Stepping Back From Sports: Happy Birthday To Eminem

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Stepping Back From Sports: Happy Birthday To Eminem by Daniel K


Today is Saturday, October 17th 2009. Today is also the day of several people's Birthdays! Just like so many, a man named Marshall Bruce Mather's III is celebrating his birthday today.

For those who aren't too familiar with the name Marshall Mathers, it is hip-hop superstar Eminem. Ooohhh...you may be saying...yes, it is Eminems birthday!

Being a fan of his, I decided to write a little tribute to him, and his comeback year of 2009. For those who are familiar with hip-hop, you should know Eminem is among the best to ever "rap", if you don't know...well now you know!

"Slim Shady" (his alter-ego name), has been a big-time player in the music world for about a decade now. Although it's been a decade since he came on the scene, he hasn't necessarily been making music for all of those ten or so years.

Actually, Eminem was pretty active in the music world; going on tours, making new albums, being a guest on shows: from about 1999-2004.

Through that time period Eminem was quickly becoming the hottest thing out. Fans had grown desperate for a new superstar in the hip-hop world, seeing as two of it's biggest names each passed away in the 1990's (The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur).

Eminem was the second coming in way. His popularity was rapidly growing, even he didn't understand how big he was. Once his albums: The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show came out, Eminem had become the most beloved, controversial figure in the music industry.

The controversial part; none of it bothered him. In fact he did something many would never even think of doing, and that is fighting back with all the critics.

His songs had become controversial, and in a way he did change, becoming a more mature person. Although his songs of repeated cussing and poking fun at sensitive subjects had decreased, his overall rhyming was becoming even better. Eminem was proving how versatile he is by rapping about his own life, connecting to the world, speaking on politics, and still keeping his old edge (in his Slim Shady character he brings out numerous times).

However, with all the love came hate, he was becoming the most polarized figure in hip-hop...possibly ever. Eminem has had his own problems, from a divorce, to hatred towards his ex-wife, a shaky relationship with his mother, drug issues, and more.

Through music, Eminem in ways dealt with those problems, just spitting it all out, at times about his ex-wife, his mother, his drug issues, etc. Eminem however also fought back with critics in songs such as "The Way I Am". Other songs from Eminem were about how people hated him for being "white" and the widely considered the best rapper in the world. Eminem showed his mentality about becoming the best in songs such as "Till I Collapse".

Eminem holds so many records and achievements that it would probably take me a book (or two..or three) to fully express how monumental they really are.

Some of Marshalls achievements include: fastest selling hip-hop album in history, best selling music artist of the 2000's, multi-time Grammy Award winner and nominee, Academy Award winner, is the best selling rapper of all-time as well, and obviously so much more, but I'll stop there.

Being the best selling rapper of all-time is even more impressive for Eminem, seeing as he hasn't been rapping for that long thus far (2005-2008 musical hiatus).

Yes, Eminem had taken a break from 2005-2008 for several reasons. Some of the reasons were: grief of best friends death, second divorce, un-certainty about career path, etc.

At that time period the hip-hop world suffered greatly. However, Eminem didn't completely vanish from 2005-2008 in the music industry. He has his own radio station, hip-hop group, and even record label...so he was still working. Eminem released music occasionally, being featured on songs with artists such as Nate Dog, 50 Cent, Akon, and others.

In 2006, Shady Records released a compilation album, Eminem Presents: The Re-Up. Eminem was featured at times on it, but it was more so used to put his D-12 members in the spotlight.

By the time of 2009, it had been widely known Eminem was coming back! Fans were anxious, and everyone was either excited or scared (Eminem bringing the Golden Era of Hip-Hop back, yet scaring artists taking spotlight from other new rappers such as Lil' Wayne, Drake, Soulja Boy, etc).

Eminem had released his auto-biography memoir in 2008, and at one point was also named "The Best Rapper Alive" by Vibe Magazine. May of 2009 came, and Eminem's come back album of sorts had surfaced: Relapse.



Relapse either got great reviews, mediocre reviews, or something in the middle. Relapse was based more on Eminem's character of Slim Shady, going back to his lyrically amazing, yet disturbing methods. A sequel Relapse has been planned, and coming out in this coming 4th quarter of 2009: Relapse 2.



People close to Eminem and Relapse 2, are already considering it the real comeback, saying Eminem is better on it (and the first one was to prove to himself he could still do it). We have yet to hear too much about the next album, but the anticipation is pretty high.

Eminem is also a Hollywood actor, starring in a semi-biographical film; 8 Mile. The film has been generally well received by critics. 8 Mile featured a famous rap tournament/battle that Marshall was part of...similar to what Marshall went through growing up in Detroit.

Months after winning, in a tournament based system, the title of 'Best Rapper Alive', yet another similar accolade came. This time the competition was greater, and similar to the last result Eminem won, and was named "The Best Rapper Ever"!

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, Eminem, Slim Shady, "The Best Ever"...whatever you want to call him celebrates his 37th Birthday today! So Happy Birthday to you Marshall!!!

Hope you enjoyed the article, feel free to comment. So...did Bleacher survive a non-sports related article or what? (*"Stepping Back From Sports", is an edition created by me"*)