4idols Eminem Slim Shady

Birth name: Marshall Bruce Mathers III
Nickname: Eminem, Slim Shady
Height: 5' 8" (1.73 m)
Born: October 17, 1972
Birth place: Kansas City, Missouri, USA

He was born Marshall Mathers in St. Joseph, MO (near Kansas City), spending the better part of his impoverished childhood shuttling back and forth between his hometown and the city of Detroit. Initially attracted to rap as a teen, Eminem began performing at age 14, performing raps in the basement of his high school friend's home. The two went under the names Manix and M&M (soon changed to Eminem), which Mathers took from his own initials. Due to the unavoidable racial boundaries that came with being a white rapper, he decided the easiest way to win over underground hip-hop audiences was to become a battle rapper and improv against other MCs in clubs. Although he wasn't immediately accepted, through time he became such a popular attraction that people would challenge him just to make a name for themselves.

Interested in rap from a young age, Mathers began performing as early as thirteen, later gaining some popularity with a group, Soul Intent. In 1996, he released his first independent album, named Infinite (of which he sold about 500 copies out of the back of his car. It went "copper," as Eminem puts it) The album received no airplay and a mixed critical response, with people claiming Eminem's rapping style sounded too similar to Nas and AZ. Drawing on the negative experiences of his life, in 1997 Eminem followed Infinite up with The Slim Shady EP demo, which saw his lyrics take a decidedly darker turn. He became famous in the hip-hop underground because of his distinctive, cartoonish style and the fact that he was white in a predominantly black genre. Fellow rapper Snoop Dogg referred to him as rap's "great white American hope" in the song "Bitch Please II".

Once he joined Interscope, Eminem released The Slim Shady LP, which went on to be one of the most popular records of 1999, going triple platinum by the end of the year. With the album's enormous popularity came controversy surrounding many of the album's lyrics.

The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. In the week following its release, it sold 1.7 million copies, becoming the fastest-selling rap album in history. The first single released from the album, The singles, Real Slim Shady, Stand, and The Way I Am, was a smash hit and dominated the radio air waves. The album is widely considered by fans to be Eminem's best work, and was also his most commercially successful, going nine-times platinum in the U.S.

Since Eminem's rapid ascent to fame, tell-all biographies of varying quality have been published, including Shady Bizzness by his former bodyguard Byron Williams. Eminem himself has written a book called Angry Blonde, released in 2000, where he reveals the emotions and intent behind the lyrics in the Marshall Mathers LP, and describes his passion for and approach to rapping.

Eminem made his Hollywood acting debut with the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile, released in November 8, 2002. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself," which won Eminem an Academy Award for Best Song.US The movie was a major blockbuster at the box office with USA Box Office total at $117 Million and Worldwide Box Office at $242 Million. Not bad for a movie which cost only $41 Million to make.

Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture 8 Mile is the official music soundtrack to the movie 8 Mile, starring Eminem, who raps on five of the tracks on this soundtrack. It was released on the Interscope label. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart that year, and it was also #1 on the UK Compilations Chart, and the Australian ARIAnet Albums Chart. It featured Eminem's worldwide chart-topping single, "Lose Yourself". It also spawned a follow up soundtrack, More Music From 8 Mile.

Eminem's third major album, The Eminem Show was released in summer 2002. The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002, with 7.6 million copies by year end. It is number 317 on the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Although the album was a critical and commercial success, many fans felt that it didn't live up to the power of his first two albums, yet was generally received better than its successor, Encore.

Encore was release on November 12, 2004. Encore was eventually certified 4-times platinum; however, it was a sales disappointment compared to Eminem's previous two albums. Many critics panned Encore as Eminem's most mediocre effort, referring to its second-rate production and lyricism, especially in comparison to his previous albums.

Curtain Call: The Hits is Eminem's fifth major label release, being a greatest hits album. It was released on December 6, 2005. The album has debuted at #1 in the UK Albums Chart, after only being given 2 sales days to chart, in a similar fashion to his previous album Encore. It also gave Eminem his fourth straight #1 album in the U.S. The title of the album sparked rumours that Eminem was planning to bring his career (at least as a recording artist) to a close; there has been no official statements to this effect, but Eminem has acknowledged the possibility that this may be the last Eminem release.

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