Eminem

Birth Name	Marshall Bruce Mathers III
Born	October 17, 1972 Saint Joseph, MO
Aliases	Eminem (1995-Present), Evil (1998–present), M&M/MC Double M (1988-1995)
Education	Dort Elementary School, Robidoux Middle School, Lincoln High School
Occupation	Rapper, Songwriter, Producer, Record executive, Actor, Businessman, Phillantropist
Years Active	1988-present
Spouse	Kim Mathers​ (m. 1999; div. 2001/m. 2006; div. 2006)​
Children	Alaina Marie (daughter), Hailie Jade (daughter), Stevie Laine (daughter)
Family	Deborah Rae Nelson (mother), Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr (father), Nathan Kane Mathers (half-brother), Michael Mathers (half-brother), Sarah Mathers (half-sister), Dawn Scott (ex-sister-in-law), Ashley Mae Mathers (sister-in-law), Liam Mathers (nephew), Carter Mathers (nephew), Audrianna Melkonian (niece by marrige), Matt Moeller (son in-law), Evan McClintock (son in-law)
Genre(s)	Hip-Hop
Instruments	Drum machine, Sampler, Keyboard, Percussion
Label(s)	Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, Polydor Records], Interscope Records, WEB Entertainment, F.B.T. Productions
Member of	Bad Meets Evil, D12 (formerly), Outsidaz (formerly), Soul Intent (formerly), New Jacks (formerly)
First Album	Infinite
Latest Album	The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)
Website	www.eminem.com

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage name Eminem (often stylized EMINƎM), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and actor. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in Middle America and is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. His global success is considered to have broken racial barriers to the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. While much of his transgressive work during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him a controversial figure, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass and has been cited as an influence by and upon many artists working in various genres.

Eminem is among the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of over 220 million records. He was the best-selling music artist in the United States of the 2000s and the best-selling male music artist in the United States of the 2010s, third overall. Billboard named him the "Artist of the Decade (2000–2009)". He has had ten number-one albums on the Billboard 200—which all consecutively debuted at number one on the chart, making him the first artist to achieve this—and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

"The Marshall Mathers LP", "The Eminem Show", "Curtain Call: The Hits" (2005), "Lose Yourself", "Love the Way You Lie" and "Not Afraid" have all been certified Diamond or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Rolling Stone has included him in its lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

He has won numerous awards, including 15 Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, 17 Billboard Music Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and an MTV Europe Music Global Icon Award. In November 2022, Eminem was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Biography

Early Life

Mathers was born in St. Joseph, Missouri the son of Deborah Mathers-Briggs (née Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. He is of Scottish, English and German ancestry. Shortly after his birth, his father abandoned his family. His mother later had a son named Nathan "Nate" Kane Samara.

Until he was 13, Eminem and his mother shuttled between states, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and mostly living with family members, moved several times and lived in several towns and cities in Missouri (including St. Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City) and Metro Detroit area (Warren and Roseville) before settling in the city of Detroit. For much of his youth, Eminem and his mother lived in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood. He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was beaten several times by black youths.

Eminem frequently fought with his mother, whom a social worker described as her having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality". When he was a child, a bully named D'Angelo Bailey severely injured Eminem's head in an assault, an incident which Eminem later recounted (with comic exaggeration) on the song "Brain Damage". Debbie filed a lawsuit against the public school for this in 1982. The suit was dismissed the following year by a Macomb County, Michigan, judge, who said the schools were immune from lawsuits.

Eminem was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic book artist before discovering hip hop. He heard his first rap song ("Reckless", featuring Ice-T) on the “Breakin'” soundtrack, a gift from Debbie's half-brother, Ronnie Polkingharn. His uncle was close to the boy and later became a musical mentor to him. When Polkingharn committed suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking publicly for days and did not attend his funeral.

After Mathers became interested in hip hop, he started performing amateur raps at age fourteen under the pseudonym "M&M", the latter evolving into "Eminem". Eminem snuck into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle rap battles. On Saturdays, they attended open mic contests at the Hip-Hop Shop on West 7 Mile Road, considered "ground zero" for the Detroit rap scene. Struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, Eminem was appreciated by underground hip hop audiences. When he wrote verses, he wanted most of the words to rhyme; he wrote long words or phrases on paper and, underneath, worked on rhymes for each syllable. Although the words often made little sense, the drill helped Eminem practice sounds and rhymes.

In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kimberly Anne "Kim" Scott and her twin sister Dawn to stay at their home. Several years later, Eminem began an on-and-off relationship with Scott. After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17. Although interested in English, Eminem never explored literature (preferring comic books) and he disliked math and social studies. Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills. One of the jobs he had was with Little Caesar's Pizza in Warren. He later said she often threw him out of the house anyway, often after taking most of his paycheck. When she left to play bingo, he would blast the stereo and write songs.

Career

1988–1998: Early career and Infinite/The Slim Shady EP

In 1988, he went by the stage name MC Double M and formed his first group New Jacks and made a self-titled demo tape with DJ Butter Fingers. In 1989, he and DJ Butter Fingers later joining the group called "Bassmint Productions" and released their first EP called "Steppin' Onto The Scene".

Mathers was initially signed to FBT Productions in 1992, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass. Mathers also held a minimum-wage job of cooking and dishwashing at the restaurant Gilbert's Lodge for some time.

Bassmint Productions changed their name to Soul Intent with Proof and around 1995 they released their self-titled album "Soul Intent". They disbanded in 1995.

In 1995 Eminem joined Proof and four other rappers to form Dirty Dozen or D12 as Eminem and released their first EP "The Underground E.P" in 1997 and first album "Devil's Night" in 2001. He also was associated with Newark's hip-hop collective "Outsidaz".

In 1996, his debut album Infinite, which was recorded at the Bassmint, a recording studio owned by the Bass Brothers, was released under their independent label Web Entertainment. Eminem recalled, "Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like Nas and AZ. 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."

Subjects covered in Infinite included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade while on limited funds and his strong desire to get rich. After the release of Infinite, Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in his unsuccessful suicide attempt.

In 1997 Eminem met Royce da 5'9", when Royce was opening for entertainer Usher at the Palladium. Eminem and Royce da 5'9", became quick friends and collaborated on the track which led to the duo's foundation, "Bad Meets Evil", for Eminem's 1999 major label debut The Slim Shady LP. The duo's first work, a 1999 double-single, which was originally recorded in 1998, consisting of "Nuttin' to Do" and "Scary Movies" collaborated under the stage name Bad Meets Evil.

With the release of The Slim Shady EP, Mathers was accused of imitating the style and subject matter of underground rapper Cage. While promoting the EP, Mathers approached Insane Clown Posse member Joseph Bruce and handed him a flyer which implied that the group would make an appearance at the EP's release party. Bruce refused to appear because Mathers had not previously approached him for permission to use the group's name in this way. Taking Bruce's response as a personal offense, Mathers subsequently attacked the group in radio interviews.

Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope Records, requested a demo tape of Eminem's after Eminem won second place at the 1997 Rap Olympics. Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment. The two began recording tracks for Eminem's upcoming major-label debut The Slim Shady LP, and Eminem made a guest performance on the album Devil Without a Cause by Kid Rock. Hip-hop magazine The Source featured Eminem in its "Unsigned Hype" column in March 1998.

1998–1999: The Slim Shady LP

According to Billboard Magazine, at this point in his life Eminem had "realized his musical ambitions were the only way to escape his unhappy life". After being signed to Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records in 1998, Eminem released in 1999 his first major studio album, The Slim Shady LP, heavily based on the production by Dr. Dre. The album was, according to Billboard, "light years ahead of the material he had been writing beforehand". It went on to be one of the most popular albums of 1999, going triple platinum by the end of the year. 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 the body of his wife. Another song, "Guilty Conscience", ends with his encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover. "Guilty Conscience" marked the beginning of the powerful 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 label Aftermath.

After Eminem released The Slim Shady LP, he started his own record label, Shady Records, in late 1999. Eminem looked for an avenue to release D12, and his manager Paul Rosenberg was keen to start a label, which led to the two teaming up to form Shady. Eminem signed his Detroit collective, D12 and rapper Obie Trice to the label.

In June 1999 Eminem married Kim Scott, who has meet, when he was 15 and have been in on-and-off relationship since 1991.

