Eminem, born as Marshall Mathers, has proven that with a lot of desire, drive and dedication, anybody can accomplish even their greatest of goals. Eminem was raised in the ghettos of East Detroit. He was bullied and victimized by other students in school. He worked to achieve his goal, against the odds. As a result, what he has become is one of America's most popular and successful music artists.
Marshall "Eminem" Mathers was born on October 17, 1974, in Detroit, Michigan. After moving to Kansas, he and his family returned to Detroit and settled in a Black neighborhood. Records show that Marshall, while in school, was attacked and beaten by school bullies, on numerous occasions. On two occasions, Marshall was beaten into unconsciousness. Eminem's rap song "Brain Damage" is a true story of when a bully hit Marshall on the head and knocked him unconscious on the school playground. His ear began bleeding and he was hospitalized. It was discovered that he had a brain hemorrhage. He was in and out of consciousness for five days. (Rolling Stone)
For Marshall, the road to success was long and hard. Marshall began rapping in 1990 at the "Hip Hop Shop" where he would participate in rap battles. On December 25, 1995 Eminem's girl friend, now wife, Kimberly Scott gave birth to his daughter, Haile. Eminem continued rapping and worked at a family restaurant in Detroit. Eminem, Kim and Haile lived in a crack-infested neighborhood where stray bullets and residential burglaries occurred often. In 1997 Eminem became unemployed, had no high school diploma and couldn't afford to support his family. He was tired of not having a record deal. He considered giving up rap. He decided to record the "Slim Shady EP" as his last hope to make it. His last attempt landed him a deal with Interscope Records and the next year, in 1998, with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label.
On February 23, 1999 Eminem's "The Slim Shady LP" was released. The LP went triple platinum. Later he went on to win two Grammies. One for best rap solo performance ("My Name Is"), and another for best rap album ("The Slim Shady LP"). On May 23, 2000 Eminem released his second full-length album, "The Marshall Mathers LP". The second LP sold 1.76 million copies in its first week out, making a new record for the biggest one-week sales of any artist. Eminem recently featured in Dr. Dre's "Up In Smoke" tour, which is widely recognized as the biggest and best hip-hop tour ever. Judging by his unfortunate earlier life, who would have thought Eminem would grow to become one of America's most recognizable characters and one of the music industries most successful rappers? (Eminem Zone)
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