How Eminem paid the bills before becoming a rap icon
Eminem may be one of the most successful rappers of all time as of 2024, but he once had to work day jobs like everyone else before reaching superstardom. Slim Shady was born in St. Joseph, Missouri but spent his teenage years growing up in Detroit, Michigan, living with his mother in a working-class area.
He attended Lincoln High School but struggled with poor grades and often skipped classes, forcing him to repeat ninth grade (year nine) three times and drop out of school altogether. “I would change schools two, three times a year and that was probably the roughest part,” he told Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. “[I got] beat up in the bathroom, beat up in the hallways, shoved in the lockers, just, for the most part, being the new kid.”
With no certificates to his name, Eminem worked a number of regular jobs to help his mother pay the bills. The ‘Without Me’ hitmaker was a short order cook at Gilbert’s Lodge in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, working alongside fellow D12 member Mr Porter. His job involved flipping burgers and washing dishes; a life far removed from the one he lives now.
In addition to the restaurant, Eminem also worked in a factory similar to his Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith character in 2002’s 8 Mile. The film hit close to home for Em, with the movie being shot at New Center Stamping Inc. on East Milwaukee Avenue in Detroit.
Life came full circle in 2021 when Eminem launched his own restaurant, Mom’s Spaghetti, in his hometown of Detroit, named after his famous lyric in ‘Lose Yourself’. He even worked a surprise shift on the opening day, treating fans to a few minutes standing at the walk-up window of the pasta shop.
Despite having a tough time being bullied growing up, Eminem used the childhood trauma as fuel for his lyrics, believing nobody had wordplay quite like him. He wasn’t going to let the kids with more girlfriends or better clothes get to him.
“Hip-hop has always been about bragging and boasting and ‘I’m better than you at this and I’m better than you at that’,” he said on 60 Minutes. “This kid over here, he may have more chicks or he may have better clothes or whatever but he can’t do this like me. He can’t write what I’m writing right now.”
Eminem has remained close to his home of Detroit throughout his life; he feels comfortable being in the city and enjoys driving past his old homes, reminiscing on past times.
“I’m a creature of habit. You know? I’m just so comfortable here,” he told the Metro Times in 2009. “It’s where I grew up. It’s where I basically spent all my teenage years. And it’s just that I don’t live too far from where I spent those years. I can always go back and revisit my old neighbourhood any time I want. And stuff like that is very important.
“Even if I just want to drive by one of my old houses or something. You know? Just drive by and look at places where I came up. It brings back memories for me. And there are a lot of memories I have here in Detroit. I’m just so comfortable here, I guess.”