2000–2001: The Marshall Mathers LP

The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It went on to sell 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking the records set by Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle as the fastest-selling hip hop album and Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time as the fastest-selling solo album in United States history. The first single released from the album, "The Real Slim Shady", was a success and created some controversy by insulting celebrities and making dubious claims about them; he states, among other things, that Christina Aguilera performed oral sex on Fred Durst and Carson Daly. In his second single, "The Way I Am", he reveals to his fans the pressures from his record company to top "My Name Is" and sell more records. Although Eminem had parodied shock rocker Marilyn Manson in the video "My Name Is", the artists are reportedly on good terms. They performed a remix of the song "The Way I Am" together in concert. In the third single, "Stan" (which samples Dido's "Thank You"), Eminem attempts to deal with his new-found fame, taking on the persona of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend, mirroring "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" on The Slim Shady LP. In the music video of "Stan", Eminem was shown writing with his left hand, ending the fan debate over his dominant hand. Q magazine named "Stan" the third-greatest rap song of all time, and the song came tenth in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com. The song has since become highly acclaimed and was ranked 290th in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In July 2000, Eminem became the first white person to be featured on the cover of The Source magazine. This album has been certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales of over 10 million in the United States alone and more than 20 million worldwide.

Eminem performed with Elton John at the 43rd Grammy Awards ceremony in 2001; the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), an organization that perceived Eminem's lyrics to be homophobic, condemned the openly bisexual John's decision to perform with Eminem. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "It was the hug heard 'round the world. Eminem, under fire for homophobic lyrics, shared the stage with a gay icon for a performance of "Stan" that would have been memorable in any context." On February 21, the day of the ceremony, GLAAD held a protest outside the Staples Center, the venue where the Grammy ceremony was held. Music tours that he participated in for 2001 included the Up In Smoke Tour with rapers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and Ice Cube and Family Values Tour with the band Limp Bizkit.

In 2001 Eminem singned 50 Cent in joint venture with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label.

In March 2001 he divorced with Kim.

2002-2003: 8 Mile and The Eminem Show

In 2002 Eminem made his major Hollywood debut in semi-autobiographical film "8 Mile". He said it was a representation of growing up in Detroit rather than an account of his life. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003 and became the longest-running No. 1 hip hop single in history.

During the production of 8 Mile, Eminem, working 16 hours a day, developed insomnia. An associate gave him an Ambien tablet which "knocked [him] out", encouraging him to obtain a prescription. This was Eminem's first experience of drug addiction, which would affect him for several years. According to Proof, Eminem first straightened out in 2002.

Eminem's third major album, The Eminem Show, was released in summer 2002 and proved to be another hit for the rapper reaching number one on the charts and selling well over 1 million copies in its first week of release. It featured thesingle "Without Me", an apparent sequel to "The Real Slim Shady", in which he makes derogatory comments about boy bands, Limp Bizkit, Moby, and Lynne Cheney, among others. The Eminem Show is a hip hop classic and has been certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Selling over 10 million in the United States and well over 20 million worldwide. Making Eminem one of the only artists to ever have two diamond albums both of which selling over 20 million worldwide. The album reflected on the impact of his rise to fame, his relationship with his wife and daughter, and his status in the hip-hop community. He also addresses the charges he faced over assaulting a bouncer he saw kissing his wife in 2000. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic felt that while there was clear anger present on several tracks, this album was considerably less inflammatory than The Marshall Mathers LP. However, L. Brent Bozell III, who previously criticized The Marshall Mathers LP for perceived misogynistic lyrics in the album, noted The Eminem Show for its extensive use of obscene language, giving Eminem the nickname "Eminef" for the bowdlerization of motherfucker, an obscenity prevalent in the album.

In 2003, Eminem and Dr. Dre added Atlanta rapper Stat Quo to the Shady-Aftermath roster. DJ Green Lantern, Eminem's former DJ, was with Shady Records until a dispute related to the 50 Cent-Jadakiss feud forced him to leave the label. The Alchemist is currently Eminem's tour DJ. In 2005 Eminem signed another Atlanta rapper Bobby Creekwater and West Coast rapper Cashis to Shady Records.

2004–2005: Encore

The Media Research Center, which was founded by a conservative activist and is funded by conservative foundations, claims that on December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the United States. The lyrics in question: "Fuck money/I don't rap for dead presidents/I'd rather see the president dead/It's never been said, but I set precedents ...". The song in question, "We As Americans", wound up on a bonus CD accompanying the album.

The year 2004 saw the release of Eminem's fourth major album, Encore. It sold over 700,000 copies in its first week of release. Now being certified 7 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Selling over 15 million worldwide. With 7.8 million being sold in the United States. The album was another chart-topper, as it was driven by the single "Just Lose It", notable for being disrespectful towards Michael Jackson. On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Eminem's first single off Encore, Michael Jackson called into the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his displeasure with the video, which parodies Jackson's child molestation trial, plastic surgery, and an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. The lyrics to "Just Lose It" refer to Jackson's legal troubles, however he does state in his song "... and that's not a stab at Michael/That's just a metaphor/I'm just psycho...." Many of Jackson's supporters and friends spoke out about the video, including Stevie Wonder, who called the video "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit", and Steve Harvey who declared, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back." In the video, Eminem parodied Pee Wee Herman, MC Hammer, and a Blonde-Ambition-touring Madonna. Black Entertainment Television was the first channel to stop airing the video. MTV, however, announced it would continue airing the video. The Source, through its CEO Raymond "Benzino" Scott, wanted not only the video to be pulled, but the song off the album, and a public apology to Jackson from Eminem. In 2007 Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music LLC from Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira and Beck, among others.

Despite the comedic theme of the lead single, Encore had its fair share of serious subject matter, including the anti-war track "Mosh". On October 25, 2004, a week before the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, Eminem released the video for "Mosh" on the Internet. The song featured a very strong anti-Bush message, with lyrics such as "fuck Bush" and "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president". The video features Eminem gathering up an army of people, including rapper Lloyd Banks, presented as victims of the Bush administration and leading them to the White House. However, once the army breaks in, it is revealed that they are there to simply register to vote, and the video ends with the words "VOTE Tuesday November 2" on the screen. After Bush won the election, the video's ending was changed to Eminem and the protesters invading while Bush was giving a speech.

Near the end of production on Encore, Eminem would "just go into the studio and goof off [with] a pocketful of pills". He began taking the drugs to "feel normal", taking a "ridiculous amount ... I could consume anywhere from 40 to 60 Valium [in a day]. Vicodin, maybe 30." The drugs would put him to sleep for no more than two hours, after which he would take more. Eminem's weight increased to 230 pounds (100 kg) and he was regularly eating fast food.

Also in 2004 Eminem launched a satellite music channel, Shade 45, on Sirius radio, which was described by his manager as "essentially a destination to get and hear things that other people aren't playing."

2005-2008: Curtain Call: The Hits and Hiatus

Eminem began his first US concert tour in three years in the summer of 2005 with the Anger Management 3 Tour, featuring 50 Cent, G-Unit, Lil Jon, D12, Obie Trice and The Alchemist, but in August he canceled the European leg of the tour, later announcing that he had entered drug rehabilitation for treatment of a "dependency on sleep medication".

Meanwhile, industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering retirement, while rumors circulated that a double album titled The Funeral would be released. In July, the Detroit Free Press reported a possible final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting members of his inner circle as saying that he would embrace the roles of producer and label executive.

A greatest hits album, Curtain Call: The Hits, was released on December 6, 2005, by Aftermath Entertainment, and sold nearly 441,000 copies in the US in its first week, marking Eminem's fourth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard Hot 200, and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. However, Eminem suggested that month on WKQI's "Mojo in the Morning" show that he would be taking a break as an artist: "I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going... This is the reason that we called it 'Curtain Call' because this could be the final thing. We don't know."

He and Kim briefly remarried in January 2006 and divorced in early April, agreeing to joint custody of Hailie.

Also in April Proof, who was Eminem's childhood friend, was murdered. Eight months later, Eminem released a compilation album titled Eminem Presents: The Re-Up that featured Proof and other Shady Records artists.

In September 2007, Eminem called into New York radio station Hot 97 during a 50 Cent interview and said he was "in limbo" and "debating" about when and if he would release another album. He said, "I'm always working – I'm always in the studio. It feels good right now, the energy of the label. For a while, I didn't want to go back to the studio ... I went through some personal things. I'm coming out of those personal things [and] it feels good."

