Eminem

Eminem or Marshall Mathers is a well-known American rapper, particularly because it was almost unheard of to have a white-skinned guy rap with so much talent. In the past, people of African American descent were commonly in rap and gaining fame, however, Eminem broke those stereotypes. He was the best-selling artist in the 2000s throughout the USA and has had 10 albums on spot #1 on Billboard 200 list. More importantly, Eminem is the only artist to have eight albums end up in the first place in the Billboard 200 list in a row!

Eminem’s mother nearly died when she had a very complicated 73-hour labor with him, and we can’t even try to imagine a world of rap without his influence. It all started when he was a teenager, having stayed with his mom only, and his father not replying to his letters. Em was a bit of a loner and was often bullied in school, but the charges were dismissed by the school. Eminem found solace in writing about it, and one of the examples is his song “Brain Damage” about a bully. He was commonly reading comic books and aspired to be a comic book artist before he discovered hip-hop.

Everything happening in his life influenced Eminem’s music, whether good or bad – it was his way of expressing. In 1995, with his good friend Proof, he joined Soul Intent group and they released a single. The next year his debut album came out called Infinite, recorded for independent Web Entertainment label. It wasn’t a big success for Eminem, but it helped him convey his struggles of raising a newborn daughter with very little money. Some say it was probably because of lack of violent rhyming and rapping style he’s known by today. Em struggled washing dishes and cooking for minimum wage at the time, trying to be the best Dad possible.

After he was fired from his job, he started developing his album and his alter ego we know so well today – Slim Shady. It was the year of 1997 that Slim Shady EP released, and it was full of anger with drugs, rape, and murder, poverty and very serious problems in general. He went on to compete in a nationwide rap competition the same year, called Rap Olympics and sent his tape, which Dr. Dre heard. It was an instant hit for Dr. Dre, and he ordered his employees to find Eminem as soon as possible.

Even though his colleagues didn’t like the idea because Em was white, Dre cared more about talent than the skin color, and The Slim Shady LP was released in 1999. It was a huge success and received certified triple platinum before the year’s end. It has a certified quadruple platinum status today. Eminem continued to work with Dr. Dre, and they guest-starred on each other’s albums, and in 2000 Marshall Mathers LP was released. As you know, it’s Eminem’s real name, and it gained huge recognition right away, selling 1,760,000 copies the first weak, breaking Snoop Dogg’s record.

Before you continue, take a look at just why it is so amazing. Fast forward to recent years, Eminem is back on the scene and is kicking ass, to say the least. First, he appeared on a Big Sean’s track, calling President Donald Trump by an inappropriate name. He got support from people that aren’t big fans of Trump and was criticized by supporters. Whatever your opinion may be, Eminem does have a point when he speaks about gun control and mass shooting, as he always had a habit of rapping about real-world problems occurring at the moment. In October of 2017, Em started teasing fans with his new album called Revival and released his first single “Walk on Water” in November. He partnered up with Ed Sheeran, another superstar on his second single “River”, despite album getting leaked before official release.