Many associate Eminem (Marshall Mathers) with Detroit. He emerged from the underground rap scene there and starred in a semi-autobiographical account of his time struggling on 8 Mile. He even is putting together a much abbreviated tour with Jay Z, playing a pair of two-night performances in Detroit and New York. However, long before eh began selling Eminem tickets and millions of copies of his albums, he was born On October 17, 1972 in Saint Joseph, Missouri. He even spent the first few years of his life bouncing around the state with his single mother, Deborah.
He spent his teenage years in Warren, a suburb just outside Detroit, though. It was then he purchased a copy of License to Ill and began his obsession with rap. He began performing in underground rap battles, adopting the stage name Eminem, but spelling it M&M. He overcame a road made difficult by his much lighter skin color and earned the respect of audiences and his peers on stage. Earning respect from fellow struggling rappers is not the same as becoming a commercial success.
Eminem signed with local label FBT Productions in 1992 and worked minimum-wage jobs while struggling to make his dream of being paid to rap a reality and simultaneously support his child. He remained an extremely popular local figure, winning Rap Olympics and finding friends with local radio stations. He even released a debut album in 1996. The album featured an artist still laboring to find his voice, a voice that would eventually take the world by storm.
The second place finish at the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles brought the attention of Interscope Records CEO Jimmy Iovine. Iovine conferred with Dr. Dre, the founder of Aftermath Entertainment (which was distributed through Interscope), and decided to sign the young Eminem in 1998.
With the help of producer Dr. Dre, Eminem recorded his major label debut album. The time between writing material for Infinite, his 1996 album, and The Slim Shady LP, his 1999 major label debut, had allowed Eminem to grow as an artists, as he finally became aware of some sort of vision of what he wanted from life. The Slim Shady featured a mix of light wordplay and far deeper songs, discussing his family problems, bleak family life, and life's aspirations.
The album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and would go on to be certified platinum four times in the United States and twice over in Canada and the United Kingdom. Eminem tickets for his tour sold out quickly, as the 28-year-old debut artist seemed to earn a pass for any skepticism thanks to the blessing from Dr. Dre.