In December 2007, Eminem was hospitalized after a methadone overdose. He had first bought from a dealer who had told him it was "just like Vicodin, and easier on [your] liver". He continued to buy more until he collapsed in his bathroom one night and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors there told him he had ingested the equivalent of four bags of heroin and was "about two hours from dying". After missing Christmas with his children, Hailie, Alaina and Stevie, Eminem checked himself out of the facility, weak and not fully detoxed. He tore the meniscus in his knee after falling asleep on his sofa, requiring surgery; after he returned home, he had a seizure. His drug use "ramped right back to where it was before" within a month. Eminem began to attend church meetings to get clean, but after he was asked for autographs he sought help from a rehabilitation counselor. He began an exercise program that emphasized running. Elton John was a mentor during this period, calling Eminem once a week to check on him. Eminem has been sober since April 20, 2008.

2008–2011: Relapse, Relapse: Refill, Recovery and Bad Meets Evil EP

Eminem made an appearance on his Sirius channel Shade 45 in September 2008 in which he said, "Right now I'm kinda just concentrating on my own stuff, for right now and just banging out tracks and producing a lot of stuff. You know, the more I keep producing the better it seems like I get 'cause I just start knowing stuff." It was around this time that Interscope finally confirmed the existence of a new Eminem album, with Spring 2009 later being stated as the period span in which the album is due. In December 2008, he gave more details on the album, which he recently reported was being titled Relapse. He said, "Me and Dre are back in the lab like the old days, man. Dre will end up producing the majority of the tracks on 'Relapse'. We are up to our old mischievous ways ... let's just leave it at that."

On March 5, 2009, Eminem reported in a press release that he would be releasing two new albums this year. Relapse, the first album, was released on May 19, while "We Made You", the first official single and its music video, were released on April 7. On October 3, 2009, Eminem appeared once again on Shade 45 with DJ Whoo Kid and announced that Denaun Porter and Just Blaze were very busy working on Relapse 2. On October 30, Eminem performed at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans as a headliner in his first full performance in 2009. The performance included several songs from Relapse, as well as many of Eminem's older hits and an appearance by D12. The album didn't manage to sell near Eminem's previous efforts but was still both a commercial success and brought him more critical acclaim. While also re establishing his presence in the hip hop world. Relapse was named one of the top albums of 2009. Being now certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Selling more than 5 million worldwide.

On November 19, 2009, Eminem announced on his website that Relapse: Refill will be released on December 21. The album will be a re-release of the Relapse album with seven bonus tracks, including "Forever" and "Taking My Ball". In a statement he described the forthcoming CD: "I want to deliver more material for the fans this year like I originally planned ... Hopefully these tracks on The Refill will tide the fans over until we put out Relapse 2 next year ... I got back in with Dre and then a few more producers, including Just Blaze, and went in a completely different direction which made me start from scratch. The new tracks started to sound very different than the tracks I originally intended to be on Relapse 2, but I still want the other stuff to be heard."

On April 14, 2010, Eminem tweeted: "There is no Relapse 2". Although his followers thought he was not releasing an album, he had changed its title to Recovery and confirmed this by tweeting "Recovery" with a link to his website. He said: "I had originally planned for Relapse 2 to come out last year. But as I kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album. The music on Recovery came out very different from Relapse, and I think it deserves its own title".

Recorded from 2009 to 2010, Recovery was released on June 18. In the US, Recovery sold 741,000 copies during its first week, topping the Billboard 200 chart. Eminem's sixth consecutive US number-one album also topped the charts in several other countries. Recovery remained atop the Billboard 200 chart for five consecutive weeks of a seven-week total.

Billboard reported that it was the bestselling album of 2010, making Eminem the first artist in Nielsen SoundScan history with two year-end bestselling albums. Recovery is the bestselling digital album in history. Its first single, "Not Afraid", was released on April 29 and debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100; its music video was released on June 4. "Not Afraid" was followed by "Love the Way You Lie", which debuted at number two before rising to the top. Although "Love the Way You Lie" was the bestselling 2010 single in the United Kingdom, it did not reach number one (the first time this has happened in the UK since 1969). Despite criticism of its inconsistency, Recovery received positive reviews from most critics. As of November 21, 2010, the album had US sales of three million copies. Recovery was the bestselling album worldwide in 2010, joining 2002's bestseller The Eminem Show to give Eminem two worldwide year-end number-one albums. With Recovery, Eminem broke the record for the most successive US number-one albums by a solo artist.

He appeared at the 2010 BET Awards, performing "Not Afraid" and "Airplanes, Part II" with B.o.B and Keyshia Cole. Later that year, he performed at the Activison E3 concert. In June, Eminem and Jay-Z announced they would perform together in Detroit and New York City, at concerts called The Home & Home Tour. The first two concerts quickly sold out, prompting an additional show in each city. BET called Eminem the number-one rapper of the 21st century. He opened the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, performing "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie" with Rihanna singing the choruses. Due to the success of Recovery and the Home & Home Tour, Eminem was named the 2010 Hottest MC in the Game by MTV and Emcee of the Year by the online magazine HipHopDX. He and Rihanna again collaborated on "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)", the sequel of their hit single. Unlike the original, Rihanna is the lead vocalist and it is sung from the female perspective. In December 2010, the "Great Eminem Recovery" was number one on Billboard's Top 25 Music Moments of 2010. He appeared at the 2011 Grammy Awards on February 13, performing "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" with Rihanna and Adam Levine and "I Need a Doctor" with Dr. Dre and Skylar Grey. That month announced that "Space Bound" would be the fourth single from Recovery, with a music video featuring former porn actress Sasha Grey, the video was released June 24 on the iTunes Store.

In 2010, Eminem again began collaborating with Royce da 5'9" on their first EP as Bad Meets Evil, the duo formed in 1998. The EP, Hell: The Sequel, was released on June 14, 2011. Eminem was featured on Royce da 5'9"'s "Writer's Block", released on April 8, 2011. On May 3 they released the lead single "Fast Lane" from their upcoming EP and a music video was filmed. Bad Meets Evil released their next single, "Lighters" featuring Bruno Mars, on July 6 and its music video in late August.

Early in 2011 he leaked "2.0 Boys", on which Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse collaborated when they signed with Shady Records in January and performed it in April. In March 2011, within days of each other, The Eminem Show and The Marshall Mathers LP were certified diamond by the RIAA; Eminem is the only rapper with two diamond-certified albums. With more than 60 million "likes" he was the most-followed person on Facebook, outscoring Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Michael Jackson. Eminem was the first artist in five years with two number-one albums (Recovery and Hell: The Sequel) in a 12-month period. On August 6, Eminem performed several songs from throughout his career at Lollapalooza with the artists who had been featured on each song.

2012–2016: The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Shady XV and Southpaw

Eminem announced on May 24, 2012, that he was working on his next album, scheduled for release the following year. Without a title or release date, it was included on a number of "Most Anticipated Albums of 2013" lists (including MTV); Complex ranked it sixth and XXL fifth.

On June 30, 2012, Eminem talked about the album with DJ Whoo Kid, on his own radio station, Shade 45. He stated that the material is taking shape, and that Dr. Dre will be involved in some way. On August 30, 2012, Slaughterhouse member Royce da 5'9" gave his thoughts on the album, stating "I'm not so sure how the world is going to respond from some of the things that I've heard from him." Close friend and fellow rapper 50 Cent is also confirmed to feature on the album. Eminem also was featured on Pink's album The Truth About Love on the track "Here Comes The Weekend".

On February 11, 2013, Shady Records President and Eminem manager Paul Rosenberg announced that Eminem's eighth studio album would be released after Memorial Day, 2013. "We fully expect to be releasing a new Eminem album in 2013. He's been working on it for some time," said Rosenberg. "It's safe to say that it will be post-Memorial Day at some point, but we're not exactly sure when. We've got some dates locked in for him to perform live in Europe in August, so we're trying to see what else lines up." The album remained untitled. On March 22, 2013 Dr. Dre said that Eminem was close to finishing the album and that he worked together with Eminem on it. Producer No I.D. has been confirmed to produce on the album.

