Eminem

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by MultiMedia and Nicolae Sfetcu

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Eminem
Marshall Mathers
Origin	Detroit, Michigan
Years active	1996 to present
Genre(s)	Rap/Hip Hop
Label(s)	Shady/Aftermath/Interscope

Eminem (born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972) is an American rapper, one of today's most popular and controversial rappers, and a Grammy and Oscar-winner. He is of mostly Scottish-American descent, and currently lives in suburban Detroit. Discovered by rapper/producer Dr. Dre, Eminem is known as one of the most skillful and controversial rappers in the industry, becoming a crossover sensation with his debut single "My Name Is" while simultaneously earning respect from the hip-hop community for his lyrical talent. He is noted for his ability to change his own verbal pace (flow) and style multiple times within one song without losing the beat, and has been praised for his skill in alliteration and assonance. He is infamous for the controversy surrounding many of his lyrics. With the enormous success of his sophomore album The Marshall Mathers LP following its release in May 2000, and its subsequent nomination for four Grammy awards including Album of the Year, critics such as GLAAD denounced his lyrics as homophobic, while others complained that it was also extremely misogynistic and violent. However, he has received a great deal of praise within the hip-hop community for his lyrical ability. He is the second-highest selling rapper of all time, behind Tupac Shakur, though the latter has had several posthumous albums released.

While generally avoiding overtly political tones previously (or if they were mentioned it was in passing), in late 2004 before the presidential election, Eminem released the song "Mosh," which harshly criticizes President George W. Bush. Encore, Mathers' fourth major-label album, was released later that year, but was considered by many to be a disappointment in comparison to his previous three albums and sold half of what The Eminem Show had. Though Eminem considers himself neither a militant nor a political artist, he did have his own Hip Hop Political Convention as a parody of the national political conventions held in 2004. His latest release is Curtain Call: The Hits, a compilation which covers many of his past hit songs, and includes three new tracks.