Welcome to my Music Diary – today for the 17th October!
Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III aka Slim Shady)
Happy birthday to Mr. Marshall Bruce Mathers III aka Eminem, who was born on the 17th October 1972 in St. Joseph, Missouri!
The American rapper is also well known under his alter ego and stage name „Slim Shady“. Eminem had his worldwide breakthrough with his third album „The Marhsall Mathers LP“ (2000). Over 29 million copies were sold until today.
With his school friend Mike Ruby he began rapping at the age of 14. The duo performed under the moniker „M&M“ which changed later into Eminem. They attended open-mic contests at a Hip-Hop Shop located on West 7 Mile in Detroit.Then Eminem joined the New Jacks and Soul Intent before founding D12 featuring the rappers Eminem, Bizarre, Kuniva, Swifty McVay and Fuzz Scoota.
In the Nineties, Eminem was signed to FBT Productions and his debut album „Infinite“ (1996) was released. After that the rapper invented his character „Slim Shady“ and in 1997 the „Slim Shady EP“ was recorded. Producer Dr. Dre got a copy and he recalled: „In my entire career in the music industry, I have never found anything from a demo tape or a CD“, said the star producer in an interview with Rolling Stone. Eminem was signed to Dr. Dre’s label Aftermath Entertainment and in 1999 the second longplayer followed: „The Slim Shady LP„. This one was a commercial success (triple platinum) and the rapper earned his first Grammy in the category „Grammy Award for Best Rap Album„. With „The Marhsall Mathers LP“ Eminem recorded a real milestone. Released in May 2000 the album sold almost 30 millions copies worldwide. Also all Single outtakes like „The Real Slim Shady„, „The Way I Am“ and „Stan“ charted all over the world.
In 2002 the next LP hit the stores: „The Eminem Show“ (featuring the hit single „Without Me„). This was also a huge success – over 1.3 million copies were sold in its first full week of sales.
On 8th November 2002 the movie „8 Mile“ was released, an American hip-hop biopic film written by Scott Silver and directed by Curtis Hanson. It’s the story of a young white rapper named Jimmy „B-Rabbit“ Smith Jr. (starred by Eminem) who is living in Detroit and his attempt to launch a career as a a rapper. Beside Eminem the actors Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Michael Shannon and Kim Basinger are featured in the film.
Then in 2004 the album „Encore“ topped also the charts and by the end of 2005 rumours circulated that Eminem is thinking about to finish his career as a rapper. The best of doulbe album „Curtain Call: The Hits“ was for many people the swan song, but on the release date, the singer denied officially that he is retiring. „I’m at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don’t know where my career is going … This is the reason that we called it ‚Curtain Call‘, because this could be the final thing. We don’t know“, so Eminem via the WKQI’s „Mojo in the Morning“ radio show.
In March 2009 Eminem announced in a press release that two new albums will be coming up. „Relapse“ was released on 19th May and sold more than five million copies worldwide. Instead of a brandnew LP, „Relapse: Refill“ hit the stores in December, which contains seven bonus tracks.On 18th June 2010, Eminem’s seventh studio album called „Recovery“ came out. Also he started collaborating with Royce da 5’9″ on their first EP as Bad Meets Evil and also on their next single, „Lighters“ (2011). In May 2012 Eminem announced that he is working on a new LP which should be released in 2013. And on the 5th November the very anticipated album „The Marshall Mathers LP 2″ was finally released and went straight to No. 1 on the US and UK charts.
On the 28th November 2014, the 2-CD-Set „Shady XV“ was released. One disc is featuring the greatest hits while the other contains new music from Eminem and Shady Records artist like D12, Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil, and Yelawolf with guest appearances from other artists.
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