Thursday, May 15, 2008

EMINEM




Biography

The man otherwise known as Eminem was christened Marshall Bruce Mathers III, and was born October 17, 1972, in Kansas City, MO.

Eminem was raised by his mother, and traveling from one trailer park to another was the only tune Eminem was singing. His single mother would move her son from Kansas City to Warren, Michigan, only to finally settle down in the East Side of Detroit when Eminem was 12.

eminem's early years

Due to a childhood tainted by constant moving around and a broken family, Eminem was, surprisingly, a quiet child, and delved mostly into comics and TV. While a student at Lincoln Junior High School and Osbourne High School, Eminem became interested in '80s rap acts such as 2 Live Crew, L.L. Cool J and NWA, and he began to open up more in the form of rapping and rhyming.

But as a white rapper singing predominantly "black" music, Eminem got into many fights while in school. Despite his rhyming talents, Eminem didn't spend much of his time actually studying, and after mastering the art of skipping school, the teenage delinquent dropped out altogether.

He spent his time working several minimum-wage jobs, while concentrating on rapping. After contributing his rapping skills to groups such as Basement Productions and Sole Intent, and establishing a reputation for himself as the only white rapper taking to the Detroit "talent night" microphones, the master rhymer released a solo independent album, Infinite, in 1996.

eminem becomes slim shady

Eminem did not see the kind of success he enjoys today; in fact, he received no more than negative comments and criticism. Not discouraged to keep trying -- despite hurtful negativity -- Eminem continued to appear in shows and on radio stations in Detroit, and was eventually mentioned in the Source's "Unsigned Hype" column and won the 1997 Wake Up Show Freestyle Performer of the Year award.

He participated in the Coalition's 1997 "Rap Olympics" in L.A., where he ranked second place and gave someone from the Rap Coalition a copy of his debut, Infinite. After former NWA member Dr. Dre heard Eminem's skills on an L.A. radio station, he was convinced that he wanted to work with the freestyler.

Dre signed Eminem to his Aftermath Entertainment label, and together they worked on releasing The Slim Shady LP, which included more songs than the independently, previously released The Slim Shady EP. Released in 1998, The Slim Shady EP (named after Eminem's evil alter-ego -- no kidding) made the rapper a star on the rap scene, and led to his appearance on MC Shabaam Sahdeeq's "Five Star General."

eminem makes it with my name is...

In 1999, The Slim Shady LP was released, containing songs such as "My Name Is..." and his collaboration with Dre, "Guilty Conscience." The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album charts, and has since gone more than three times platinum, which is nothing compared to the success he would see with his next release.

Chock-full of award recognition, what with an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist and two Grammys (one for Rap Solo Performance for "My Name Is...", another for Best Rap Album), Eminem went back to the studio.

eminem is the real slim shady

When Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP was released in 2000, Eminem quickly became the star of the year. The album sold two million copies in its first week of release, and it stayed put as No. 1 on the charts for a firm eight weeks. Spawning huge hits such as "The Real Slim Shady" (which triggered an ongoing war with pop princesses Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera), "The Way I Am" and "Stan" (which catapulted the career of trip-hop artist Dido), Eminem's self-titled LP deserved all the recognition it received, despite the controversy.

The multiplatinum-selling artist received the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance for "The Real Slim Shady," Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Forgot About Dre" (he collaborated on Dre's single), and the Best Rap Album of the Year Award, in 2001. He also didn't fail to plug his group, D12, whose members joined him onstage as he accepted an award. Eminem was also a winner at the 2001 Brit Awards, where he nabbed the award for Best International Male Artist.

eminem stars in 8 mile

In 2002, Eminem made his acting debut in the movie 8 Mile, which was based loosely on his life. Not only did the film garner a lot of much-deserved praise, the soundtrack for the film was as successful as the movie. The track "Lose Yourself," which was featured prominently in the trailers and movie, won a truckload of awards, including two Grammys (for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song) and the Oscar for Best Music, Original Song.

The Eminem Show was also released in 2002, and spawned hits like "Without Me" and "Cleaning Out My Closet." It earned Eminem two more Grammys, this time for Best Short Form Music Video for "Without Me" and Best Rap Album.

Eminem spent the next couple of years exchanging words with Triumph the Insult Dog at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards and appearing at 2003's VMAs, and collaborating with D12 on their song "My Band."

eminem wants to just lose it

In 2004, Eminem returned to the charts with the first single off his fourth album, Encore. The video for "Just Lose It" pokes fun at Michael Jackson in every way possible, and BET even yanked it from rotation; MTV and VH1 are still airing the video, to Jackson's dismay.

Despite the controversy surrounding Eminem's vulgar and suggestive lyrics, not to mention negative press such as being sued by his mother, his wife (and mother of his daughter Hailie Jade) filing for divorce, being charged with gun possession, as well as his wife's suicide attempt, and pretty much being despised by everyone in the free world, it's hard to ignore Eminem's sheer talent as a lyricist and musician

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