Eminem

中文名： 埃米納姆
外文名： Eminem; Marshall Bruce Mathers III
別名： slim shady
國籍： 美國
出生地： 美國密蘇里州圣約瑟夫
出生日期： 1972年10月17日
職業(yè)： 歌手
代表作品： 《My Name Is》、《Without Me》、《Mockingbird》等
主要成就： 九次獲得格萊美獎
第75屆奧斯卡最佳電影主題曲大獎
21世紀(jì)以來十年全球唱片銷量最高
小簡介
原名Marshall Mather，出生于美國堪薩斯城。這位白人說唱歌手1999年開始進(jìn)入美國流行歌曲排行榜。
他在高中時便開始表演說唱，后來他退學(xué)加入了幾個非正式組織如Basement Productions和New Jacks，后來又加入了Soul Intent二人演唱組。新命名的Eminem在1997年通過獨立唱片公司FBT推出了第一張專輯《Infinite》。然而這張唱片的銷量很差，遠(yuǎn)比不上當(dāng)時的主要說唱歌手如Nas和AZ�！禨ourse》雜志的“Unsigned Hype”欄目對他的特寫增強了他爭取成功的決心，后來他贏得了《Wake Up Show》的“年度最佳自由風(fēng)格表演者”獎，并在洛杉磯的說唱表演奧林匹克競賽中獲得亞軍，給了他原來的批評者們一記有力的報復(fù)。他在第二年推出的專輯《The Slim Shady EP》中對惡意批評他的人進(jìn)行了非常尖刻地攻擊。其中最出色的單曲《Just Don't Give A Fuck》成了一首非常流行的前衛(wèi)派的作品，并成為MC Shabaam Sahddeq的《Five Star General》和Kid Rock的《Devil Without A Cause》中收錄的單曲。
Eminem與Aftermath Records唱片公司簽約，唱片公司的老板Dre把這位年輕的說唱歌手作為自己保護的對象，并作為Eminem的共同制作人。Dre的節(jié)拍在《The Slim Shady LP》中非常突出，這張唱片的歌詞中充滿了煽動暴力的詞句，Eminem稱這只是表達(dá)出Slim Shady人物的思想，部分彌補了歌曲中的一些道德觀點。不管算不算模仿，在許多人看來，Eminem的歌詞如《97 Bonnie & Clyde》(中間包含一些殺死他的孩子的母親的詞句)以及口頭上經(jīng)常蹦出的關(guān)于他母親的一些言詞是不負(fù)責(zé)任的。在單曲《My Name Is》和《Guilty Conscience》的促進(jìn)下，這張專輯獲得了商業(yè)上的成功，并在1999年3月上升到美國唱片排行榜的第2位。Eminem也以很突出的形象出現(xiàn)在Rawkus唱片公司的《Soundbombing Volume 2》和Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott r《Da Real World》兩輯唱片上。他緊接著也成為新聞人物，因為他的母親向法院提起訴訟，稱這位說唱歌手的在接受采訪時的一些言論以及《Slim Shady》專輯再加上其它一些瑣事使她異常苦惱，并損毀了她的聲譽，使她失去了自尊。但是這些都沒有影響到Eminem后來出的唱片的銷量，《The Marshall Mathers LP》2000年5月首次發(fā)行就登上了美國流行音樂排行榜的首位。
A protégé of Dr. Dre, rapper Eminem emerged in 1999 as one of the most controversial rappers to ever grace the genre. Using his biting wit and incredible skills to vent on everything from his unhappy childhood to his contempt for the mainstream media, his success became the biggest crossover success the genre had seen since Dre's solo debut seven years earlier. The controversy over his lyrics was the best publicity any musician could afford, and being the first Caucasian rapper to make a significant impact in years may have given him a platform not afforded to equally talented African-American rappers. A gifted producer as well, his talents always seemed overshadowed by his media presence, which was a mix between misunderstood genius and misogynistic homophobe. Both may be true, but his message spoke to legions of disaffected youth who had few role models in the rap world who could relate to the white lower-class experience.
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.
A debut record, 1996's Infinite, broke his artistic rut but received few good reviews, as comparisons to Nas and AZ came unfavorably. Undaunted, he downplayed many of the positive messages he had been including in his raps and created Slim Shady, an alter ego who was unafraid to say whatever he felt. Tapping into his innermost feelings, he had a bounty of material to work with when his mother was accused of mentally and physically abusing his younger brother the same year. The next year his girlfriend left him and barred him from visiting their child, so he was forced to move back in with his mother, an experience that fueled his hatred toward her and made him even more sympathetic toward his brother. The material he was writing was uncharacteristically dark as he began to abuse drugs and alcohol at a more frequent rate. An unsuccessful suicide attempt was the last straw, as he realized his musical ambitions were the only way to escape his unhappy life. He released the brutal Slim Shady EP, a mean-spirited, funny, and thought-provoking record that was light years ahead of the material he had been writing beforehand. Making quite the impression in the underground not only for his exaggerated, nasal-voiced rapping style but also for his skin color, many quarters dubbed him the music's next "great white hope."