On August 14, "Survival", featuring Liz Rodrigues and produced by DJ Khalil, premiered in the multi-player trailer for the video game Call of Duty: Ghosts. According to a press release, the first single from Eminem's eighth album would be released soon. During the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, it was announced that the album would be entitled The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (following The Marshall Mathers LP) and was scheduled for release on November 5. Its lead single, "Berzerk", was released on August 25 and debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Three more singles followed: "Survival" (appearing on the Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer), "Rap God", "The Monster" (with Rihanna) and Headlights". In song "Headlights", Eminem reiterated his love for his mother and apologized to her for some of the lyrics from his songs, with "Cleanin' Out My Closet" being specifically named.

On November 3, Eminem was named the first YouTube Music Awards Artist of the Year, and a week later he received the Global Icon Award at the 2013 MTV EMA Music Awards. On June 10, it was announced that Eminem was the first artist to receive two digital diamond certifications – sales and streams of 10 million and above – by the RIAA (for “Not Afraid” and “Love the Way You Lie”). On July 11 and 12, Eminem played two concerts in Wembley Stadium. At the 57th Grammy Awards, he received Best Rap Album award for The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (with Rihanna) for “The Monster”.

The album was released on November 5, by Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records and Interscope Records. Its standard version had 16 tracks and the deluxe version included a second disc with five additional tracks. “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” was Eminem’s seventh album to debut atop the Billboard 200 and had the year’s second-largest first-week sales. He was the first artist since the Beatles to have four singles in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The first American artist with seven consecutive UK number-one albums, he is tied with the Beatles for second place for the most consecutive chart-topping UK albums. The album secured Eminem’s position as Canada’s bestselling artist and was 2013’s bestselling album.

In the summer of 2014, Eminem and Rosenberg began using the hashtag #SHADYXV on social networking sites and Eminem wore a T-shirt with the hashtag onstage. This was later revealed to be the name of an upcoming Shady Records compilation. Shortly afterwards the first single from the album (”Guts Over Fear”, featuring singer-songwriter Sia) was released and the album’s track list was released on October 29. Shady Records released a cypher to promote the album, in which Eminem did a seven-minute freestyle. “Detroit vs. Everybody” (the album’s second single), with Eminem, Dej Loaf, Royce da 5’9”, Danny Brown, Big Sean and Trick-Trick, was released on November 11. “Shady XV” released on November 24 during Black Friday week, consists of one greatest-hits disc and one disc of new material by Shady Records artists such as D12, Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil and Yelawolf. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 138,000 copies in the United States.

The Official Eminem Box Set, a career-spanning, 10-disc vinyl box set, was released on March 12, 2015. The set includes seven of Eminem’s eight studio albums (excluding Infinite), the 8 Mile soundtrack, the compilation “Eminem Presents: The Re-Up” and the greatest hits collection “Curtain Call: The Hits”. Early in the year, it was announced that he would appear on Tech N9ne’s “Speedom (Worldwide Choppers 2)”. The song, also featuring Krizz Kaliko, was released on April 20. Eminem also appeared on Yelawolf’s “Best Friend”, the single from Love Story.

Eminem originally supposed to playing lead role Billy Hope in the sports drama "Southpaw". On December 13, 2010, DreamWorks acquired the script, with Eminem eyed to play the lead role, however the following August the studio dropped the project. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picked up the film that October, in December 2012, Eminem dropped out of the film to focus instead on his music. In interview with Zane Lowe for Beats 1 Radio, Eminem said he wouldn't have been able to do “Southpaw” due to scheduling issues related to making the album. Antoine Fuqua signed on to the project in March 2014 with Jake Gyllenhaal replacing Eminem. Eminem become executive producer of Southpaw (Music from and Inspired By the Motion Picture), with Shady Records. The first single from the soundtrack called ‘Phenomenal’ was released on June 2, 2015. Another single, “Kings Never Die” by Eminem featuring Gwen Stefani, was released on July 10, 2015, on YouTube via Eminem’s Vevo account.

Eminem was the first interview of Zane Lowe in Beats 1. The interview streamed online on the Beats 1 radio on July 1, 2015. Eminem appeared on the public access show Only in Monroe, produced in Monroe, Michigan and was interviewed by guest host Stephen Colbert for an episode that aired July 1, 2015. In the episode Eminem sang snippets of Bob Seger songs at Colbert’s prompting and briefly discussed Southpaw. In June 2015, it was revealed that he will serve as the executive producer and music supervisor on the TV series Motor City whose premise will be based upon the 2002 film Narc.

In September 2016, Eminem was featured on Skylar Grey’s song, “Kill For You”, which appears on her album, Natural Causes. On October 19, 2016, Eminem released a new song called “Campaign Speech”, a political hip hop song and announced he was working on a new album. On November 17, 2016, Eminem released a remastered version of ‘Infinite’ on his YouTube VEVO channel. On November 22, 2016, Eminem released a trailer for a 10-minute short documentary called Partners in Rhyme: The True Story of Infinite.

2017-2019: Revival and Kamikaze

In February 2017, Eminem appeared on “No Favors”, a track from Big Sean’s album I Decided. In the song, Eminem calls the newly elected President Donald Trump a “bitch” and also raps about raping conservative social and political commentator Ann Coulter, who is a Trump supporter, with a variety of foreign objects. Eminem participated in the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards’ annual cypher, using his verse, a freestyle rap called “The Storm”, to further criticize Trump and the administration for, among other things, Trump’s focus on National Football League players’ protests during “The Star Spangled Banner” over Hurricane Maria recovery efforts and lack of gun control reform in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Eminem ended the cypher by giving an ultimatum saying that Trump supporters cannot be his fans. The verse received wide praise among other rappers following its release. In October 2017, Eminem appeared on “Revenge”, a track from Pink’s album Beautiful Trauma. It was reported that the Secret Service interviewed Eminem in 2018–2019, regarding threatening lyrics towards President Trump and daughter Ivanka.

Starting in late October 2017, Eminem and Paul Rosenberg began teasing what fans speculated was the title of a new album titled Revival, in the form of advertisements for a fake medication of the same name. Later in November, the first single “Walk on Water” was released, which featured Beyoncé. The song was first performed, by Eminem, at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards on November 12, featuring Skylar Grey. He appeared on Saturday Night Live on November 18, performing “Walk on Water”, “Stan” and “Love the Way You Lie” with Skylar Grey. On November 28, Dr. Dre posted a video confirming the album’s release date as December 15, 2017. On December 8, Eminem released a promotional single titled “Untouchable”, which featured a sample from the duo Cheech & Chong. Despite an online leak of the album two days prior, Revival was released as planned on December 15.

On January 5, 2018, the second single “River” was released, which featured Ed Sheeran. It became Eminem’s eighth consecutive album to top the US Billboard 200 upon release with 197,000 copies sold in its first week. As a result, he became the first musical act to have eight entries in a row debut atop the chart. The album was met with mixed reviews from music critics and is generally considered his worst album. In 2018, an extended edition of “Nowhere Fast” with Kehlani and a remix of “Chloraseptic” featuring 2 Chainz and Phresher were released from Revival.

On August 31, 2018, Eminem released his tenth studio album and first surprise album Kamikaze, making it his second full-length studio album in 8 months. The album topped the Billboard 200, making it his ninth album in a row to do so, after selling 434,000 units in the first week. The album was released as a response to criticism of Revival, his worst rated album. The album was promoted with three singles: “Fall”, “Venom”, from the 2018 film of the same name and “Lucky You" featuring Joyner Lucas. During the October 15, 2018, episode of the late-night television show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Eminem performed the song “Venom” at the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building in New York City as a promotion of the album.

On December 1, Eminem released an 11 minute freestyle to his YouTube channel titled "Kick off". Eminem collaborated with several artists throughout early 2019, including Boogie, Logic, Ed Sheeran, 50 Cent and Conway the Machine. On February 23, 2019, to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Eminem released a re-issue of The Slim Shady LP, including acapellas, instrumentals and radio edited versions of tracks from the album.

2020-Present: Music To Be Murdered By, MTBMB - Side B and Curtain Call 2

On January 17, 2020, Eminem released another surprise album Music to Be Murdered By. Recorded from 2019 to 2020, the album features guest appearances by Young M.A., Royce da 5’9”, Q-Tip, Denaun Porter, White Gold, Ed Sheeran, Juice WRLD, Skylar Grey, Anderson .Paak, Don Toliver, Kxng Crooked, Joell Ortiz and Black Thought. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 279,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. Subsequently, Eminem became the first artist to have ten consecutive albums debut at number one in the US and one of six artists to have released at least ten US number-one albums.

