Eminem: The Real Slim Shady

Meet Detroit's most legendary rapper.

“Will the real Slim Shady please stand up!”

Eminem is the voice of a generation. One of hip hop’s greatest artists, the Rap God came from humble beginnings in working-class Detroit. Through his raw passion and boundless ambition, the troubled young man rose against all odds to the very top of the music industry. 

Family Curse

Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in 1972 in Saint Joseph, Missouri. He was the only son of Marshall Mathers II and his wife Debbie Rae. 

Born into a stereotypical “white trash” household, Eminem’s family was marred by alcoholism, abuse, and instability. Like a Greek myth, it was a curse of generations upon the House of Eminem. 

Debbie’s story began in tragedy. Sexually assaulted at the tender age of twelve, the young girl escaped her home in search of a better life. But as an adult, her trauma followed like a shadow. Her home became a revolving door for abusive alcoholic men. Drama was the norm. Police calls were common. 

Debbie finally found solace in one man: Marshall Bruce Mathers II. With her new lover, she eloped to North Dakota, where Bruce took over his father’s job in a hotel. The couple made their home in Bruce’s parents’ house. 

Unfortunately, the elder Marshall proved to be just as evil as Debbie’s former lovers. He was a violent man, throwing knifes at her like a maniac. Fleeing by night, Debbie secretly took a train back home to Saint Joseph. Baby Eminem was just one or two years old. Eminem was now a fatherless child. The elder Marshall wanted nothing to do with his unfortunate son. The rapper would never meet his dad, but neither would he forget him. 

Child’s Fantasy

Eminem suffered an extremely unstable childhood. As Debbie fled abuse and alcoholism, she and her ill-fated son moved back and forth to Detroit as many as 20 times. Schools changed as often as every two or three months! He was always the new kid. 

However, the young Marshall Mathers was not an especially angry child. He was a momma’s boy, and a loner. His mother controlled him a lot. He never knew how to stick up for himself, often pouting and withdrawing to a corner to watch TV. His Uncle Todd was the closest thing to a stable father figure. 

From a young age, Marshall fell in love with music. He constantly bounced to the beat of large speakers. Whether it was the car or the couch, he was always rocking himself. 

Growing up, Eminem found escapist relief in the fantasies of superhero comics: Spiderman, X-Men, Batman, etc. He loved to act out cartoon characters. A solitary figure, he learned how to entertain himself, and generally avoided the other kids. 

Detroit Blues

In the 1960s, Detroit was ablaze with racial tensions. The National Guard had to be called to quell riots. For Eminem, he always lived just one step above the ghetto. He often found himself as the sole white kid in mostly black schools. A poor neighborhood, it was just a stone’s throw away from the richer houses of suburbia. Known as the Eight Mile divide, it fostered a sense of resentment and hatred along class lines. 

As a 9-year-old boy, Eminem was mercilessly bullied at Dort Elementary. The culprit was an older student named D’Angelo Bailey, who physically assaulted him. Eminem was left bleeding and unconscious for hours. The attack left Marshall in a coma for ten days! This sordid incident is recounted in Eminem’s song “Brain Damage.” 

After making a miraculously recovery, Marshall now had to relearn all of his basic motor functions. He suffered from a host of complications: headaches, loss of vision, hearing loss, nightmares, and nausea. Debbie was horrified by her son’s pain. She quit her job in order to take care of her baby. 

Kim

In 1987, Eminem found love when he allowed a runaway, a girl named Kim Scott, to stay at his family’s home. Kim had been kicked out of her home by her angry stepfather. Marshall’s mother loved the girl, and spoiled her like her own daughter. For the troubled boy, Kim provided a stable rock. She became his de facto girlfriend. But just like his mother, Kim was somewhat of an abusive partner. He often bickered with his moody lover. 

Rap Turn

Tragedy struck Eminem when his half-brother, Ronnie Polkingharn, committed suicide in 1991. Ronnie was distressed over a break-up with a girlfriend, and he shot himself in the head. Eminem was devastated by the loss of Ronnie. He was too grief-stricken to even attend the funeral, and did not speak publicly for days. 

Now more determined than ever, Eminem vowed to achieve the dream that he shared with Ronnie: to become a rapper. 

Rap appealed to Eminem, for many reasons. It proudly proclaimed an anti-authority message. With authentic realism, its lyrics painted the bleak portrait of racial tensions in America’s ghettos. The genre’s pioneers, such as Public Enemy, Ice-T, and NWA became great influences for Marshall and his crew. Becoming a rapper was an especially ambitious dream, since no white performers really existed in the genre. 

Kid Rock released his debut album on Jive Records, creating a buzz. White kids, such as Marshall Mathers, were now inspired to follow his footsteps into the uncharted rap world. Rap battles was a common pastime for these kids. 

From his local record store, young Eminem learned the tricks of the trade. He informally apprenticed in the arts of business and social networking. Expanding his inner circle, he began to perform at open mics and freestyle showcases around Detroit. 

Working Man

When Eminem learned of Kim’s pregnancy, the unprepared teenager was horrified. How could he afford to raise this child? Her name was Hayley, born on Christmas Day of 1995. 

But instead of following the cycle of abuse, Eminem was inspired by the birth of his beautiful daughter. Hayley’s birth reinvigorated him, giving him a new sense of determination and life focus. He vowed to succeed where his family had failed. 

