Brief Introduction to Eminem (Greatest of All Time)

Eminem’s Legal troubles & Drug Issue

In 1999, Mathers' mother sued him for around US$10 million over alleged slander about her in his lyrics regarding The Slim Shady LP; she won only about US$1,600 in damages in 2001.

Mathers was arrested on June 3, 2000 during an altercation at a car audio store in Royal Oak, Michigan, with Douglas Dail, where he pulled out an unloaded gun and kept it pointed at the ground. The following day, in Warren, Michigan, he allegedly saw his then wife, Kim, kiss bouncer John Guerrera in the parking lot of the Hot Rock Café, and he assaulted him and was then arrested. Eminem recreated the Guerrera assault in a skit on his junior album The Eminem Show on a track called "The Kiss (Skit)." Mathers was charged with possession of a concealed weapon and assault. Mathers plead guilty to the charges and was given two years’ probation for both episodes.

On July 7, 2000, Eminem's then-wife, Kimberly Scott attempted suicide by slashing her wrists. Scott sued Eminem for defamation after he depicted her violent death in his song "Kim".On October 26, 2000, Eminem was to perform at a concert in Toronto's Skydome. However, Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty argued that Canada should stop Eminem at the border. "I personally don't want anyone coming to Canada who will come here and advocate violence against women," he said. Flaherty claims to have been "disgusted" when reading transcriptions of Eminem's song "Kill You", which includes lines like "Slut, you think I won't choke no whore/till the vocal cords don't work in her throat no more?" The opinion of the general public to the requests made by the province were negative. Others said the issue was one of free speech. Liberal MPP Michael Bryant suggested that the government lay hate crime charges against Eminem for the advocation of violence against women found in his lyrics. In a Globe and Mail editorial, author Robert Everett-Green wrote, "Being offensive is Eminem's job description" Eminem's Toronto concert went on as planned that night.

D'Angelo Bailey, a sanitation worker, sued Mathers in 2001 and accused him of invading his privacy by publicizing unreasonable information that put him in a false light. Bailey admitted that he picked on Mathers but said he merely "bumped" him at school and threw a "little shove." On October 20, 2003, the charges were dismissed in court.

On June 28, 2001, Mathers was sentenced to one year probation on weapons charges that stemmed from an argument with an employee of Psychopathic Records, assessing him a fine around $2,000 as well as several hours of community service.

On March 31, 2002, French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem and Dr. Dre, claiming the beat for "Kill You" was stolen from his song. Loussier demanded that all sales of the album be halted and any remaining copies destroyed. A trial date was set to begin in June 2004. The case was later settled.

On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the United States, George W. Bush, after the song "We as Americans", as an unreleased bootleg, circulated with the lyrics "Fuck money, I don't rap for dead presidents. I'd rather see the president dead, it's never been said but I set precedents." The incident was later referenced in the video for his song "Mosh" as one several news clips on a wall, along with other newspaper articles about other unfortunate incidents in Bush's career. The song eventually appeared on the album's bonus disc, where the lyrics were extensively censored.

In 2005, Eminem's aunt and uncle, Jack and Betty Schmitt, sued him, alleging that he has promised them a $350,000 house and the money to keep it up, and instead has kept it in his name and tried to evict them.

In 2007, his music publishing company, Eight Mile Style LLC, together with Martin Affiliated LLC, filed suit against Apple Inc. and Aftermath Entertainment claiming Aftermath did not have the appropriate authority to negotiate a deal with Apple for digital downloads of 93 Eminem songs on Apple's iTunes service. The case against Apple was settled shortly after trial began in late September 2009.

In July 2010 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in F.B.T. Productions, LLC v. Aftermath Records that F.B.T. Productions and Eminem were owed a royalty of 50% of the net revenue Aftermath obtained by licensing Eminem's recordings to companies like Apple Inc., Sprint, Nextel, Cingular, and T-Mobile. In March 2011 the Supreme Court of the United States upheld this ruling.

                                                                              Eminem has spoken openly about his addiction to prescription drugs, including Vicodin, Ambien, Valium and Methadone. His group-mate Proof from D12 stated that Mathers "sobered up" in 2002 from drug and alcohol dependence. However, he did turn to zolpidem (Ambien) sleeping pills for relief from sleeping troubles. This caused Mathers to cancel the European leg of the Anger Management Tour in August 2005 and eventually go into rehab for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication".In a 2009 interview with British talk-show host Jonathan Ross, Mathers admitted that at the height of his addiction, he considered suicide, saying that, "I just wasn't taking care of myself, at times I wanted to just give it up." He also confirmed that he is now sober, commenting that, "[R]ap was my drug ... Then I had to resort to other things to make me feel that. Now rap's getting me high again."