Music critics praised Eminem’s lyrical abilities and the improved production after Kamikaze, while criticism directed towards the album’s formulaic song structure, lack of innovation and shock value. The lyrics of “Unaccommodating, in which Eminem referenced the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, drew significant criticism, with many critics finding the lyrics objectionable. The mayor of Manchester denounced the song’s lyrics, describing them as “unnecessarily hurtful and deeply disrespectful”. The lyrics also drew widespread criticism from victims’ relatives and others involved in the attack.

On February 9, 2020, Mathers performed “Lose Yourself” at the 92nd Academy Awards. On March 9, 2020, the music video for the song “Godzilla” was released on YouTube through Lyrical Lemonade’s channel. The video features Mike Tyson and Dr. Dre. As of October 8, 2022, the music video has over 520.9 million views. On March 11, 2020, Music to Be Murdered By was certified Gold. On July 9, 2020, Kid Cudi’s daughter Vada announced via social media that he was releasing a song with Eminem called “The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady” the coming Friday.

A deluxe edition of the album, titled Music to Be Murdered By – Side B, was released on December 18, 2020. Similar to Eminem’s previous two albums, it was released without any prior announcement. It contains a bonus disc with sixteen new tracks, with guest appearances by Skylar Grey, DJ Premier, Ty Dolla Sign, Dr. Dre, Sly Pyper, MAJ and White Gold. The album’s release was accompanied by a music video for “Gnat”, directed by Cole Bennett. Music to Be Murdered By – Side B debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 3, with 70,000–80,000 album-equivalent units, including 25,000–30,000 in pure album sales. In the track “Zeus”, he apologizes to Rihanna over a leaked song from his Relapse studio sessions in which he sided with Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to felony assault involving her in 2009 and dissed Snoop Dogg.

Eminem featured in a song with Polo G and Mozzy called “Last One Standing” by Skylar Grey for the soundtrack of the film Venom: Let There Be Carnage, released on September 30, 2021. He performed alongside LL Cool J at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on October 30. On February 13, 2022, Eminem performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige, with surprise appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson. Paak.

Eminem and CeeLo Green collaborated on a new track titled “The King and I”, produced by Dr. Dre for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis movie soundtrack. On June 24, 2022, Eminem and Snoop Dogg released a song entitled “From the D to the LBC” to squash their beef. On August 26, 2022, Eminem was featured alongside Kanye West on the remix of the song “Use This Gospel” on DJ Khaled’s new album God Did. The remix was originally set to be released on West’s shelved album Jesus Is King Part II.

On November 5, 2022, Eminem was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was presented by Dr. Dre and had special guest appearances by Aerosmith lead vocalist Steven Tyler and Ed Sheeran during his performance.

He produced Horseshoe G.A.N.G.'s song “Nice Me”, featuring Kxng Crooked, it's released on February 10. This marked the 3rd collaboration between Horseshoe and Eminem in the last couple of years. Previous tracks produced by Eminem include “Hot Sauce”, featuring Kxng Crooked and “Liquor Store Church” freestyle. He also produced NASAAN's song released “VS EVERYBODY”, it's released on April 3, 2023. In July 2023 Eminem’s Shady Records signed Ez Mil direct joint deal with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. On August 4, 2023 Ez Mil realized song “Realest”, featuring Eminem. In the song, Eminem finally responded to Melle Mel, who recently claimed that Eminem is considered top 5 rapper of all time only because he is white.

On November 3, 2023 Eminem releases Expanded Edition of “The Marshall Mathers LP 2”. On its 10th year anniversary, Eminem has released the expanded edition of his 2013 solo studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The album includes all the original tracks, plus “Don’t Front,” featuring Buckshot, which was a bonus track of MMLP2 for anyone who ordered the Call of Duty: Ghosts and the album bundle. It was also a bonus track on the Best Buy version of Shady XV compilation album. The expanded edition of MMLP2 also includes instrumentals of all the singles of the albums: “Survival,” “Berzerk,” “The Monster,” featuring Rihanna, “Rap God,” and “Headlights.”

2024: The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)

Eminem featured on Lyrical Lemonade "Doomsday Pt. 2", it's was released on January 26, 2024, with a music video premiering on YouTube on March 13. The song features disses aimed at Benzino, who has had a long-time beef with Eminem, with lines like "I have a riddle, one condition you mustn't laugh. What is the opposite of Benzino? A giraffe". The disses are a response to Benzino's track "Rap Elvis".

During an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 19, 2024, Dr. Dre stated that Eminem intended to release a new album that year. On April 25, Eminem appeared alongside Roger Goodell at the opening ceremony of the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit. At the same time, Eminem announced a twelfth studio album entitled The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), with a planned release later in the year. The trailer for the album, which was shown on the NFL Network, briefly discusses the "murder" of the Slim Shady persona in a true crime format. 50 Cent is also featured in a cameo role. The album is produced by Dr. Dre and The ICU.

Shady Records

Main article: Shady Records

Following Eminem's multiplatinum record sales, Interscope offered him his own label; he and Paul Rosenberg founded Shady Records in late 1999.

Shade 45

Main article: Shade 45

In 2004 Eminem established his own satellite radio channel, Shade 45, that plays uncut hip hop. Eminem also established a new morning show, Sway in the Morning with Sway Calloway, a lively morning show that airs at 8:00 a.m., Monday–Friday.

Mom's Spaghetti Restaurant

Main article: Mom's Spaghetti

On September 29, 2021, Eminem and Union Joints opened a spaghetti restaurant at 2131 Woodward Ave in Detroit. It is a reference to the lyrics "His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy / There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti" from the song "Lose Yourself" which became an internet meme.

Charity work

Main article: Marshall Mathers Foundation

Eminem does all this work to these kinds of charities because he knows what it’s like to grow up in poverty. He is always trying to make the world a better place so that other children don’t have to experience what he did when he was a child. According to the secretary for the Marshall Mathers Foundation, Eminem doesn't believe in publicizing his philanthropic work; he just genuinely wants to help.

In 2002 Eminem established the Marshall Mathers Foundation to aid disadvantaged youth. The foundation works in conjunction with a charity founded by Norman Yatooma, a Detroit attorney.

In 2004, the Marshall Mathers Foundation gave $50,000 to the Fresh Start program at Rikers Island prison. The money was used to pay for vocational training and job placement services.

In December 2009, Eminem fans were give a unique opportunity to create a special holiday keepsake. The rapper donned the traditional red and white garb of everyone's favorite jolly old elf, and posted photos on his website allowing people to edit themselves in. If fans purchased the images they created, they received autographed copies of the photos, and the proceeds benefited the Marshall Mathers Foundation.

In 2013, Eminem, through his Marshall Mathers Foundation, agreed to match up to $100,000 in donations to Wolverine Human Services, a Michigan-based organization that offers services to at-risk youth and families. Eminem fans who donated $10 or more had the chance to win autographed swag from the star

In 2014, the Marshall Mathers Foundation partnered with Carhartt for a fundraising event in support of their native Detroit. The organizations sold a limited-edition hoodie, with proceeds benefiting Eminem's charitable organization. In a statement, a senior marketing official for Carhartt said, "We have been a part of the Detroit area for 125 years, and are proud to partner with organizations like the Marshall Mathers Foundation that shine a positive light on the city."

In May 2014, Eminem decided to use his powers for good once more and turned to his fans for help. Through eBay, Eminem auctioned off five Casio G-Shock watches, tickets to his shows, and an autographed hat. The proceeds benefited Focus: HOPE, "a civil and human rights organization diligently working to bridge the racial and economic divide in southeast Michigan." The auction raised a total of $17,353 for the charity with 606 bids for the items coming in from all across the globe.

Eminem and Marshall Mathers Foundation supports the Literacy Through Songwriting program. In November 2015, Eminem partnered with Carhartt to create Slim Shady's Js in a fundraising event. Just 10 pairs of the sleek Air Jordan IV shoes were put up for auction, netting the charity $227,552.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Eminem donated a pair of Air Jordan 4 Retro Eminem Carhartt shoes, which are rare, to be raffled off with proceeds going to COVID-19 relief. That same year, he donated "Mom's spaghetti", a reference to a line in his song "Lose Yourself", to healthcare workers at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

At a holiday event, Eminem and The Marshall Mathers Foundation spent more than $200,000 to give 120,000 needy Michigan children a holdiday season they’ll never forget. He spent this money to buy presents for the children in need.

