Eminem
Eminem was born as Marshall Bruce Mathers III, on 17 October 1973, in Kansas City, Missouri,
USA. But no one ever guessed that one day he would simply burst into the US charts and rock
the world of rap singing. He took up rapping in high school before dropping out in ninth
grade, joining ad hoc groups Basement Productions, the New Jacks, and D12. He emerged as
one of the most controversial rappers to ever grace the genre. Using his biting wit and
incredible skills to vent on everything from his unhappy childhood to his contempt for the
mainstream media, his success became the biggest crossover success the genre had seen
since Dre's solo debut seven years earlier. The controversy over his lyrics was the best
publicity any musician could
afford, and being the first Caucasian rapper to make a significant impact in years may
have given him a platform not afforded to equally talented African-American rappers.
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.
His uncle's suicide prompted a brief exodus from the world of rap, but he returned and
found himself courted by several other rappers to start groups. He first joined the New
Jacks, and then moved on to Soul Intent, who released Eminem's first recorded single in
1995. A rapper named Proof performed the B-side on...
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