According to legend, Dr. Dre discovered his demo tape on the floor of Interscope label chief Jimmy Iovine's garage, but the reality was that Eminem took second place in the freestyle category at 1997's Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles and Iovine approached the rapper for a tape afterward. It wasn't until a month or two later that he played the tape for an enthusiastic Dre, who eagerly contacted Eminem. Upon meeting, Dre was taken back by his skin color more than his skill, but within the first hour they had already started recording "My Name Is." Dre agreed to produce his first album and the two released "Just Don't Give a Fuck" as a single to preview the new album. A reconciliation with his girlfriend led to the two getting married in the fall of 1998, and Interscope signed the rapper and prepared to give him a massive push on Dre's advice. An appearance on Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause only helped the buzz that was slowly surrounding him.
The best-selling Slim Shady LP followed in early 1999, scoring a massive hit with the single and video "My Name Is," plus a popular follow-up in "Guilty Conscience"; over the next year, the album went triple platinum. With such wide exposure, controversy ensued over the album's content, with some harshly criticizing its cartoon-ish, graphic violence; others praised its edginess and surreal humor, as well as Eminem's own undeniable lyrical skills and Dre's inventive production. In between albums, Eminem appeared on Dre's 2001, with his contributions providing some of the record's liveliest moments.
The Marshall Mathers LP appeared in the summer of 2000, moving close to two million copies in its first week of release on its way to becoming the fastest-selling rap album of all time. Unfortunately, this success also bred more controversy, and no other musician was better suited for it than Eminem. Among the incidents that occurred included a scuffle with Insane Clown Posse's employees in a car stereo shop, a bitter battle with pop star Christina Aguilera over a lyric about her fictional sexual exploits, a lawsuit from his mother over defamation of character, and an attack on a Detroit club goer after Eminem allegedly witnessed the man kissing his wife. Fans ate it up as his album stood strong at the top of the charts. But the mainstream media was not so enamored, as accusations of homophobia and sexism sprung from the inflammatory lyrics in the songs "Kill You" and "Kim." It was this last song that ended his marriage, as the song's chosen topic (violently murdering his real life wife Kim Mathers) drove his spouse to a suicide attempt before they divorced. Eminem toured throughout most of this, settling several of his court cases and engaging a mini-feud with rapper Everlast.
The annual Grammy Awards nominated the album for several awards, and to silence his critics the rapper called on Elton John to duet with him at the ceremony. In 2001, he teamed with several of his old Detroit running buddies and re-formed D-12. Releasing an album with the group, Eminem hit the road with them that summer and tried to ignore the efforts of his mother, who released an album in retaliation to his comments. After getting off of the road, he stepped in front of the camera and filmed 8 Mile, a film loosely based on his life directed by an unlikely fan, Curtis Hanson (Wonder Boys). His constant media exposure died out as well, leaving him time to work on new music.
When he re-emerged in 2002, he splashed onto the scene with "Without Me," a single that attacked Moby and Limp Bizkit and celebrated his return to music. Surprisingly, the following album, The Eminem Show, inspired little controversy. Instead, the popular second single, "Cleanin' Out My Closet," told of his dysfunctional childhood and explained his hatred toward his mother in a mannered, poignant fashion. And being Eminem, he followed this up with an appearance at MTV's Video Music Awards that inspired boos when he verbally assaulted Moby. Targets on his third straight chart-topper, 2004's Encore, ranged from Michael Jackson ("Just Lose It") to war-hungry politicians ("Mosh"). The album was another smash hit for Eminem, but the resulting touring was fraught with setbacks and controversy. First there was a bus crash in Missouri that injured protégé Stat Quo. Then there were reports of the tour being under-attended. There were also rumors of Eminem retiring, which he quickly quelled. However, the tour's European leg was eventually canceled due to "exhaustion," and Em entered rehab for a dependency on sleeping pills. However, by the end of 2005 he was back with a new video. In typical Eminem fashion, the clip for "When I'm Gone" riffed on his recent rehab stay. He also issued a chart-topping greatest-hits set, Curtain Call: The Hits, that December.
The year 2006 was a turbulent one. Mathers remarried Kim on January 14, 2006, but the couple filed for divorce in April. Also in April, D-12 member Proof, Mathers' best friend, was killed in a shooting at a Detroit nightclub. In August, Eminem resurfaced as producer on Obie Trice's Second Round's on Me and in October he was rapping on Akon's hit single "Smack That." He capped the year off with Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, a mixtape featuring artists from his Shady label.