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Eminem’s Hidden Heroic Quality: A Look At The Overlooked
To me the most admirable thing about Eminem is that he kept going.
He started rapping at age 14, attending underground rap battles and he joined his first rap group at the age of 23.
For the next couple years he joined a couple rap groups, but they never released any singles or albums that stuck.
It all changed when Slim Shady, his alter ego, was first created. After placing second in the 1997 Rap Olympics, his debut the Slim Shady EP was given to Interscope Records company CEO Jimmy Iovine who loved it.
In 1999 The Slim Shady LP was released and was one of the year’s most popular albums. This was his breakthrough.
Now, although that story sounds pretty straight forward, what impresses me so much and why I have a huge admiration for Eminem is the behind the scenes that nobody talks about.
No one talks about the fact that he had an abusive mother and no father, that he failed 9th grade 3 times or moved to new schools 3 times a year.
No one talks about the fact that he dropped out at 17 to work a job to help his mom pay the bills while she still kicked him out of the house frequently or about the 60 hour shifts he worked every week as a dishwasher to support his newborn daughter.
