[color=brown]He was born Marshall Mathers in St. Joseph, MO (near Kansas City),
spending the better part of his impoverished childhood shuttling back
and forth between his hometown and the city of Detroit. Initially
attracted to rap as a teen, Eminem began performing at age 14,
performing raps in the basement of his high school friend's home. The
two went under the names Manix and M&M (soon changed to Eminem),
which Mathers took from his own initials. Due to the unavoidable racial
boundaries that came with being a white rapper, he decided the easiest
way to win over underground hip-hop audiences was to become a battle
rapper and improv against other MCs in clubs. Although he wasn't
immediately accepted, through time he became such a popular attraction
that people would challenge him just to make a name for themselves.
His uncle's suicide prompted a brief exodus from the world of rap,
but he returned and found himself courted by several other rappers to
start groups. He first joined the New Jacks, and then moved on to Soul
Intent, who released Eminem's first recorded single in 1995. A rapper
named Proof performed the B-side on the single and enjoyed working with
Eminem so much that he asked him to start yet another group. Drafting
in a few other friends, the group became known as D-12, a six-member
crew that supported one another as solo artists more than they
collaborated. The birth of Eminem's first child put his career on hold
again as he started working in order to care for his family. This also
instilled a bitterness that started to creep into his lyrics as he
began to drag personal experiences into the open and make them the
topic of his raps. [/color]
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