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Eminem (Music)

 Eminem (Music)
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 Eminem (Music)
 Eminem (Music)
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 Eminem
 Eminem (Music)
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 Influences:Proof, Royce da 5'9", Redman, Masta Ace, Beastie Boys, Eric B. & Rakim, Esham, Kool G Rap, Ice-T, LL Cool J, N.W.A, Run–D.M.C., Slick Rick, Eazy-E, Big Daddy Kane, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Insane Clown Posse, Canibus, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, Lil Wayne, Drake, Hollow Da Don, Dizaster, Nas, AZ, Queen, Prince, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac, Talking Heads, Max Martin, Skylar Grey, Marilyn Manson and the over 100 rappers he named in his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction speechInfluenced:Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, The Weeknd, Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, Chance the Rapper, Juice WRLD, Jack Harlow, Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, Logic, Hopsin, Machine Gun Kelly, and many, many moreMarshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is a popular rapper, songwriter and producer from Detroit who is regularly considered one of hip-hop's greatest and most influential artists.Mathers had a troubled childhood, raised on welfare in abject poverty solely by his mother, as his father walked out on the family when he was a baby. His mother regularly emotionally and physically abused him, often kicking him out of their own house for nights, and the family switched homes every two months before they settled down. He was severely bullied for being white in an all-black ghetto; once, he was even put in a coma and had to re-learn all his basic functions when he woke up. He failed ninth grade three times, could never get a decent-paying job, was the victim of numerous house robberies, and apparently tried to commit suicide a few times.During this period around his teenage years, Mathers discovered a love of rap and would practice it as often as he could, his iconic stage name a trademark-friendly evolution of the first name he rapped under (M&M). His early raps were heavily influenced by the popular Gangsta Rap of the day, and being white, he was often mocked for even trying, not to mention physically assaulted and shot at. His first studio album, Infinite, was released in 1996 and underperformed critically and commercially; underground rappers and critics alike felt it was a bad imitation of the likes of Nas or AZ.Angry, poor, in a rocky relationship with his wife and with a new baby daughter to feed, Em followed up with another release in 1997 — The Slim Shady EP. The EP was remarkably different from his previous work and a novel concept to rap in general, as it focused not on the character of the rapper himself but instead a separate alter ego: "Slim Shady". The lyrics were dark and gruesome, covering subjects such as rape, murder, the occult, drugs, and suicide, but took a twistedly funny approach to them. The EP gained significant attention in the world of underground hip-hop, and eventually got Em signed to Dr. Dre's record label Aftermath Entertainment.Between 1999 and 2002, Em released three albums — The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show — that would elevate him from a small-scale sensation to a household name, breaking barriers for the acceptance of white rappers on a mainstream level along the way. While his Rags to Riches story and crass persona made him an icon of the American underclass and counterculture, his status as a second-nature provocateur also swiftly turned him into one of the most consistently controversial artists of his day. The routine accusations of things such as misogyny and homophobia surrounding his lyrics generated a wave of moral panic among parents and Media Watchdogs alike, which only increased their impact on pop culture and made for a good excuse for him to continue writing such songs.The three albums generated some of the most popular rap songs of their time, as well as some of the biggest commercial success the genre has ever seen (MMLP is still ranked as the fastest-selling rap album of all time to this day). As far as content goes, SSLP presented a mix of Slim Shady madness and glimpses into Em's dark upbringing, and MMLP doubled down on the combination, while The Eminem Show was a more mature rumination from Em on the world of isolation he had built for himself in his rise to fame.Around the time of recording The Eminem Show, Em starred in 8 Mile, a semi-autobiographical account of the struggles he faced while forging his rap career, also producing its soundtrack. While he hasn't done much acting since, the film led to him winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Lose Yourself", the first time the award has ever gone to a rap song. (He didn't go to the ceremony, preferring to sleep instead.)It's after this period, widely considered to be Em's "golden age", that things began to change. He was no less prone to commercial success, but opinions around his new releases shifted undeniably.His fourth studio album, 2004's Encore!, was taken by critics and fans alike for Seasonal Rot, considered to be lyrically and musically below par for him.note Its outcome was eventually revealed to have been influenced by Mathers making it with a prescription drug addiction that almost killed him. After its release, he took a break from music (aside from Curtain Call: The Hits, a Greatest Hits Album which had a couple of new songs on it, and The Re-Up, a mixtape-style album that attempted to showcase the artists on Shady Records) to deal with his own personal drug problems and the shooting death of his best friend Proof.In the summer of 2009, his fifth album Relapse was released, sending him back into Slim Shady territory, detailing his descent into drug addiction during his hiatus. This time, audiences were divided over how outright weird the album was, with the constant use of his Triumph-The-Insult-Comic-Dog-Voice and the continuation of his dissing towards certain artists being common areas of criticism. However, its financial success secured him as the best-selling rapper of all time, and praise for the album has retrospectively increased, to the extent of Cult Classic status among his fanbase.The 2010s saw somewhat of a redemption for Em's critical favor, starting with Recovery, a return to his sincere and somber tone that was originally slated to be a direct sequel to Relapse. While some listeners felt that it was just more of the same, reception was for the most part positive, with many hailing it as an improvement over both Encore and Relapse. A sequel did come next; however, it was to The Marshall Mathers LP, simply titled The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and released in fall 2013. Laced with callbacks and references to the original, the album showcased Em at his most mature yet (for the most part, anyway), with a greater focus on raw rapping and introspective stories, even serving as something of a genuine apology to everyone he's offended, especially his mother. Complaints over lack of consistency aside, many found his technicality on the album to be at an all-time high.Shortly before Black Friday 2014, he released Shady XVnote the "XV" comes from the fact that it was released 15 years after The Slim Shady LP, a 2-disc compilation/greatest hits album created in honor of the creation of Shady Records. The first disc has the label's greatest hits, while the second disc features new material from the artists on the label.In late October 2017, after two freestyles ("Campaign Speech" and "The Storm"), an ad campaign for a fake drug called "Revival" began being spread by affiliates of Interscope Records. Considering a number of clues, including the fact that its logo contained Em's trademark reversed E, many speculated this to be the name of his upcoming album. Eventually, after a single release and a widely speculated but ultimately false release date, Dr. Dre posted a video on his Instagram that officially announced that "Revival" was indeed the name of Em's new album, released on December 15 to... mixed reactions.His tenth album Kamikaze, in large part a direct response to audience division over Revival, was released on August 31, 2018 without prior announcement, which he teased a day prior with a snippet of a new song he wrote for Venom (2018). On January 17, 2020, he released his eleventh album Music to Be Murdered By — again, without prior announcement. Eleven months and a day later, Em released a deluxe edition of the album, updating the original with 16 new tracks — once again, with no prior announcement. On May 26, 2022, he released an expanded edition of The Eminem Show for the album's 20th anniversary.
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