Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on the 17th October 1972, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Son of a fifteen-year-old mother at the time of his birth and a father who left six month later never to return, Marshall spent his early childhood being shoved back and forth from Kansas City and Detroit. He settled on the Eastside of Detroit when he was 12. Switching schools every two to three months made it difficult to make friends, graduate and to stay out of trouble. Being a rap fan for most of his life, Marshall began rapping at the early age of 4. Rhyming words together, battling schoolmates in the lunchroom brought joy to what was otherwise a painful existence. At the age of 14 he began to get very serious about his rapping but it wasn't until he was 17 that he actually made a name for himself, becoming M&M, which he would later respell as "Eminem". Being rejected by most fellow rappers because of his race, Marshall grew an anger that flows through his music to this day. After failing the 9th grade for three times in a row he quit school, but remarks that he doesn't consider himself stupid and doesn't advise that people should follow his example. He says that it just wasn't for him. Forcing himself on radio shows, freestyle battles, Marshall threw himself head first into the rap game, where he was swallowed up most of the time. His very first album was titled "Infinite" and while the album sold less than a thousand copies it was the gearing up stages for the rapper who became a millionaire. It was then that his daughter, Hailie Jade Scott was born on December 25th of 1995 with long time girlfriend Kim Scott. Having nothing to lose at all, flat broke and not knowing where he would be living the next week, Marshall set out to rant about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of hip-hop's difficult-to-please underground. What came out of this was the Slim Shady EP, the early work for the later Dr. Dre revised Slim Shady LP. Down to nearly his last dime he went into the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, basically hoping to win the $1,500 cash price which he badly needed. After battling for an hour and throwing back every race diss thrown at him, Marshall made it to second place losing in a slip up. Furious that he had lost, Marshall didn't even notice that he had been spotted. In the crowd were a few producers from Interscope, and they were handed a copy of the "Infinite" tape by way of a demo. Dr. Dre got to hear it and eventually tracked him down. The two instantly hit it off, recording four songs in the their first six hours of working - three which made it to his first LP. After the album was finished Dre asked Marshall to come work with him on his new album. He helped produce several tracks and was on the best songs of the album. Now officially making it, Marshall and Dre set to make his second LP. The album became the Marshall Mathers LP and won 3 Grammies and was the first rap album ever to be nominated "Album of the Year", selling more than 8 million records in the United States alone. He also stunned critics when he shot down all homophobic remarks by performing "Stan" with Elton John. Currently working on his third LP, Em has made a movie, 8 Mile (2002), and has gone back and brought his friend with him; D-12. Though 2001 was a rough year for the rapper, being charged with weapon offences, divorcing his wife, and almost going to prison, Marshall explains his life today in one word. "Claimer."
Fast fact:
His 2000 album, "The Marshall Mathers LP", sold 1.76 million copies in the first week of release in the U.S., a record for a solo artist. (29 August 2000) His wife Kimberly Mathers was granted physical custody of their 5-year-old daughter, continued financial support, a personal driver, and reinstatement of her credit cards. (January 2001) 2000 Album "The Marshall Mathers LP" sold a reported 7 million copies. Nominated for 4 Grammy awards on January 3, 2001. Featured in the Entertainment Weekly Magazine (December 22/29, 2000) and he is voted Number 03 for Entertainer of the Year. Dr. Dre is Eminem's mentor. Father of Hailie Jade (b. Christmas Day, 1995) Raised in Detroit, Michigan. (2001) Got joint custody of daughter Haley Jade. With the band D12, Eminem has had a number 10 hit with S**t on you, and a number 2 hit with Purple Hills (originally titled Purple Pills). The name 'Eminem' came from his initials M(arshall) M(athers). He has had an operation on his knee, which led to his awkward stance at numerous performances. Refuses to use the 'N' word in any of his songs. Wanted to be a comic book artist Emienm's ex-wife, Kim, has a twin sister named Dawn. Eminem wears glasses Cuts his own hair. Parodied on Saturday Night Live by Chris Parnell. has said that he would like his daughter, Haile Jade, to become an actress.
Personal quotes:
"I don't want them once they turn 18" - On Britney Spears & Christina Aguilera
"At this point, I'm like "Come up with something new." I hate the same old questions. But it seems like "white" magazines such as Spin and Rolling Stone focus on my "whiteness" more than Black magazines" --On his colour
"Why is it so hard for people to believe that white people are poor?! I wouldn't say I lived in a ghetto, I'd say I lived in the 'hood. The same friends I had back then are the same people on tour with me now"
"There's a difference between realness and an act, and they're an act, and they know they're an act, and they even say they're an act, they even say they're cornballs, they admit it." --On ICP
"I think my first album opened a lot of doors for me to push the freedom of speech to the limit."
"My family has never been there for me. They expect things because we're blood." --On his family
"Some asshole kept throwing oranges and other fruit at me while I was onstage. Fucker had an arm like a major league pitcher..." --About one of his concerts.
"Don't do drugs, don't have unprotected sex, don't be violent. Leave that to me."
"I had too much NyQuil and Vivarin again. Lost my stomach all over the place."
"Never take ecstasy, beer, baccardi, weed, pepto bismol, vivarin, tums, tagamet hb, xanax, and valium in the same day. It makes it difficult to sleep at night."
