Eminem

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Lore & Background

Eminem's early life was marked by poverty and instability. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Deborah Nelson and Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., his father abandoned the family when Eminem was a year and a half old. He and his mother shuttled among states, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two, before settling in Detroit when Eminem was 12. For much of his youth, they lived in a bungalow-style house in a working-class, primarily Black neighborhood in Detroit, where Eminem was beaten several times by Black youths. He dropped out of Lincoln High School after spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, later stating he received a GED. He worked at several jobs, including at Little Caesar's Pizza in Warren, to help his mother pay the bills. After the release of his debut album Infinite (1996), which was a commercial failure, and the Slim Shady EP (1997), Eminem signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and achieved mainstream popularity with The Slim Shady LP (1999).

In Their Own Story

In 1997, after being fired from his job and evicted from his home, Eminem went to Los Angeles to compete in the 1997 Rap Olympics, a nationwide battle rap competition, where he placed second. Earlier that year, he had participated in the Scribble Jam MC battle in Cincinnati, losing to MC Juice in the finals. His breakthrough came with the development of his sadistic, violent alter ego Slim Shady, which allowed him to express his anger with lyrics about drugs, rape, and murder. The Slim Shady EP, released in winter 1997 by Web Entertainment, featured frequent references to drug use, sexual acts, mental instability, and violence, and explored themes of poverty and marital difficulties. Hip-hop magazine The Source featured Eminem in its 'Unsigned Hype' column in March 1998. Each of his next two releases, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) and The Eminem Show (2002), sold over one million copies in a single week; the latter became the best-selling album worldwide in 2002 and the best-selling hip-hop album of all time. After Encore (2004), he took a hiatus due in part to struggles with prescription drug addiction, returning with Relapse (2009) and Recovery (2010), the latter being the best-selling album worldwide in 2010.

Reader's Guide

Eminem is a foundational figure in hip-hop, known for his technical mastery and commercial success. He is the best-selling rapper and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 220 million records. He has 11 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. One of the highest-certified musicians in the United States, Eminem has seven diamond certifications from the RIAA. His accolades include an Academy Award for Best Original Song for 'Lose Yourself' from the film 8 Mile (2002), making him the first hip-hop act to ever win the award, 15 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, 17 Billboard Music Awards, 15 MTV Video Music Awards, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Billboard named him the Artist of the 2000s and Rolling Stone ranked him among the greatest artists and greatest songwriters of all time. He was a member of the hip-hop groups New Jacks, Soul Intent, Outsidaz, and D12, as well as the duo Bad Meets Evil with Royce da 5'9". His other ventures include co-founding the record label Shady Records, establishing the Sirius XM Radio channel Shade 45, and opening the restaurant Mom's Spaghetti.

Did You Know?

• Eminem's mother nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him.
• His uncle Ronnie Polkingharn, who was a musical mentor to him, committed suicide in 1991; Eminem stopped speaking publicly for days and did not attend his funeral.
• Eminem worked at Little Caesar's Pizza in Warren to help his mother pay the bills, but she often threw him out of the house, often after taking most of his paycheck.
• The song 'Lose Yourself' from the 8 Mile soundtrack topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for 12 weeks—the most for a solo rap song—and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, making Eminem the first hip-hop act to ever win the award.
• In 2013, the State of Michigan demolished Eminem's childhood home after it was damaged by arson.