The Rap God
Eminem is one of the world's best known rap and hip-hop artists. He made his breakthrough in Detroit, Michigan as becoming one of the first white rappers in his area. He grew up in the poorer part of Detroit around the Eight Mile Street. According to him the whole area was just a trailer park and the kids there didn't really have a shot in life. Like Eminem keeps telling people, " But i proved them wrong".
Eminem's birth name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III named after his father who left Eminem when he was only 15 months old. He lived with his mother most of his school years in a poor black neighborhood in Detroit. " It was hard to be the only white boy around and I often got discriminated against because of this."
Being the different kid on the block can be hard to handle, but Eminem took the most out of this. Because Eminem associated mainly with black people he was brought closer to the art of rapping which was in the 80's and 90's considered only an African-American music genre. Another thing shading Eminem's childhood is the fact that his mother used drugs, causing Eminem to almost live on his own. Eminem didn't really have many friends because his family moved a lot during his elementary years.
Before rap became a part of Eminem's life, comic drawing was one of his ambitious hobbies. It was only after hearing Ice-T's music that Eminem got interested in the art of rapping. He started to write his own raps and lyrics on pieces of paper. " I used to just listen to music on the bus and just to makeup words that would fit the rhythm," Eminem said. Later on he entered some street rapping competitions to test his skill in making up rhymes.
Eminem really got his rapping career started when he was 14 years old. He entered his school's rapping competition and roused some interest among people listening. " This is where it all go started and where it all took off." It was after this event that Eminem started to pay visits to so said " battles". Eminem stated that a battle is an event where two people debate by mocking one another.
It was in a rap-battle that Eminem met Dr. Dre who later became the man who got Eminem his first recording contract, to the studio, and to make his first published album.
The Slim Shady LP, Eminem's first album became a worldwide hit and sold more than anyone could imagine. Eminem got three platinum records with his first album. Not long after this Eminem started working on his second album and published this just a year later from his first one.Marshal Mathers LP has sold 20 million copies since it was published in 2000.
Eminem's early career wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. He had his problems with the law and eventually got imprisoned for three years because of assault and threatening people with a gun. His wife attempted suicide and caused them to split up. Eminem remembers, " The times were hard but Hailie (Eminem's daughter) had it the hardest." Later on Eminem made a few songs that concentrated on his struggles and especially his daughter and on the hard times their family went through.
In 2001 Eminem expanded his career into the movie business and played the main role in a movie that was based on his life, called the 8 Mile.The movie is named after a street in Detroit and more importantly after Eminem's biggest hit song, 8 Mile, loose yourself, which won him the Oscar for the best song of the year in 2002.
Eminem published two more albums, The Eminem Show and The Encore, before backing down from the publicity. Just a few months after Eminem started his life without fame and music, one of his friends got shot during a gang-fight in Detroit. This drove Eminem into making a new album Relapsea, once again selling platinum.
Eminem's latest album was just published last year, 5th of November 2013. At the age of 40 Eminem still is making rap music and publishing new albums on a regular basis. "It was just something i had to do," he says.
Despite his rocky path to fame and glory, through the slums and trailer parks of Detroit and with his problems with his parents family, Eminem was able to overcome the harsh world and climbed to the top of the hip-hop/rap music industry. His music and life story have inspired and motivated many people in their lives and still does. Showing no signs of slowing down or stopping Eminem's reign as the rap god has yet to come to an end.