Eminem has also helped by donating money to the Small Steps Project, a humanitarian organisation that dedicates their time and effort to supporting children all over the world who live on the streets and survive by scavenging.

In 2015, Eminem used the success of the movie and his song on the soundtrack to create a philanthropic opportunity. Eminem and Shady Records partnered with the Marshall Mathers Foundation and Title Boxing to create custom Southpaw merchandise. Proceeds went directly to Detroit's Downtown Boxing Gym, a nonprofit that works with at-risk youth. Graduates of the program were even used to model the merch.

In January 2015, 17-year-old Gage Garmo was battling osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in Detroit. After three years of struggling with the illness, he was told he had only a week to live. His dying wish was to meet his favorite hometown rapper, Eminem. The rapper hopped a flight from Atlanta, and made it to Garmo's bedside less than 24 hours before he passed away. Eminem spent two hours with the boy, and his only condition for the meet-and-greet was that no press be present, for Garmo's privacy.

Books and Memoirs

On November 21, 2000, Eminem published Angry Blonde, a non-fiction book featuring a commentary of several of his own songs, along with several previously unpublished photographs.

On October 21, 2008, his autobiography The Way I Am was published. The book was first published on October 21, 2008, by Dutton Adult. It is a collection of Eminem's personal stories, reflections, photographs, original artwork, and original lyric sheets from "Stan" and "The Real Slim Shady". It details his struggles with poverty, drugs, fame, heartbreak, family and depression, along with stories about his rise to fame and commentary on past controversies. The book is illustrated with never before published photos of Eminem's life. It also contains original drawings, previously unpublished lyric sheets, and other rare memorabilia. The autobiography is named after the song of the same name.

Artisry

Eminem has cited several MCs as influencing his rapping style, including André 3000, Esham,Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Newcleus, Ice-T, Mantronix, Melle Mel (on "The Message"), LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run-D.M.C., Redman, Rakim and Boogie Down Productions.

In How to Rap, Guerilla Black notes that Eminem studied other MCs to hone his rapping technique: "Eminem listened to everything and that's what made him one of the greats". In the book, other MCs also praise aspects of his rapping technique: varied, humorous subject matter, connecting with his audience, carrying a concept over a series of albums, complex rhyme schemes, bending words so they rhyme, multisyllabic rhymes, many rhymes to a bar, complex rhythms, clear enunciation, and the use of melody and syncopation.

Eminem is known to write most of his lyrics on paper (documented in The Way I Am), taking several days or a week to craft lyrics, being a "workaholic"and "stacking" vocals. Examples of hip hop subgenres that Eminem's music has been described as include horrorcore, comedy hip hop and hardcore hip hop. Eminem also incorporates rap rock into his music and has cited rock acts during the 1970s and 1980s, such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, as influences in his music.

Eminem is considered unusual in structuring his songs around the lyrics, rather than writing to beats. One exception was "Stan", which came from an idea and scratch track produced by the 45 King. He said about producing his own music, "Sometimes, I may get something in my head, like an idea or the mood of something that I would want, and I'm not always gonna get that by going through different tracks that other people have made. They don't know what's in my head. I think maybe it helps, a little bit, with diversity, the sound of it, but also, I would get something in my head and want to be able to lay down that idea from scratch."

Legacy

“	Eminem is one of the best-selling artists in music history, easily the biggest crossover success ever seen in rap. To call him hip-hop's Elvis is correct to a degree, but it's largely inaccurate. Certainly, he was the first white rapper since the Beastie Boys to garner both sales and critical respect, but his impact has exceeded this confining distinction.	”
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Credited for popularizing hip hop to a Middle American audience, Eminem's unprecedented global commercial success and acclaimed works for a white rapper is widely recognized for breaking racial barriers for the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. Rising from rags to riches, Eminem's anger-fueled music represented widespread angst and the reality of American underclass. He has been greatly influential for artists of various genres. Stephen Hill, the then vice president of African American-themed television network BET (Black Entertainment Television), said in 2002: “Eminem gets a pass in the same vein that back during segregation black folks had to be better than average, had to be the best, to be accepted... he is better than the best. In his own way, he is the best lyricist, alliterator and enunciator out there in hip-hop music. In terms of rapping about the pain that other disenfranchised people feel, there is no one better at their game than Eminem.”.

In 2002, the BBC said that the perception of Eminem as a "modern-day William Shakespeare" was comparable to the reception of American singer Bob Dylan: "Not since Bob Dylan's heyday in the mid-1960s has an artist's output been subjected to such intense academic scrutiny as an exercise in contemporary soul-searching. US critics point to [Eminem's] vivid portraits of disenfranchised lives – using the stark, direct language of the street – as an accurate reflection of social injustice." In addition, the BBC highlighted that, "Where parents once recoiled in horror [to his music], there now seems a greater willingness to acknowledge a music that is striking such a chord among the American young, angry white underclass." Dan Ozzi of Vice highlighted that Eminem during the early 2000s was "the one artist high school kids seemed to unanimously connect with.... he represented everything high school years are about: blind rage, misguided rebellion, adolescent frustration. He was like a human middle finger. An X-rated Dennis the Menace for a dial-up modem generation."

Writing for Spin in 2002, rock critic Alan Light compared Eminem to the Beatles' John Lennon: “Eminem is even starting to bear a resemblance to one of those rock icons... Marshall Mathers is becoming something like this generation's John Lennon... Lennon and Eminem were both subjects of pickets and protests; they both wrote songs about troubled relationships with their mothers; they both wrote about their strange public lives with their wives; they both wrote about how much they loved their kids. Lennon, of course, was able to find ways to use his voice to advocate for peace rather than just blasting away at litigious family members and various pop stars, but still, few other pop musicians since Lennon have found a way to render their private psychodramas into compelling art as effectively as Eminem.”. Regarding his rehearsal with Eminem for the "Stan" duet at the 2001 Grammy Awards, English singer Elton John said, "[When] Eminem made his entrance, I got goose bumps, the likes of which I have not felt since I first saw Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Eminem was that good. I just thought, 'Fuck, this man is amazing.' There are very few performers who can grab you like that the first time — only the greats." John further praised Eminem, saying, "Eminem is a true poet of his time, someone we'll be talking about for decades to come. He tells stories in such a powerful and distinctive way. As a lyricist, he's one of the best ever. Eminem does for his audience what [Bob] Dylan did for his: He writes how he feels. His anger, vulnerability and humor come out.".

Concerning the controversy surrounding Eminem due to his transgressive music, American entertainer Madonna had said, "I like the fact that Eminem is brash and angry and politically incorrect ... He's stirring things up, he's provoking a discussion, he's making people's blood boil. He's reflecting what's going on in society right now. That is what art is supposed to do." American musician Stevie Wonder also said, "Rap to me is a modern blues – a statement of how and where people are at... I think art is a reflection of our society, and people don't like to confront the realities in society... But until we really confront the truth, we are going to have a Tupac or Eminem or Biggie Smalls to remind us about it – and thank God. They force people to look at realities in society.". In 2022 Bob Dylan praised Eminem, along with other artists, in interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Eminem has been credited with boosting the careers of hip hop proteges such as 50 Cent, Yelawolf, Stat Quo, Royce da 5'9", Cashis, Obie Trice, Bobby Creekwater, Boogie and hip hop groups such as D12 and Slaughterhouse.

A number of artists have cited Eminem as an influence, including The Weeknd, Usher, Rae Sremmurd, Logic, Joyner Lucas, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, J. Cole, Chance the Rapper, Regina Spektor, Lana Del Rey, and Juice World.

Personal Life

He was twice married to Kimberly Anne Scott; he met Scott in high school while he stood on a table with his shirt off rapping LL Cool J's "I'm Bad". Scott and her twin sister had run away from home; they moved in with Eminem and his mother when he was 15 and he began an on-and-off relationship with Scott in 1989. Their daughter Haile Jade Scott was born on December 25, 1995. Mathers and Scott were married in 1999 and divorced in 2001. Although Eminem told Rolling Stone in 2002, "I would rather have a baby through my penis than get married again", he and Scott briefly remarried in January 2006. He filed for divorce in early April, agreeing to joint custody of Hailie. In early 2010, Eminem denied tabloid reports that he and Scott had renewed their romantic relationship; however, in the same statement, his representative also confirmed that they now maintain a friendly relationship.

