The moment Eminem called the “lowest point” of his career
Eminem is no stranger to adversity, despite being one of the most recognisable names in hip-hop and now living a very comfortable life. He reached the top of the genre; considered in the argument for the greatest of all time, but he had to claw his way there and work twice as hard as other artists.
Born in Illinois, but certainly a golden child of Detroit, Marshall Mathers lived his childhood in perpetual poverty. His father; Marshal Mathers Jr abandoned the family when Em was only one year old, and he was raised by his mother in a primarily black neighbourhood. He recalled his difficulty growing up to Rolling Stone, detailing the beatings he would receive.
There was seemingly no respite for the rapper as he couldn’t escape to the safety of his home. He had an extremely difficult relationship with his mother whom he has described as having a paranoid personality. He has accused his mother in court of being a drug abuser and of subjecting him to mental and physical abuse.
Young Marshall finally obtained some form of direction and mentorship through his uncle, Ronnie Polkingharn. Polkinharn introduced the boy to rap by gifting him the Breakin’ soundtrack that included the rap song ‘Reckless’. Following this, his uncle became a musical mentor for him as he delved deeper into the scene.
Tragedy would strike again though as in 1991 Ronnie committed suicide, leaving Em all alone once more. After the death of his father figure, Mathers didn’t speak for four days and refused to attend the funeral as he retreated back into isolation. Polkingharn’s influence did not go to waste though.
Eminem found his way out through music and, following the failure of his debut studio album Infinite, through the development of his violent alter-ego Slim Shady. It was as Shady he released the famous Slim Shady EP in 1997. Legendary producer Dr Dre got his hands on the record and his reaction to it came in the form of a demand to Jimmy Iovine: “find him. Now”.
It was under Dre’s guidance that Slim would become the artist he is today as the duo ruled the airwaves in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. 1999 saw the release of his second studio album The Slim Shady LP and the floodgates opened as the record became one of the most popular records of the year; becoming triple platinum by year’s end.
The pair didn’t slow down after the success of The Slim Shady LP as they controlled the game from 2000 to 2004. They combined to release three albums in this time; 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP, 2002’s The Eminem Show and 2004’s Encore. All three records were wildly popular with fans and critics alike. This was a sustained level of success that had never been before or since in rap.
All the plaudits and roses almost never came to be as one interaction early in his career sent the rapper spiralling and left him questioning whether or not to continue.
Speaking to XXL in 2022, Shady was detailing his rise to the top and recalled an instance in the late ‘90s that he thought would kickstart his career. He said, “we had somebody at this hip-hop label who said they wanted to sign me”. This wasn’t the case though; “I made three or four songs, and we gave it to this guy, and found out that he worked in the mail room”.
This was another cruel setback for the Detroit native who admitted that the ordeal had a heavy impact on him; “I was super depressed”. Luckily for him and for eventual fans, he lamented and anted up once more and pushed onwards with his dream. It feels like he was always destined for greatness, considering all Marshall’s awful experiences, he still made it to the top of the mountain.