Marshall Mathers, born in Missouri, is known by the name of "Eminem" in the music industry. Eminem started rapping during his teenage years. He had a self-produced recording: "The Slim Shady EP", which impressed Dr. Dre, a popular producer and rapper, who decided to aid Eminem in producing 1999's The Slim Shady LP. His record transformed Eminem into a superstar both in video and radio, giving him a reputation of being a white rapper who had no fear of vulgarity.
Eminem was discovered by Dr. Dre when he won second place in the Rap Olympics MC Battle in 1997, after he was recommended by Iovine. During Dr. Dre's and Eminem's first meeting, they immediately started "My Name Is" and had an agreement that Dr. Dre will be the producer of Eminem's first album. Eventually, Eminem signed with Interscope and was made to appear on the show: "Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause", helping cause more stir into Eminem's career.
The Slim Shady LP of the early part of 1999 was best-selling, specifically because of "My Name Is", not to mention "Guilty Conscience" as a follow up. The album also became triple platinum just one year after it was released. Eminem next released "The Marshall Mathers LP" in 2000, which sold nearly 2,000,000 copies, during the first week when it was introduced to the public. Eminem's success, however, was accompanied by various controversies e.g. fight with Christina Aguilera over lyrical content, a club attack after Eminem said he saw the man kissing his wife, and many more. Eminem's fans, however, still supported his work despite the many issues displayed by the media about Eminem.
"The Marshall Mathers LP" was proven successful as it was nominated in the Grammy awards in more than one category. Eminem even had a duet with Elton John during the awarding ceremony which also helped shut his critics up. In 2001, Eminem tried his hand at acting by starring in the film called: "8 Mile", which focuses on Eminem's life and was directed by Curtis Hanson of the Wonder Boys.
In 2002, Eminem released "Without Me" which was a single that retaliated against Limp Bizkit and Moby. The said single was liked by most people, followed by another popular Eminem single entitled: "Cleaning Out My Closet". Eminem launched another chart topper in 2004: "Encore" which was without doubt a smash hit. The year after, Eminem had to enter rehab for drug dependency and after completing the process, he came back with "When I'm Gone" which talks about his experience in the center. In 2006, Eminem experienced many more controversies but still continued his passion for rapping. He also tried his hand at producing (Obie Trice's Second Round on Me) and rapped with Akon on "Smack That". He finished the year off with a mixtape which he called: "Eminem Presents: The Re-Up" which showcased artists who worked under the Shady label.
