Preview

Marshall Mathers

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1425 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Marshall Mathers
Eminem “My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge...”- “Criminal”, from “The Marshall Mathers LP” An average rap artist wouldn’t be able to grace the covers of VIBE, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Spin while on a national tour months before their major debut album is released. An average rapper couldn’t say that he’s collaborated with Dr. Dre, Elton John, and Dido, all in the same year. Then again, Marshall Mathers III, better known as Eminem isn’t your average rapper. No other artist has ever been the center of such heated and conflicting debates. He’s hailed as brilliant by some critics and deemed as indecent and disgusting by others. But the controversy isn’t as simple as that. This is an artist and a man who is as complex as he is talented. “...no labels wanted to sign me, almost gave up... until I met Dre, the only one to look past, gave me a chance, and I lit a fire up under his ass...”- “White America” Eminem was born in Kansas City, Missouri. During his early years Marshall Mathers and his mother moved between Kansas and Michigan until the age of twelve when they settled in east Detroit. During these years there would be much turbulence to get through. Tragedies including the suicide of his beloved cousin Ronnie and being abandoned by his father threw his world into what could’ve been an irrevocable downward spiral. They would prove to be haunting to the tortured youth. Without stability finding friends and staying out of trouble became all but impossible. Yet the one solace he discovered was rap music. Even while dropping out of high school and working several full time, low pay jobs, he kept an unwavering focus on his music. Between 1995 and 1997 he worked on and released the albums “Infinite” and “Slim Shady EP”. Both were considered failures which was disappointing to Eminem who was desperate to be embraced by the Motor City’s hip hop scene. Then in late 1997 while performing on, “The Wake Up Show” with Sway and Tech

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Tupac’s mother encouraged him to develop his creative and expressive capabilities by enrolling him in drama school at the age of twelve. Thus, from early on Tupac was taught to succeed in two different worlds by learning the language of the “hood”, its religiosity, and its culture of survival and struggle along with the intellect verse from formal schooling in the creative arts and print poetry which were the norms. In 1985, his mother moved him to Baltimore, Maryland to escape the poverty and difficulties of New York and enrolled him in the Baltimore School for the Performing Arts, where he continued the performance education he…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cotton Mathers

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Description: He was the son of Increase Mather, and grandson of both John Cotton and Richard Mather, all also prominent Puritan ministers. Mather was named after his maternal grandfather, John Cotton. He attended Boston Latin School, where his name was posthumously added to its Hall of Fame, and graduated from Harvard in 1678 at age 15. After completing his post-graduate work, he joined his father as assistant pastor of Boston's original North Church.[1] In 1685 Mather assumed full responsibilities as pastor at the Church. Cotton Mather wrote more than 450 books and pamphlets, and his ubiquitous literary works made him one of the most influential religious leaders in America. Mather set the moral tone in the colonies, and sounded the call for second- and third-generation Puritans, whose parents had left England for the New England colonies of North America, to return to the theological roots of Puritanism.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tupac Shakur

    • 628 Words
    • 2 Pages

    We know thousands of rappers. But Tupac Amaru shakur’s life stands above those alone. He was an influential, best selling hip hop artist, considered by many to be the greatest rapper of all time. His nicknames include 2pac, Pac and Makaveli. Among his fans, he is known as simply “ Tupac”. The names “ Tupac Amaru” and “ Shakur” mean Shining Serpent in Arabic, respectively. Tupac wasn’t his given name; his mother renamed shortly after birth. He was born under Lesane Parish Crooks in Bronx, New York city on June 16th, 1971 to Afeni Shakur, a member of Black panthers. Shakur said, “ I never knew where my father was or who my father was for sure”. His father left his mother when he wasn’t even born. And his stepfather was imprisoned for car robbery when he was two years old , leaving his family to struggle frequently under conditions of extreme poverty. Much of Tupac’s upbringing revolved around the Black Panther philosophy. Impoverished during most of his childhood, Tupac, his mother and half sister skyway moved between homeless shelters and cheap accommodation around New York City. As a result, he relied on poetry and diary entries to keep himself busy. At the age of 12, Shakur joined a Hormel theatre group , that is when he started developing an interest in performing. Later in 1984 Tupac’s mother brought him and his sister to live in Baltimore, Maryland. He went to Roland Park middle school, there, he was disliked because of his looks, name and untrendy clothes. In his sophomore year Tupac was accepted to the Baltimore School for the Arts. That’s where all it started. He fell in love with music, acting , poetry , performing, beauty of art and dance. He studied hard there. Tupac was an avid reader, delving into books on eastern religions, and even whole entire encyclopedia sets. Hiding his love of literature from his peers, he gained the respect of his peers like a tough guy. He composed his first rap in Baltimore under the name “ MC new York” and wrote…

