobile home with Scott and his daughter.[14]
Things began to pick up when Mathers 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 Mathers' rage and resentment.[14] In the spring of 1997, he recorded his debut EP, the Slim Shady EP, issued later that winter by Web Entertainment.[11] The EP features constant references to drug use, sexual acts, mental instability, and over-the-top violence. Another departure was his exploration of more serious themes of dealing with poverty, his direct and self-deprecating response to criticism, and of marital and family difficulties.[2] Hip-hop magazine The Source featured Eminem in its "Unsigned Hype" column in March 1998.[27]After being evicted from his home, Eminem traveled to Los Angeles to participate in the Rap Olympics, an annual nationwide rap battlecompetition. He placed second, and the staff at Interscope Records who attended the Rap Olympics sent a copy of the Slim Shady EPto company CEO Jimmy Iovine.[11] 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.'"[11] 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."[11] 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."[28] However, he became more comfortable working with Dr. Dre after a series of highly productive recording sessions.[29]
Eminem's major-label debut — The Slim Shady LP — was released in February 1999 and went on to become one of the most popular albums of the year, going triple platinum by the end of the year.[30] 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 labelAftermath.[31] 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.[32][33]
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