Newsweek magazine called him the "heir apparent" to
Tupac Shakur-- I don't know how I feel about that comment but the often profane,
homophobic,
misogynistic, self-loathing rapper is much loved by his fans (if record sales are any indication).
Real Name: Marshall Mathers
Born in Missouri to a poor single mom, Eminem said in an interview with Newsweek that he never met his father. Constant moving meant that he was often the "new kid" at school but instead of just being ignored or made fun of, the puny white kid was regularly beaten by classmates. One beating left him in a coma for five days. During an interview with Howard Stern, he said that his mother was also a mental case who would frequently file bogus lawsuits and emotionally abuse her children.
When he was 12, his mother moved the family to an all-Black housing project in Detroit, where Eminem says he was "saved" by hip-hop. He mastered his MC skills at open mic competitions. As he grew up, he took a series of dead-end jobs and had a kid out-of-wedlock with a girlfriend. "I couldn't afford to buy my daughter diapers and shit," he said to Newsweek. "My girl had to strip to make money." He later tried to kill himself by OD-ing on pills.
In 1997, he recorded a demo and was discovered by veteran producer Dr. Dre who brought him to L.A. He recorded The Slim Shady CD -- which was quickly snapped up by rock and pop radio stations who wouldn't dream of playing rap by Black or Latino rappers. The "Slim Shady" CD took home a Grammy award for Best Rap Album of 1999.
Lately he's built a reputation for mouthing off about other musicians like Will Smith. Christina Aguilera considered suing him over comments he made about her giving a blowjob to Carson Daly. Even his own mother got in the act and filed a suit against him for slandering her name on his records.
Source: Newsweek.com, MTV.com