Brief Introduction to Eminem (Greatest of All Time)

Eminem’s Family

Marshall Mathers has been the subject of much scrutiny, both as a rapper as well as in his personal life. He was married twice to Kimberley Anne Scott, whom he met in high school. Kimberly had run away from her home as a teenager, along with her sister Dawn. They moved in with Marshall and his mother when he was 15. Kim and Marshall began their on-and-off relationship in 1989, and were married on June 14, 1999. In 2000, they filed for divorce shortly after Kim's second drunk driving conviction. The couple first divorced in 2001 but remarried in January 2006. Their second divorce was finalized in December of the same year, with the couple agreeing to share custody of their daughter, Hailie Jade Mathers (born December 25, 1995). Hailie Mathers has often been referenced or featured on various songs by Mathers including "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", "Hailie's Song", "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "Mockingbird", "When I'm Gone", "Beautiful", "Airplanes Pt. II", "Going Through Changes", and "You're Never Over".

In early 2010, Mathers responded publicly to tabloid reports of his pending reunion with Kim with a firm denial.

Mathers adopted two other daughters: Alaina "Lainie" Mathers, the child of Kimberley Scott's sister, who has been referenced by name in some songs including "Mockingbird ", "Airplanes Part II" and "Going Through Changes"; and Whitney, Scott's child from a previous relationship. Whitney is mentioned in the song "Deja Vu" as well as "Going Through Changes". Mathers is also the legal guardian of his younger half-brother, Nathan who has been mentioned in "Cleanin' Out My Closet" and "My Mom".

Brief Introduction to Eminem (Greatest of All Time)

Eminem comparisons to other artists

As Asher Roth gained prominence being a white performer in a predominantly black musical genre, Roth has earned many comparisons to Eminem, so much so that he devoted a track on his album to the famed rapper, entitled "As I Em."

In an interview with XXL Magazine, Eminem cosigned Asher Roth, saying when asked about the comparison:

"I haven't had a chance to, like, really get into everything, like, really get into what he's about, because I've only heard a couple songs. There was talk about people saying he sounded like me, and he was doing this and that and, you know, trying to take what I do and do it. You know, shit like that. I've heard things. But the stuff that I've heard from him honestly, which certainly isn't enough for me to make my own opinion and say, ‘Yeah, he does sound like me' or ‘No, he doesn't.' But the couple of songs I've heard, I don't really think he does. You know what I mean? He's doing his own thing. I can respect it, too, because at the end of the day, I think he's dope."

Eminem and Christian hip hop artist KJ-52 were often compared to each other, as many called KJ-52 the "Christian counterpart" of Eminem. One of the most notable mainstream reactions to Gospel rap was to KJ-52 and his single "Dear Slim", which was written to Eminem in an attempt reach him with the message of Christianity, though Eminem claims to be a Christian. The song became famous and controversial among Eminem fans when it was featured on the hit show Total Request Live. KJ-52 began to receive hate mail (including death threats) from Eminem's fans, though KJ-52 claimed that the song was not a "diss". This also led to the single being disparaged by VH1 as No. 26 on their "Top 40 Worst Moments in Hip Hop", an issue the artist addressed in a follow-up song titled "Dear Slim Pt. 2".

Brief Introduction to Eminem (Greatest of All Time)

Featurings and productions of Eminem

Although he typically collaborates with various rappers under Aftermath Entertainment and Shady Records, such as Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, D12, and Obie Trice, Eminem has collaborated with many other artists, including Redman, Kid Rock, DMX, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Method Man, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, Sticky Fingaz, T.I. and others. Eminem rapped a verse in a live performance of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" remix at the 2006 BET Music Awards on June 27, 2006. Eminem was featured on Akon's single "Smack That" which appeared on his album Konvicted. He was featured on Lil Wayne's hit song Drop the World.