Eminem came to see fatherhood as a great blessing. He hustled hard to provide for his family, as he continued to polish his rap skills. 

For a few years, Eminem worked at Gilbert’s Lodge. He also cycled at various undesirable jobs, such as flipping burgers. Working double shifts for minimum wage, Gilbert’s became his unofficial home. So poor was he, the teenager could only afford the baggiest of pants. 

Even as he delivered fries to the customers, Eminem was practicing his rap skills. He showed his demo tapes to everybody at work. 

The rapper-to-be wrote down his lyrics anywhere and everywhere! His hands, napkins, the walls—whatever was in sight. He would fall into a trance, a Dionysian frenzy where he furiously wrote down his fleeting rhymes. Words were impeccably organized into columns, as he searched frantically for increasingly clever rhymes. 

Backstabber

To establish his musical career, Eminem practiced at rap battles in the local hip-hop clubs around Detroit. Saint Andrews Hall, a former church, was a popular club in the city’s downtown. The basement, known as The Shelter, was full of the youngest and most promising stars. Many of these rap battles consisted of digs at the other person’s life. Success was judged based on the craftiness of the wordplay. 

Working with local Detroit producers, Eminem produced his first record, a two-song EP called Backstabber. Inspired by conflict with his girlfriend Kim, it was the first time Eminem really let himself go emotionally on record. It was modestly successfully, selling a couple hundred copies. 

Infinite 

Eminem found himself between a rock and a hard place. People laughed at him at the nightclubs. White suburbans didn’t care for rough-and-ready ghetto music, while the black kids saw him as inauthentic or pretentious. The artist-to-be felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He suffered a stormy relationship with Kim, struggling to make ends meet at his minimum wage job. But nothing could stop the young man’s ambitions! 

Trying again, Eminem released his second effort: Infinite. Coming out on vinyl and cassette, it created a serious stir! Impressed by his lyrical mastery and relentless ambition, local stations began to pick up Eminem’s music. While he had earned himself respect in the industry, Eminem’s Infinite album was still a financial failure. Despite all of his efforts, he had to little to show for it. Many times, he even considered abandoning rap altogether! 

Fed up, Eminem could no longer stand his life. His romance with Kim had deteriorated, and he could hardly pay the bills for his daughter. So in desperation, he attempted to kill himself. But fate had other plans. 

Surviving the suicide attempt, Eminem was now more determined than ever to succeed. It was do or die! 

Slim Shady

Channelling his wells of his deep-seated frustrated, Eminem developed an aggressive alter ego: Slim Shady.

Slim represented all the pain, suffering, anguish, and rage that young Marshall had experienced. The pain of his unstable household, his rocky relationships with his mother and girlfriend, financial hardship, and the unbearable rejection by the music industry. 

All of a sudden, Slim Shady gave Eminem’s music a cutting edge. His lyrics were full of gay-bashing, lesbianism, potheads, drugs, and anything taboo or violent. 

The Slim Shady EP was released in 1997. Instantly, it was a classic! The myth of Eminem was born. Steady sales proved that our rap hero was ready for the next level. His next challenge was to perform at the Scribble Jam summer festival, where he could showcase his skills to a wider audience beyond Detroit. 

But just as success seemed on the horizon, it slipped away! With little money or fame, he found himself still broke and living with his mom.

“Hi, My Name Is”

Fate intervened, however, when Eminem’s album finally fell into the right hands. This was Interscope Records. After appearing on a local LA radio show, Eminem caught the attention of Dr. Dre, one of rap’s biggest name producers. 

In 1992, he founded Death Row Records. He also engineered the success of many stars, including Tupac and Snoop Dogg. 

After listening to the Slim Shady Ep, Dre signed on Eminem to Aftermath Records. After months of recording, the LP album was released by Interscope and Aftermath Records. The result was immediate. 

“Hi, My Name Is” boldly introduced the world to the next hottest thing in hip-hop. Thousands flocked to meet the new artist at album signings. 

Even Eminem himself was blind sighted by his lightning success! The Slim Shady LP shot up to Number Three on the charts, and went on to sell a million copies by the year’s end. 

Eminem finally married his longtime girlfriend Kim in June of 1999. But the relationship was still rocky. The girl attempted suicide by slashing her wrists in July 2000. She recovered, but the couple was separated a month later. They reunited later that year for a few months. But by March 2001, it was game over for their marriage. The divorced woman now filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against her former husband. When she was arrested for selling cocaine in 2003, Eminem successfully won custody of their daughter. 

Kim wasn’t the rapper’s only problem. In September 1999, his mother Debbie filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against her famous son. Eminem repeatedly described her as abusive, a drug user, and an unfit parent. She even recorded her own song, “Set the Record Straight,” to rebut Eminem’s criticisms. It became available online for three dollars. Settled in 2002, Debbie only won about $1,600. 

Rap God

Breaking into mainstream success, Eminem was welcomed back to Detroit as a conquering hero. He released a follow-up, the Marshall Mathers LP, in May of 2000, which became the fastest-selling rap album in history. It was also the first rap album in history to be nominated for a Grammy. 

In November 2002, Eminem starred as himself in the box office smash Eight Mile. The title track, “Lose Yourself,” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. 

His tortured past became his greatest asset. The obstacle became the way. The legend of Eminem was born, and he would go on to dominate the music industry for well over a decade.