Eminem

Fun Fact: Eminem is one of the highest-selling musicians of the early 2000s. He has sold over seventy million albums worldwide, and is one of the highest-selling rap artists of all time. Eminem is expected to release two albums within this year, The Relapse and The Relapse 2.

Claim to Fame: Eminem was discovered by rapper and producer Dr. Dre, who later signed Eminem to his record label, Aftermath Entertainment.

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known by his primary stage name Eminem, or by his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer and actor. Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The following album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling hip hop album in history. It brought Eminem increased popularity, including his own record label, Shady Records, and brought his group project D12 to mainstream recognition.

The Marshall Mathers LP and his third album, The Eminem Show also won Grammy Awards, making Eminem the first artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LP's. In 2002, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Lose Yourself from the film 8 Mile, in which he also played the lead. Lose Yourself would go on to become the longest running #1 rap single. Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released his first album since 2004's Encore, titled Relapse, on May 15, 2009. Eminem has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide to date and is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Worldwide he is the best selling music artist of the 2000s. Eminem is also ranked in the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. He was also named the Best Rapper Ever in an online reader-poll by Vibe Magazine.




Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the son of Deborah Mathers-Briggs and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. before moving to Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. After procuring a copy of the Beastie Boys album Licensed to Ill as a teenager, Mathers became interested in hip hop, performing amateur raps at age fourteen under the pseudonym "M&M" and joining the group called "Bassmint Productions" and released their first EP called "Steppin' Onto The Scene". They later changed their name to "Soul Intent" and around 1995 they released their first single called "Fuckin' Backstabber" under the record label Mashin' Duck Records. gaining the approval of underground hip hop audiences. 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 Scott while on limited funds and his strong desire to get rich. Early in his career, Eminem collaborated with fellow Detroit MC Royce da 5'9" under the stage name Bad Meets Evil. After the release of Infinite, Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in his unsuccessful suicide attempt. 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.

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