Their daughter, Hailie Jade, is a social media influencer, specifically for fashion and beauty. She married her long-term partner Evan McClintock on May 20, 2024, with Eminem, Dr Dre and 50 Cent among those in attendance.

Eminem has adopted children and one of them are Alaina Marie (b. Feb. 22, 1993), who is the daughter of Kim's twin sister Dawn Scott, Eminem legally adopted her in the early 2000s as her mother struggled with. On June 9, 2023, Alaina married Matt Moeller in an outdoor ceremony in Detroit, Michigan. Many friends and family members were in attendance, including Hailie, who served as a bridesmaid; and Eminem, who walked Alaina down an 80-foot-long aisle lined with 2,000 white roses.

Other adopted child are Stevie Laine (b. April 16, 2002), the daughter of Kim and Eric Hartter. When Kim and Eminem got back together, the 8 Mile star legally adopted Stevie in 2005.

He had custody of his younger maternal half-brother Nathan Samara-Mathers.

Eminem and actress Brittany Murphy dated in the 2000s. He stated in 2002 that he had been dating singer Mariah Carey, though she later denied it. In 2005, he played alleged voicemails of her during the Anger Management Tour and stated in 2006 that he had dated her for six to seven months, but the two broke up due to the differences in their personalities.

Eminem is a Christian, and has rapped about his faith in a few songs, most notably on the remix to "Use This Gospel".

Eminem is a fan of the Detroit Lions and Detroit Pistons. He is also an avid comic book collector. His collection includes Amazing Fantasy #15, which is the comic book that introduces Spider-Man. The comic is worth over $1 million. A former Shady Records executive referred to his collection as "otherworldly".

Health problems

‘’’Drug addiction’’’ Eminem has spoken publicly about his addiction to prescription drugs, including Vicodin, Ambien and Valium. According to friend and fellow D12 member Proof, Eminem first straightened out in 2002. During the production of 8 Mile, Eminem, working 16 hours a day, developed insomnia. An associate gave him an Ambien tablet which "knocked [him] out", encouraging him to obtain a prescription. This was Eminem's first experience of drug addiction, which would affect him for several years. Near the end of production on Encore, he would "just go into the studio and goof off [with] a pocketful of pills". Eminem began taking the drugs to "feel normal", taking a "ridiculous amount ... I could consume anywhere from 40 to 60 Valium [in a day]. Vicodin, maybe 30." The drugs would put him to sleep for no more than two hours, after which he would take more. Eminem's weight increased to 230 lb (kg) and he was regularly eating fast food: "The kids behind the counter knew me — it wouldn't even faze them. Or I'd sit up at Denny's or Big Boy and just eat by myself. It was sad." Eminem became less recognizable due to his weight gain and once overheard two teenagers arguing about whether or not it was him: "Eminem ain't fat".

Political views

In multiple songs, Eminem has expressed political views that align with the Democratic Party; however, he has refrained from direct endorsements of politicians, focusing more on criticisms instead. The first was "Mosh", which was released in 2004, a few weeks before the 2004 United States presidential election, and heavily criticized then-president George W. Bush but did not directly endorse John Kerry either. Eminem would not express political views again until the 2016 United States presidential election when he released "Campaign Speech", which criticized presidential candidate Donald Trump. The following year, Eminem criticized Trump in a freestyle titled "The Storm". In the freestyle, Eminem expressed support for former San Francisco 49ersm quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the U.S. national anthem protests, and expressed his displeasure for any of his fans that support Trump.

In his song "Darkness", Eminem heavily references the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, and at the end of the music video expresses his support for gun control. The week before the 2020 United States presidential election, Eminem approved his song "Lose Yourself" to be used in a campaign video for Joe Biden. After the United States Supreme Court overturned "Roe v. Wade", Eminem posted a tweet to his Twitter expressing his displeasure for the decision saying As a father it pisses me off that women have fewer rights 2day than just a few days ago… we r fuckin goin bckwards. Here's how 2 help in Michigan. and included a link to a pro-choice organization in Michigan. In 2023, he requested that Republican election candidate Vivek Ramaswamy stop rapping his song "Lose Yourself" at campaign rallies, sending Ramaswamy a cease and desist letter.

Threats

In April 2020, Matthew David Hughes, a 26-year-old homeless man, broke into Eminem's house in Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan, breaking a kitchen window with a brick paver. Eminem woke up with Hughes standing behind him and Hughes said that he was there to kill Eminem. In a plea agreement in 2021, Hughes pleaded guilty to second-degree home invasion in exchange for dismissal of other charges; he was sentenced to probation and time served (524 days in the county jail). In 2019, Hughes had pleaded guilty to breaking into a Rochester Hills home in search of Eminem.

On August 30, 2023, it was revealed that the perpetrator of the 2023 Jacksonville shooting Ryan Palmeter targeted Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly as his victims in a racially-motivated attack.

Feuds

Main article: Eminem Feuds

Eminem has had lyrical feuds during his career with many recording artists, including Christina Aguilera, Machine Gun Kelly, Everlast, Cage, Insane Clown Posse, Will Smith, Miilkbone, Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, Limp Bizkit, Benzino, Ja Rule, Vanilla Ice, Canibus, Jermaine Dupri, Joe Budden, Lord Jamar, and Charlamagne tha God.

Controversies

Allegations of homophobia

Some of Eminem's lyrics have been criticized for being homophobic, and an Australian politician attempted to ban him from the country. Eminem denies the charge, saying that when he was growing up words such as "f—t" and "queer" were used generally in a derogatory manner and not specifically toward homosexuals. During a 2010 60 Minutes interview, journalist Anderson Cooper explored the issue:
“Cooper: Some of the lyrics, like, you know, in the song "Criminal" you say.
Eminem: Yeah, this scene I came up in. That word was thrown around so much, you know, "f-t" was like thrown around constantly to each other, like in battling.
Cooper: Do you not like gay people?
Eminem: No, I don't have any problem with nobody. You know what I mean? I'm just like whatever.”.

In 2013 Eminem was accused yet again of using homophobic words in his lyrics in "Rap God" (2013) and explained "I don't know how to say this without saying it how I've said it a million times. But that word, those kind of words, when I came up battle-rappin' or whatever, I never really equated those words;... (to actually mean homosexual)".

In 2018 Eminem was accused yet again of using homophobic words in his lyrics in the song “Fall” against Tyler, the Creator. Later Eminem apologizes for using homophobic slur, saying he went 'too far'. Discussing the issue in a multi-part interview with Sway, Eminem explained that while he meant to stand up for himself, “I think the word that I called him on that song was one of the things where I felt like, ‘This might be too far.'” He added, “Because in my quest to hurt him [Tyler], I realize that I was hurting a lot of other people by saying it.”

Eminem is a friend of gay singer Elton John, and publicly supports gay rights. When asked in an interview with The New York Times about the subject of same-sex marriage being legalized in his home state of Michigan, Eminem responded, "I think if two people love each other, then what the hell? I think that everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable, if they want", explaining that his "overall look on things is a lot more mature than it used to be."

Allegations of misogyny

The two 'eye-opening' songs most often cited as examples in The Marshall Mathers LP of Mathers' supposed misogyny were "Kill You" and "Kim." Critics claimed the former portrayed extremely violent abuse against women in general and contained a line about him raping his own mother. The latter is not so much a song as it is a reenactment of a fictional fight between him and his wife, although his shouted, hoarse lines do rhyme. Despite his conflicting expressions of love and hate throughout the track, he ends up slitting Kim's throat at the end, accompanied by cries of "Bleed, bitch, bleed!" Several people objected to the graphic description of domestic violence. On the clean version of the CD, the track was removed and replaced with a song almost entirely devoid of profanity called "The Kids."

Racist tapes

In the midst of the Benzino-Eminem beef, Benzino found two tapes of a young Eminem rapping what could have been believed to be racist. Among the two songs, Eminem said, "I don't like that n—-r shit" and also that "black girls only want your money." As soon as the songs became public, Eminem immediately released an apology for the controversial songs. Eminem would again apologize for the lyrics in the song "Yellow Brick Road" off his album Encore. Eminem tried to explain how the songs came to being made in that the first song was him trying to sound "whack." The second he said he did after a bad breakup with a girlfriend who was black.

