Eminem is one American rapper who defied all odds to succeed in a field noted for African Americans. For a white rapper to come this far in the rap industry is something worth talking about but Eminem didn’t have it all rosy hence the main reason why we are focusing on him today.
Now, this is a rapper worth more than $200 million with some interesting records to his name. Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972, the 48-year-old rapper is still relevant in the entertainment industry.
It is believed his rap career began with his debut album, The Slim Shady Lp which was released by the record Label Elektra Records. In the end, this was the beginning of troubles for Eminem as an artist as his way of rap was seen as something that was somehow offensive.
Whiles others loved his lyrics, there were others of different opinions as well hence the beginning of his controversies in the music industry or in the rap game in particular.
With many divided over his type of rap as some deem it as poor in taste, that is something that didn’t stop Dr. Dre from helping and pushing him.
First Success
The first great success for Eminem came with the release of The Slim Shady LP. Many people enjoyed his lyrics, but others saw the difficulty of putting together two seemingly different personalities, the one rapping about being a junkie and the one that was a superstar, using the same name. However, as the album went on, his popularity increased. By this time, he was also well known for his well-written rhymes.
He then decided to take on a more prominent role in hip hop. He began working with the group N.W.A. to create their first and only major album, Straight Outta Compton. With their albums are getting their fair share of negative reviews, some critics thought the entire team was a bit overrated. But they were still quite successful.
Career Phase
In this phase of his career, Eminem was also successful. He released a number of albums of his own, some of which became hugely popular. After his collaborations with N.W.A., he became very successful as an independent artist.
He came out of his musical hiatus with the release of his song, “Not Afraid”, which became his signature song for many years to come. While he maintained a few mixtapes throughout the years, his main focus was on being the face of Xscape Entertainment, an agency that promotes artists who worked outside of the mainstream music industry.
During this time, Eminem was asked to produce a track by one of the biggest stars in the world, Jay-Z. Eminem produced a hip-hop remix of the song “Encore”, which won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. This was the start of a huge career for Eminem, and from here on out, he was quickly being introduced as a major artist in the hip-hop industry.
Eminem finally reached major success with the release of his song, “Without Me”. He teamed up with Dr. Dre to form a new record label, after having collaborated with other artists. The Eminem / D12 label was created and was successful for a time.
In fact, The Slim Shady LP made history by becoming the first rap album to sell over four million copies. Eminem continued to have a number of hits, including the well-known songs “My Name Is” The Real Slim Shady”.
Now the rap game isn’t complete without the mention of his name. He has indeed come a long way. He has married twice which all didn’t go as expected and has 3 children.