"Sometimes I'm real cool, but sometimes I could be a real asshole. I think everyone is like that."
"I would never fucking put them in a rhyme. I don't even want them wondering if I was trying to diss them. I got a lot of love for them. I grew up on that shit. The other rappers, whatever." --On the Beastie Boys.
"All my life I've been dealing with my race because of where I grew up [Detroit] and being in the rap game. I'm at a boiling point...Anybody who pulls the race card is getting it right back in their face."
"I get offended when people say, `So, being a white rapper...and growing up white...after being born white...' It's all I ever hear!"
"You can't control who likes you. If I got Backstreet Boy fans what am I supposed to do? Turn them away? Whoever likes my stuff, likes my stuff but just know Slim Shady is hip hop, I grew up on hip hop, it's the music I love and it's the music I respect. I respect the culture...that's me"
"It doesn't exactly feel like a shock, but it's all new to me, and I'm taking it in as it comes." --On his rise to stardom.
"A lot of my rhymes are just to get chuckles out of people. Anybody with half a brain is going to be able to tell when I'm joking and when I'm serious."
"A bunch of girls, swinging from a nice chandelier, landing on top of me naked...while I lay in a pool of steaming hot water!" --On his spring break fantasy
"I try not to look at it that way. Being white. I don't wake up every day and look in the mirror, 'Oh. I'm white'."
"My father? I never knew him. Never even seen a picture of him."
"Slim Shady is just the evil thoughts that come into my head. Things I shouldn't be thinking about. Not to be gimmicky, but people should be able to determine when I'm serious and when I'm fuckin around. That's why a lot of my songs are funny. I got a warped sense of humor I guess." --On his alter-ego, Slim Shady.
"There was a while when I was feeling like, 'Damn, if I'd just been born black, I would not have to go through all this'."
"When I was 9 years old, my uncle put me on to the Breakin' soundtrack. The first rap song I ever heard was Ice-T, 'Reckless.' From L.L. to the Fat Boys, and all that shit, I was fascinated. When L.L. first came out with 'I'm Bad', I wanted to do it, to rhyme. Standing in front of the mirror, I wanted to be like L.L." --On his influences.
"I'm not alone in feeling the way I feel. I believe that a lot of people can relate to my shit--whether white, black, it doesn't matter. Everybody has been through some shit, whether it's drastic or not so drastic. Everybody gets to the point of 'I don't give a fuck'."
"It was an honor to hear the words out of Dre's mouth that he liked my shit. Growing up, I was one of the biggest fans of N.W.A, from putting on the sunglasses and looking in the mirror and lipsinking, to wanting to be Dr. Dre, to be Ice Cube. This is the biggest hip-hop producer ever."
"Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself. It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up."
"I had nothing to lose, but something to gain. If I made an album for me and it was to my satisfaction, then I succeeded. If I didn't, then my producers were going to give up on the whole rap thing we were doing. I made some shit that I wanted to hear. The Slim Shady EP, I lashed out on everybody who talked shit about me."
"I do say things that I think will shock people. But I don't do things to shock people. I'm not trying to be the next Tupac, but I don't know how long I'm going to be on this planet. So while I'm here, I might as well make the most of it."
"Anybody with a sense of humour is going to put on my album and laugh from beginning to end."
"Saving Private Ryan was probably the illest, sickest movie I've ever watched, and I didn't see anybody criticizing that one for violence."
"I grew up listening to 2 Live Crew and N.W.A. and I never went out and shot nobody."
"I don't like rap anyways, I'm just trying to get my porno career started."
"We just kept moving back and forth because my mother never had a job. We kept getting kicked out of every house we were in. I believe six months was the longest we ever lived in a house."
"I had this whole Slim Shady concept of being two different people, having two different sides of me. One of them I was trying to let go, and I looked at the mirror and smashed it. That was the whole intro of the Slim Shady EP. Slim Shady was coming to haunt me, was coming to haunt Eminem."
"Whoever likes my stuff, likes my stuff. But just know Slim Shady is hip hop. I grew up on hip hop, it's the music I love and it's the music I respect. I respect the culture...that's me."
"If I said in one of my songs that my English teacher wanted to have sex with me in junior high, all I'm saying, is that I'm not gay, you know? People confuse the lyrics for me speaking my mind. I don't agree with that lifestyle, but if that lifestyle is for you, then it's your business." --On homosexuality.
"I don't like to give the sob story: growing up in a single-parent home, never knew my father, my mother never worked, and when friends came over I'd hide the welfare cheese. Yo, I failed ninth grade three times, but I don't think it was necessarily 'cause I'm stupid. I didn't go to school. I couldn't deal."
Actor, film history:
2002 MTV Movie Awards (2002) (TV) .... Performer
8 Mile (2002) .... Jimmy Smith, Jr.
Brit Awards 2001 (2001) (TV) .... Himself
Public Eminem #1 (2001) (TV)
Up In Smoke Tour, The (2001) (V) .... Eminem
Wash, The (2001) (uncredited) .... Chris
43rd Annual Grammy Awards, The (2001) (TV) .... Performer
MTV Video Music Awards 2000 (2000) (TV) .... Himself
Hip Hop Witch, Da (2000) .... Himself
