Essay About Marshall Mathers And Marshall Mathers Iii

Eminem Contemporary Muscian
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Eminem
Also known as: Marshall Mathers, III
Birth: October 17, 1974 in Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Nationality: American
Occupation: rap musician, Music producer
Source: Contemporary Musicians, Volume 53. Thomson Gale, 2005.
TABLE OF CONTENTSAwards
Biographical Essay
Career
Further Readings
Personal Information
Source Citation
Works
BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY Although his message has not been popular with parents
of teenagers across America, that has not stopped Eminem from earning sweeping
popularity and building upon it. Though his lyrics can be gritty, racy,
and loaded with violent overtones, fans of all races have responded to
his anger, his expert rhymes, and his unusually personal brand of hip-hop
music. Eminems career grew more rapidly than he could have predicted,
and his rise to fame has been marked by a severe level of controversy.
Eminem has depicted his own life experiences in his music. In a July 1999
article for the Washington Post, Alona Wartofsky summarized his appeal
when she commented that “a large part of Eminems meteoric rise can be
explained by the appeal of being profoundly expletived up. Both Eminem
and his alter ego, Slim Shady, represent the perennial loser, the class
clown whos going nowhere fast. The guy who gets beat up in the bathroom,
keeps flunking the same grade and cant even keep a $5.50-an-hour job.
Its not just his white skin and bleached blond hair that set him apart
from the hip-hop pack. Unlike most rappers, hes harshly self-deprecating.”
White kids who were listening to rap before he came on the scene began
to listen even harder when Eminem appeared.
Marshall Mathers III was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on October 17,
1974, and spent his early childhood between there and Detroit. He was raised
by Debbie Mathers-Briggs, a single mother. Mathers never knew his father,
although his mother contended that the two of them were married at the
time of Matherss birth. Aggravated by having to move and by difficulties
making friends, Mathers retreated into television and comic books. He attended
Lincoln Junior High School and Osborn High School, where he started listening
to LL Cool J and 2 Live Crew. He made friends, and went up against other
rappers in contests, quickly gaining a reputation for his skill at rhyming.
Mathers failed the ninth grade and eventually dropped out of school before
getting a diploma. While working odd jobs, Mathers also worked on the art
of rapping. He told Rap Pages in 1999, “I tried to go back to school five
years ago, but I couldnt do it. I just wanted to rap and be a star.”
Rose Through Underground Ranks
Working with different groups that included Basement Productions, the New
Jacks, and Sole Intent, Mathers finally went solo in 1997. The album, Infinite,
was released through FBT Productions, a local Detroit company. The local
hip-hop community did not take to him, but he ignored the criticism and
tirelessly promoted himself through radio stations