Eminem Eminem Marshall Mathers Origin St. Joseph, Missouri Years active 1996 to Present Genre(s) Rap/Hip Hop Label(s) Shady/Aftermath/Interscope For other uses, see Eminem (disambiguation). Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972) is an American rapper best known by the stage name Eminem. He is one of today's most popular and controversial rappers, and a Grammy and Oscar-winner. He is of mostly Scottish-American descent, and currently lives in Metro Detroit. Discovered by rapper/producer Dr. Dre, Eminem is known as one of the most skillful and controversial rappers in the industry, becoming a crossover sensation with his second single "My Name Is" while simultaneously earning respect from the hip-hop community for his lyrical talent. He is noted for his ability to change his own verbal pace (flow) and style multiple times within one song without losing the beat, and has been praised for his skill in alliteration and assonance. He is infamous for the controversy surrounding many of his lyrics. With the enormous success of his sophomore album The Marshall Mathers LP following its release in May 2000, and its subsequent nomination for four Grammy awards including Album of the Year, critics such as GLAAD denounced his lyrics as homophobic, while others complained that it was also extremely misogynistic and violent. However, he has received a great deal of praise within the hip-hop community for his lyrical ability. He is the second-highest selling rapper of all time, behind Tupac Shakur, though the latter has had several posthumous albums released. While generally avoiding overtly political tones previously (or if they were mentioned it was in passing), in late 2004 before the presidential election, Eminem released the song "Mosh," which harshly criticizes President George W. Bush. Encore, Mathers' fourth major-label album, was released later that year, but was considered by many to be a disappointment in comparison to his previous three albums and only sold half as many albums as The Eminem Show had. His latest release is Curtain Call: The Hits, a compilation which covers many of his past hit songs, and includes three new tracks. Eminem has stated that Curtain Call may be his final solo album, but he continues to produce for and collaborate with Shady/Aftermath artists, his latest collaboration being with an up-and-coming Detroit rapper called Trick-Trick, in the song "Welcome 2 Detroit".