    • 628 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The only rules that an artist goes by are the ones they set upon themselves. Artist's criticize current hot topics and sometimes explore their context threw the use of their imaginations. One very fine example of this is Madonna's Like a Prayer music video at the time that it was released it was a huge hit on the music charts. Still today " Like a Prayer" is a very well known song. At the time of its release it was at the center of controversy with parent groups, church groups, mainstream media, and the government. Throughout the history of art this has been a reoccurring phenomenon that art can be offensive. My position within my group is I am a member of the media but I am neutral and am just interpreting the content and the implied context of the video.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Two Great Hip-Hop Singers

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Their life stories couldn’t be more different. Eminem was born in 1972 and had a difficult life. His childhood was turbulent, and he was very poor until he became a successful singer. In contrast, 50cent raised by his grandparents after his father ran out and his mother was shot when he was only eight years. His childhood was tough. In addition, both Eminem and 50cent became very successful and famous.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    MMLP Album Review

    • 4327 Words
    • 18 Pages

    Since the late 1990s, American rapper Marshall Mathers has become one of the biggest selling pop artists in the world as Eminem, the most famous name in hip hop or rap music. Eminem was born on October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, Missouri. He never knew his father, Marshall Mathers Jr, who abandoned the family when Eminem was still an infant and rebuffed all of his son's many attempts to contact him during his childhood. As a result, Eminem was raised by his mother, Deborah Mathers. She never managed to hold down a job for more than several months at a time, so they moved frequently between Missouri and Detroit, Michigan, spending large chunks of time in public housing projects(Bio.com ). During this period of his life, Eminem participated in many freestyle rap battles on the underground hip-hop scene, even though it was predominantly African American. After the CEO of interscope records requested a demo tape from Eminem, he started producing his first album with Dr. Dre. His first three albums all won Grammy awards, making him the first artist to win “Best Rap Album” three consecutive times. Eminem also achieved ten number one albums on the Billboard 200 and he has sold more than 42 million tracks and 41 million albums in the United States, as well as 90 million albums worldwide, and is considered the best-selling artist of the 2000s (Hyperink.com ). Unfortunately, because of the tragedy death of his best friend Proof, Eminem has been struggled with prescription drug addiction. After almost a year of rehab, he has miraculously recovered, and is once again one of the most popular rappers in the world. The story of his recovery is always inspirational to many people of their own life.…

    • 4327 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “The Way I Am” criticizes Eminem’s nonstop conflict with the media and how he uses his power as a cult of personality to protest what the media portrays him as and what he refuses to be.“I'm not Mr. N'Sync/I'm not what your friends think/I'm not Mr. Friendly”(21-22). Because Eminem is not conforming to what the media wants him to be, they want to make him an example. “And all of this controversy circles me/And it seems like the media immediately/Points a finger at me”(44-45). Anything that is controversial the media wants him to blame him for.…

