[1-1] Who is Eminem?

Eminem's real name is Marshal Bruce Mathers III. He has a younger half-brother, Nathan, who was born in 1986. Em was born in 1976 in Kansas City and was raised by his single mother and never really knew his father. "My father? I never knew him. Never even seen a picture of him." His family, which included, himself, his mother Debbie Mathers-Briggs, and his younger brother, moved back and forth from Kansas City to Detroit. "We just kept moving back and forth because my mother never had a job," he says. "We kept getting kicked out of every house we were in. I believe six months was the longest we ever lived in a house". Switching schools every two to three months made it difficult to make friends, graduate and to stay out of trouble. I was born in Kansas City. I moved to Detroit when I was 5. From 5 to 9 ... I lived in Kansas City again. We moved back for five years ... Then we moved to Detroit permanently. We stayed in this house on the east side of Detroit." His family eventually settled down in the Eastside area of Detroit when he was 12. He say's he has been in the hip-hop scence since he was 9 years old. Ever since Ice-T came out with "Reckless". "Once I heard that I got hooked." Rap became Eminem's solace, battling schoolmates in the lunchroom. Although he would later drop out of school and land several minimum-wage-paying, full-time jobs, his musical focus remained constant. Eminem wrote his first rhyme when he was 14 but didn't really get serious with it until he was 17 or 18.

[1-2] How did the name Slim Shady come up?

[1-3] Why does he have two stage names?

[1-4] What were/are some of his musical influences?

Growing up some of the stuff Eminem listened to was LL Cool J, Run-D.M.C., the Beastie Boys, and 3rd Bass. Some of the non-hip-hop bands he listens to know are No Doubt and Alanis Morisette. He say's lyrically he loves Redman. He calls him a true MC. His overall favorite rapper in "the whole wide world" is Tupac. He say's his tapes are in his deck all day long.

[1-5] Who's that little girl on the album cover?

That girl on the album cover and on the cover of the "Just Don't Give A Fuck" single is Marshal's daughter, Hailie Jade Scott. She was born in 1996 and her name is tattooed on the inside of his right arm. She makes a guest appearance on track 7, "'97 Bonnie and Clyde". Em's girlfriend, and Hailie's mother, is a girl by the name of Kim. Eminem talks a lot about her in his songs.

[1-6] Who is this Cage guy I keep hearing about?

Cage is a rapper from New York and apparently he is saying that Eminem copied his style. Most people beleive that he is just trying to hang in Shady's shadows so that he can gain popularity. In the song "Role Model" Eminem say's "Bought Cage's tape/opened it/and dubbed over it." Eminem also says "Who is this, Cage?" during the "Ken Kaniff" interlude.

[1-7] Who is Stretch Armstrong?

[1-8] What groups has Eminem been involved in?

Eminem's first group was a group called "Champtown". They made a tape, not too much is known about this. He was then in a duo called "Soul Intent" with D.J. Buttafingas. They released a 2 song EP with the tracks "Fucking Backstabber", and "Biterphobia". Then came a group called D12, The Dirty Dozen, that included 5 Elements’ Proof, Eye-Kyu, members of The Levels and others. His most current group is a New Jersey based crew known as The Outsidaz, which include Pace Won, Young Z, Rah Diggah (of the Flip Mode Squad), Slang Ton, D.U., Yah Lover, Axe, Az Izz, Bizarre Kid, Denz, and DJ Muhammed.

[1-9] How was Eminem discovered?

Shady was discovered at age 14 by a pair of Detroit producers who call themselves the FBT, short for Funky Bass Team. The FBT duo claim to have heard Eminem on a late-night Detroit radio show a decade ago and, loved his delivery, called the station and invited the MC to come to their studio that same night. The "Slim Shady LP" was produced primarily by them.

[1-10] How did Eminem hook up with Dr. Dre?

Eminem gave Rap Coalition's Wendy Day a copy of the Infinite album at a chance meeting, she helped him secure a spot at the Coalition’s 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, where he won second place in the freestyle competition. Dr. Dre found Eminem's tape in Interscope Records CEO, Jimmy Iovine's, garage laying on the floor. It caught Dre's eye and he listened to it and liked it. Eminem and his manager, Paul Rosenberg, gave a few people from Interscope Records his demo and he made his major radio debut on the world famous Wake Up Show. Dre was in his car and heard him on the radio and got the number to his hotel room and called him up. Eminem was signed to Dre's Aftermath label in January of 1998. Detroit rapper and Eminem friend Bizarre remembers the phone call. "He was missing for three weeks. Nowhere to be found," the rapper recalls. "Then he just up and called out of the blue: 'Yo, man, I just signed with Doc-tor DRE! He's got this fresh condo out here; you got to see it...!'"

[1-11] What about the white thing?

The response you will hear most from Eminem when he's asked about race is "Unless you want to fuck me, why do you care what I look like?" On the question of race, Eminem say's that he's tired of it. "All my life I've been dealing with my race because of where I grew up [Detroit] and being in the rap game". I get offended when people say, `So, being a white rapper...and growing up white...after being born white...' It's all I ever hear! I'm at a boiling point...Anybody who pulls the race card is getting it right back in their face". He emphasizes that it's all about the music and while image has a lot to do with things, he feels that people are really into what he's saying. He say's a lot of journalist insist on focusing on the whole racial aspect of him being in the game. Supposedly some of his record reps were calling up dj's and marketing him as a 'dope whiteboy' who can rap. He felt that was foul and whoever did that should be fired. He hoped that approach was limited to a few individuals who took it upon themselves to do that and that is not what he wants to happen. He doesn't like the fact that people were seeing him as getting over because he was white. "Whoever likes my stuff, likes my stuff but just know Slim Shady is hip hop, I grew up on hip hop, it's the music I love and it's the music I respect. I respect the culture...that's me".