Immediately after the release of Eminem's first apology, Def Jam CEO Russell Simmons]] came out in accepting Eminem's apology and since then, with the exception of Benzino and Nick Cannon, other rappers have mostly forgotten or simply dropped the issue.

U.S. Secret Service

On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service reported that it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem threatened U.S. president George W. Bush in "We As Americans" (an unreleased bootleg at the time), with the lyrics: "Fuck money, I don't rap for dead presidents. I'd rather see the president dead, it's never been said but I set precedents." The incident was included in the video for "Mosh", as a newspaper clipping on a wall with articles about unfortunate incidents in Bush's career. "We As Americans" eventually appeared on Encore's deluxe-edition bonus disc with altered lyrics. The original lyrics can be heard at the end of Immortal Technique's "Bin Laden".

In 2018–2019, the Secret Service interviewed Eminem again regarding threatening lyrics towards president Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Eminem's first single off Encore, Michael Jackson called into the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his displeasure with the video, which parodies Jackson's child molestation trial, plastic surgery and an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. The lyrics to "Just Lose It" also refer to Jackson's legal troubles, however he does state in his song "...and thats not a stab at Michael/Thats just a metaphor/I'm just psycho...". Many of Jackson's supporters and friends spoke out about the video, including Stevie Wonder, who called the video "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit", and Steve Harvey who declared, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back." In the video, Eminem also parodied Pee Wee Herman, MC Hammer, and a Blonde-Ambition-touring Madonna.

Black Entertainment Television was the first channel to stop airing the video. MTV, however, announced it would continue airing the video, and "Just Lose It" became the #1 requested video on Total Request Live for the week ending October 22. The Source, through its CEO Benzino, wanted not only the video to be pulled, but the song off the album, and a public apology to Jackson from Mathers.

Others dismissed "Just Lose It" as a tame "Weird Al" Yankovic-style knockoff. Regarding Jackson's protest, Yankovic, who parodied the Eminem song "Lose Yourself" on a track titled "Couch Potato" on his 2003 album Poodle Hat, told the Chicago Sun-Times]], "Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my "Lose Yourself" parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career. So the irony of this situation with Michael is not lost on me".

Legal issues

Eminem had his first run-in with the law at age 20, when he was arrested for his involvement in a drive-by shooting with a paintball gun. The case was dismissed when the victim did not appear in court.

On June 3, 2000, Eminem was arrested during an altercation with Douglas Dail at a car-audio store in Royal Oak, Michigan, when Eminem pulled out an unloaded gun and pointed it at the ground. The next day, in Warren, Michigan, he was arrested again for assaulting John Guerra in the parking lot of the Hot Rock Café when he saw Guerra kissing Eminem's wife. Eminem recreated the Guerra assault in "The Kiss (Skit)" on The Eminem Show. He pleaded guilty to possession of a concealed weapon and assault, receiving two years' probation; however, Guerra's assault charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement. On June 28, 2001, Eminem was sentenced to one year's probation and community service and was fined about $2,000 on weapon charges stemming from an argument with an employee of Psychopathic Records.

In 1999, Eminem's mother sued him for $10 million, claiming he was slandering her on The Slim Shady LP. Litigation concluded in 2001, resulting in an award of $1,600 for her damages.

On July 7, 2000, Kim Mathers attempted suicide by slitting her wrists, later suing Eminem for defamation after describing her violent death in "Kim”.

Sanitation worker DeAngelo Bailey sued Eminem for $1 million in 2001, accusing him of invading his privacy by publicizing information placing Bailey in a false light in "Brain Damage", a song that portrays him as a violent school bully. Although Bailey admitted picking on Eminem in school, he said he merely "bumped" Eminem and gave him a "little shove". The lawsuit was dismissed on October 20, 2003; Judge Deborah Servitto, who wrote a portion of her opinion in rap-like rhyming verse, ruled that it was clear to the public that the lyrics were exaggerated.

On March 31, 2002, French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem and Dr. Dre, claiming that the beat for "Kill You" was taken from his instrumental "Pulsion". Loussier demanded that sales of The Marshall Mathers LP be halted and any remaining copies destroyed. The case was later settled out of court.

In 2006, Eminem was accused of assaulting Miad Jarbou, a resident of Royal Oak, Michigan, in the bathroom of a Detroit strip club, but was never charged. Two years later, Jarbou sued Eminem for more than $25,000 in damages.

In 2007, Eminem's music-publishing company (Eight Mile Style) and Martin Affiliated sued Apple Inc. and Aftermath Entertainment, claiming that Aftermath was not authorized to negotiate a deal with Apple for digital downloads of 93 Eminem songs on Apple's iTunes. The case against Apple was settled shortly after the trial began, in late September 2009.

In July 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in F.B.T. Productions, LLC v. Aftermath Records that F.B.T. Productions and Eminem were owed a royalty of 50 percent of Aftermath's net revenue from licensing his recordings to companies such as Apple, Sprint Corporation, Nextel Communications, Cingular and T-Mobile US. In March 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear the case.

In October 2013, Eminem sampled Chicago-based rap group Hotstylz's 2008 viral hit, "Lookin' Boy", for his 2013 hit single "Rap God". The group claims that Eminem did not receive permission to use the sample, nor did he credit or compensate them. In November 2013, Hotstylz released a diss track towards Eminem titled "Rap Fraud", where they sample several of his songs and criticize him for not crediting them. In January 2015, TMZ reported that Hotstylz was suing Eminem and his label, Shady Records, for $8 million, for using the 25-second sample of "Lookin' Boy" on his song "Rap God" without their permission.

Discography

Studio albums

• Infinite (1996)
• The Slim Shady LP (1999)
• The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
• The Eminem Show (2002)
• Encore (2004)
• Relapse (2009)
• Recovery (2010)
• The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013)
• Revival (2017)
• Kamikaze (2018)
• Music to Be Murdered By (2020)
• The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (2024)

Compilation Albums

• Curtain Call: The Hits (2005)
• Curtain Call 2 (2022)

Extended Plays

• Slim Shady EP (1997)

Mixtapes

• Fuckin Yzarc (2000)
• The Freestyle Show (2002)
• Straight From The Lab (2003)
• The Singles (2003)
• [[The Freestyle Manual] (2006)
• Shady Classics: The Mixtape (2014)

Soundtrack albums

Shady Records

• 8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture (2002)
• Southpaw: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture (2015)

Reissued albums

• Relapse: Refill (2009)
• Music to Be Murdered By: Side B (2020)

Box sets

• Ǝ (The Singles) (2004)
• The Vinyl LPs (2015)
• Eminem x Fortnite Radio (2023)

Collaborative albums, EP's and mixtapes

Albums

Shady Records

• Eminem Presents: The Re-up (2006)
• Shady XV (2014)

D12

• Devil's Night (2001)
• D12 World (2004)

Bad Meets Evil

• Hell: The Sequel] (2011)

Soul Intent

• Soul Intent EP (1995)

D12

• The Underground E.P. (1996)

Mixtapes

Soul Intent

• Stepping into The Scene (1990)
• Still in The Bassmint] (1992)

D12

• Detroit, What! (Demo Tape) (2000)
• D12 Limited Edition Mixtape(2003)
• Return of the Dozen. Vol. 2 (2011)
• The Devils Night Mixtape: Reloaded (2015)

Dj Green Lantern

• Shady Times: Invasion, Pt. 1 (2002)
• Invasion Part 2: Conspiracy Theory (2003)
• Invasion Part 3: Countdown to Armageddon (2004)

External links

• [imdb name|id=0004896|name=Eminem]
• Official Eminem website
• Official Aftermath Records website
• Eminem in WikiMusicGuide
• Official Shady Records website
• Official Myspace Page

Resources

• EMINEM AND ICP. HOW HIS CAREER STARTED FOR REAL
• TRshady.com - Eminem fansite
• d12world.com - D12 Fan Site
• AllAboutEminem.com - Eminem fansite
• Template:Musicbrainz artist
• Networth source
• 8 Mile Movie Production Notes
• DaShadyBoard.com - The Biggest Shady Community Online
• Eminem Lyrics
• Shady/Aftermath News
• Eminem Soundboard