Eminem is also an active rap producer. Besides being the executive producer of D12's first two albums, Devil's Night and D12 World, he has executive produced Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me as well as 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. In addition, Eminem has produced songs by other famous rappers, such as Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block", Jay-Z's "Renegade" and "Moment of Clarity" Lloyd Banks' "On Fire", "Warrior Part 2", and "Hands Up", Tony Yayo's "Drama Setter", Trick-Trick's "Welcome 2 Detroit", and Xzibit's "My Name" and "Don't Approach Me".Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Eminem himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator Jeff Bass. He split the production with Dr. Dre on Encore. In 2004, Eminem was the Executive Producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur. He produced the UK No. 1 single "Ghetto Gospel" which featured Elton John. He has produced "The Cross" off Nas's album God's Son. On August 15, 2006, Obie Trice released Second Round's on Me. Eminem produced 8 tracks on the album. He was featured in the song "There They Go".Eminem produced some tracks on the new Trick-Trick album, The Villain. He is also featured in "Who Want It".

With regard to the productions on his own records, Eminem is seen as having an unusual style in that rather than write to beats he typically starts with an idea of how he wants his song to be structured based on the lyrics and then creates music according to that. A notable exception to this was the song "Stan", which came from an idea and scratch track produced by Mark the 45 King.

Brief Introduction to Eminem (Greatest of All Time)

Alter egos of Eminem

Eminem uses alter egos in his song to use different styles of rapping and subject matters. His most famous and popular alter ego, "Slim Shady" originated from The Slim Shady EP. While under this personality, Eminem makes violent and dark songs with a comical twist. Though his Slim Shady persona has remained, Eminem did not include it in Recovery as much because he did not feel it fit the theme. Eminem is considered to be an alter-ego itself, with his true self being Marshall Mathers. Another character Eminem has portrayed is Ken Kaniff.

Ken was originally played by fellow Detroit rapper Aristotle in the Slim Shady LP, who appeared in a prank call skit towards Eminem. After the Slim Shady LP, an argument led to Eminem taking the character of Ken Kaniff and playing him in several skits starting in the Marshall Mathers LP and onwards (except for Recovery and Encore). In his Ken Kaniff personality, Ken is a homosexual who pokes fun at Eminem's songs. Aristotle, the original creator of Ken Kaniff, became angry over Eminem taking his character and created a mixtape in which he raps in his Ken persona dissing Eminem.

Brief Introduction to Eminem (Greatest of All Time)

Influences and rapping technique of Eminem

Eminem has named several MCs who influenced his rapping style, in-addition to his mentor, Dr. Dre, who share the same type of music: thick, muscular loops that evoked the terror and paranoia that his music conjured, these influences included Esham, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Newcleus, Ice-T, Mantronix, Melle Mel (specifically the track "The Message"),LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Rakim, and Boogie Down Productions.

In the book How to Rap, Guerilla Black notes that Eminem studied other MCs to create his rapping technique: "Eminem listened to everything and that's what made him one of the greats". In the same book, Eminem is praised for various aspects of his rapping technique by numerous other MCs; these techniques include his varied and humorous subject matter, connecting with his audience, carrying a concept over a series of albums, complex rhyme schemes, his ability to bend words so that they rhyme, his use of multisyllabic rhymes, fitting many rhymes in each bar, complex rhythms, clear enunciation, use of melody, and syncopation. He is also known to write the majority of his lyrics down on paper, as documented in his book The Way I Am, as well as taking a few days or a week to craft lyrics, being a "workaholic", and "stacking" vocals.

Brief Introduction to Eminem (Greatest of All Time)

Influences and rapping technique of Eminem

Eminem has named several MCs who influenced his rapping style, in-addition to his mentor, Dr. Dre, who share the same type of music: thick, muscular loops that evoked the terror and paranoia that his music conjured, these influences included Esham, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Newcleus, Ice-T, Mantronix, Melle Mel (specifically the track "The Message"),LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Rakim, and Boogie Down Productions.

In the book How to Rap, Guerilla Black notes that Eminem studied other MCs to create his rapping technique: "Eminem listened to everything and that's what made him one of the greats". In the same book, Eminem is praised for various aspects of his rapping technique by numerous other MCs; these techniques include his varied and humorous subject matter, connecting with his audience, carrying a concept over a series of albums, complex rhyme schemes, his ability to bend words so that they rhyme, his use of multisyllabic rhymes, fitting many rhymes in each bar, complex rhythms, clear enunciation, use of melody, and syncopation. He is also known to write the majority of his lyrics down on paper, as documented in his book The Way I Am, as well as taking a few days or a week to craft lyrics, being a "workaholic", and "stacking" vocals.