[1-12] Some critics have labeled "Slim Shady" as homophobic and anti-gay. Is this true?

As far as being homophobic, Eminem say's he is not, he never claimed to be homophobic either. "If I said in one of my songs that my English teacher wanted to have sex in junior high, all I'm saying is that I'm not gay, you know. People confuse the lyrics for me speaking my mind... I don't agree with that lifestyle, but if that lifestyle is for you, then it's your business".

[1-13] Does Eminem have an official web site?

[1-14] How can I join the Eminem fan club?

[1-15] What are those tattoos?

Marshal's got four tattoos. One on his right arm that reads "Eminem" and one on his left arm that reads "Slim Shady". He also has his daughters name, "Hailie Jade Scott", tattood on the inside of his right arm and a picture of something with the words "Rot In Pieces" written below on his stomach.

[2] RECORDINGS:

[2-1] What solo releases has Eminem had before the Slim Shady LP?

Eminem made his solo debut in 1996 with the album "Infinite". Eminem rapped in such a manner that he was accused of sounding like Nas and AZ. "Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself,". It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up." Eminem was thoroughly disappointed and hurt by the response Infinite received. "I was too young, man, I didn't know what I was doing. I was rhyming. I knew I could put words together. But I just didn't have the whole formula yet." He remembers when it clicked, when the creative mission became clear. "Infinite" had just come out, and he wasn't thrilled by the feedback.

In 1997 Eminem began working on what would later become the Slim Shady EP, a project he made for himself. He worked the record locally as a regular performer at weeknight showcases in dingy clubs and a frequent guest on others' albums as his reputation grew. Featuring several scathing lines about local music industry personalities as well as devious rants about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of the underground hip-hop scence.

"I had nothing to lose, but something to gain. If I made an album for me and it was to my satisfaction, then I succeeded. If I didn't, then my producers were going to give up on the whole rap thing we were doing. I made some shit that I wanted to hear. The Slim Shady EP, I lashed out on everybody who talked shit about me."

[2-2] Why are the lyrics to "My Name is" different from the Slim Shady EP version?

"My Name Is"

The "Stretch Armstong Presents Eminem's The Slim Shady LP Snippet Tape" was a promotional tape given out at some shows around the end of 1998 for Eminem's Slim Shady LP album. It contained samples of songs going to appear on Em's album which was coming out and some prank phone calls Shady makes.

[3] MISCELLANEOUS:

[3-1] What happened during his interview at college radio station KALX 90.7 FM?

On Sunday morning Eminem had an interview at college radio station KALX 90.7 FM in Berkeley. According to Eminem he had a run in with long time dj Sista Tamu. He claims that not only did she have a bad attitude but she was extremely rude and disrespectful to him, she took his "Slim Shady" record and cracked it in half on the air. "It was like she was on a mission to come for me", he noted in a later interview. He said that she appeared bent on trying to embarrass him on the air by telling him she did not like his rhyme style and music. "If that was the case why did she agree to interview me?" Eminem wondered. He also noted that he himself tried to be professional by holding back and not going off the sista.

Sista Tamu offered up her side of the story. She explained that when she first met Eminem that she went over a few ground rules with him including that she tries to keep her show 'clean' of the large number of families and kids listening on Sunday morning. She went to explain that she had heard a few of his freestyles in particular one in which he rapped about killing his baby's mother. It was for that reason Tamu was not really fond of Eminem. Tamu who is a community activist, admitted that she prefers hip hop that brings a socially uplifting message. However, she felt that because Eminem was so popular that it was important to allow him access to her listeners. "I'm not really a big fan of your style of rap, but a lot of our listeners are so welcome to the show", she told him. She also told him that if he decides to freestyle or anything like that to keep that in mind and respect the ground rules she had set. According to her, Eminem agreed.

During the interview she and Em exchanged barbs with each other. While Eminem felt she was trying to be rude. Tamu felt it was all in jest. She said that Em's whole character was to be witty and sarcastic and she was having fun with him by trying to match wits. Eminem felt she was trying to pull the 'race card' by talking about him having blonde hair and being white.
Tamu then took a number of calls including one from a woman who noted that she appreciated Em's sarcastic and somewhat sadistic wit, but cautioned him not to leave young impressionable listeners with the wrong message. Eminem admitted that his album was very different then the sanitized version they were playing on MTV and commercial radio. "A lot of parents are going to be upset and take that album right back to the store because there's nothing nice or clean about it", he noted. The next caller challenged Eminem to do a freestyle. So Mr. Slim Shady agreed. What set Sista Tamu off, was that after cautioning Eminem about her audience, he then flipped a verse which started off with him slapping a pregnant woman and then slapping another "bitch". Tamu immediately stopped him and ended the interview. "I ain't having that disrespect on my show" she explained. At that point she bid him goodbye and as Slim Shady left the station Tamu went on the air and said because he had disrespected the ground rules and her audience by doing a rap about "slapping bitches", he would never be invited back and at that point she cracked his record on the air. needless to say it quite eventful and left Slim Shady a bit peeved.

[3-2] What's the deal with that fight later that same day?

If that radio station ordeal wasn't enough while visiting record stores across the Bay in San Francisco's infamous Haight Ashbury district which is known for it's hippies, punk rockers and other colorful individuals, some kid steps to Eminem and in a threatening manner asserts that 'this is his block' and Eminem better leave. At first Em thought he was joking but soon realizes that the kid was serious and that this is his block and he had no intention of letting Eminem walk by. When Eminem moved to walk around him the kid reached for what everyone thought was a weapon. The next thing you know Slim started throwing shots and lit up on guy with a barrage to the head. Folks had to pull Eminem off the kid who was left literally sprawled out on the ground.