How did Eminem build his career?

Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972 in Saint Joseph, Missouri and spent his childhood moving back and forth between Saint Joseph and Detroit, Michigan. Eminem had an interest in rap from a young age and gained some early popularity playing with a group called Soul Intent. In 1995 he released his first independent album, Infinite, which received a disappointing response from the hip-hop scene. Eminem then began work on what would become The Slim Shady EP, in which he delivered scathing lines about local music industry personalities.

In 1997, competing and coming second in the freestyle section in the Rap Olympics MC Battle gave Eminem and his manager the opportunity to hand over a demo to Interscope Records. That opportunity, combined with a scorching debut live radio performance, meant he was soon signed with Dr. Dre.

Eminem's Rise to Fame

Once he joined Interscope, Eminem released The Slim Shady LP, which went on to become one of the year's most popular records. At the same time, enormous controversy surrounded the album's lyrics, which critics say are homophobic, misogynistic and violent. The album was followed by The Marshall Mathers LP in May of 2000, which also sold millions of copies and created a media backlash because of its derogatory lyrics that essentially repeated gossip about celebrities.

Eminem's response to media criticism was to point out that he never meant for his lyrics to be taken seriously, and at the Grammy Awards he sang the song Stan onstage with Elton John in an attempt to appease gay rights groups.

The summer of 2002 saw the release of The Eminem Show album, this time with lyrics that insulted boy bands, Moby and Lynne Cheney. The following year saw Eminem fare no better, with the exposure of a tape from 1988 in which a young Eminem sings racist lyrics, and then United States Secret Service's admission that lyrics from the song We as Americans had caused allegations that Eminem had threatened the President.

Encore - Eminem's Latest Album

The latest album, Encore, was released in October 2004, causing another a furor thanks to the video accompanying the song Just Lose It, which parodies, among other things, Michael Jackson's child-molestation accusations. The video has been pulled from many networks. Another song from the album, Mosh, features Eminem leading an army of voters to the White House and was released just one week before the 2004 US presidential elections.