    • 96 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Marshall Mathers, Slim Shady, or Eminem. All three are the same man who has changed and influenced the way the rap and hip hop industry is portrayed today. His journey from living through the ghetto, poor streets of 8 Mile, Detroit, to becoming a platinum selling artist in the early 2000’s is one with many obstacles that occurred in between. To understand where he came from and where he is now, the movie “8 Mile” is a great visual example of how he struggled with many concepts of sociology prior to his career.…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    His full name is Aubrey Drake Graham which he is better known by his middle name, Drake. Like Eminem, he was also raised by his mother. The only differences are he knew his father, which left after his parents got divorced at the age of five, and his mother was not abusive towards Drake in any way, shape, or form. Unlike Eminem, Drake came from a very musical background. His father was a drummer for rock star Jerry Lee Lewis. His mother was a Jew, so he was very religious growing up. Similar to Eminem, he also felt very isolated in high school. His talent first began to appear in 2006 when he released his first mixtape. He was an actor for the hit tv show Degrassi, but was working on his rapping career on the side. After they eliminated his character from the show, he started to fear that he would have to get a day job to make a steady income until his rapping career took off. "I was coming to terms with the fact that ... I might have to work at a restaurant or something just to keep things going," he remembered. Early in 2008, he received an unexpected phone call from famous rapper Lil Wayne to come join him on…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Famous rapper Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem or Slim Shady) went through having hard times in his life with his mother, and wife, and overcoming his alcohol and drug abuse. I’m going to explain through a biographical lens how in these songs “cleaning out my closet” he talks about his mother, and in the songs “97 Bonnie and Clyde” and “Kim” where he talks about his wife, and in the song “Mockingbird,” where Eminem talks about his daughter Hailie and niece Alaina how he loves her.…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eminem Poetic Devices

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He also suggests that if he was black, he would not have many white fans, the number of sales of his record would also be half of his original sales. Therefore, this demonstrates why Eminem was an inspirational and influential rapper among the white community in the 90s, causing the government censor Eminem’s song lyrics rigorously. The uprising of Eminem also immersed into the American young generations, since they shares the same cultural background and skin color as Eminem. Hence Eminem suggesting that if he was black , he would not be as successful as now, as his music would get grouped in the rest of the hip-hop…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eminem's Assassination

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Eminem was raised by his mother. Growing up, Eminem never knew his father, His father abandoned Eminem and his family when Eminem was an infant. Eminem’s father rebuffed and refused to accept the many attempts all of his sons made to contact him. She never managed to hold down a job for more than several months at a time. They often moved frequently between Missouri and Detroit Michigan. He spent large chunks of time in public housing projects. “ I would change schools, two to three times a year” Eminem said(Bio.) . He later recalled “That was probably the…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Much like the African-American entertainers before him, Eminem mimics himself, conjuring his “white trash” background with the flashing “Trailer Park” sign and mobile home cut outs. While many black rap artists “promote their class struggle as a key to their legitimacy,” any blatant moves by Eminem would have been perceived as gimmicky (Is Hip-Hop Dead, Hess 8). Yet these subtle invocations relate Eminem to the black community and earn him authenticity and “coolness” in the hip-hop…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Members of the American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan - D12, discussed the beginnings of the American rapper, record producer, and actor - Eminem, saying that individuals thought that Marshall Bruce "Eminem" Mathers III was black when they first heard him rap.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eminem Biography Essay

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Forcing himself on radio shows, freestyle battles, Marshall threw himself head first into the rap game, where he was swallowed up most of the time. His very first album was titled "Infinite" and, while the album sold less than a thousand copies, it was the gearing up stages for the rapper who became a millionaire. It was then that his daughter, Hailie Jade Scott, was born on December 25th of 1995 with long time girlfriend Kim Scott. Having nothing to lose at all, flat broke and not knowing where he would be living the next week, Marshall set out to rant about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of hip-hop's difficult-to-please underground. What came out of this was the Slim Shady EP, the early work for the later Dr. Dre revised Slim Shady LP. Down to nearly his last dime, he went into the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, basically hoping to win the $1,500 cash price which he badly needed. After battling for an hour and throwing back every race diss thrown at him, Marshall made it to second place losing in a slip up. Furious that he had lost, Marshall didn't even notice that he had been spotted. In the crowd were a few producers from Interscope, and they were handed a copy of the "Infinite" tape by way of a demo. Dr. Dre got to hear it and eventually tracked him down. The two instantly hit it off, recording four songs in the their first six hours of working - three which made it to his first LP. After the album was finished, Dr. Dre asked Marshall to come work with him on his new album. He helped produce several tracks and was on the best songs of the…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics