Eminem

Eminem is a hip-hop artist from the United States of America. His real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers the Third. For many people, he is considered one of the first white rappers. Before that, rappers were mainly Americans whose ancestors came from Africa. A music magazine called him the "King of Hip-Hop" in 2011.

Eminem was born in 1972 in the small town of St. Joseph in the state of Missouri. When he was still a baby, his father left the family. Eminem was therefore raised by his mother alone. He had a difficult childhood: his mother was allegedly a drug addict and suffered from a mental disorder. He was often bullied at school and had few friends. Once a classmate beat him up so badly that he had to go to hospital and could no longer hear or see for a while.

As a teenager, Eminem began to rap. Above all, his uncle Ronnie, with whom he had a very good relationship, was able to inspire him. He called himself "M&M", the initials of his name Marshall Mathers. Later, he changed that name to Eminem because there was already a candy called that. After dropping out of school, Eminem got by with odd jobs and often changed his place of residence. On the side, he performed here and there as a rapper. When Eminem was 19, Ronnie committed suicide, which hit Eminem hard.

In the same year, Eminem was signed by a record company from Detroit and released his first album "Infite", which means infinite in German, a few years later. However, he only really became known with his second album "Slim Shady LP" with songs like "My Name is" and "Guilty Conscience", where he rapped together with Dr. Dre.

More successful albums followed in the early 2000s, some of which spent many weeks at number one in the US charts. Eminem even made a film, "8 Mile", in which he himself played the leading role. The film is about Rabbit, a young white rapper growing up in a poor neighbourhood of Detroit. In doing so, he thought of his own youth. The film is also about the clash of black and white youth culture in big American cities. 8 Mile is the name of a street that separates the "black neighbourhoods" from the "white neighbourhoods" of Detroit.

Eminem is said to have had alcohol and drug problems for years. After being hospitalised for an opium overdose, he went into rehab. By his own admission, he has not taken drugs since 2008. The following year he returned after a break of several years and released an album again. Eminem has been married twice to Kimberley Ann Scott, whom he has known since his youth. The second time, the marriage lasted only a few months. He had three daughters with her, who are all grown up now.