The strange cameo Eminem made before he was famous
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The strange cameo Eminem made before he was famous

Eminem has made a whole host of cameos throughout his long and illustrious career. From starring in The Interview alongside Seth Rogan and James Franco to appearing in music videos for 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg, he seems to have popped up in every corner of the showbiz industry at one time or another.

But, even before he made his name with his Slim Shady EP, winning him praise from the legendary rapper Dr Dre, Eminem made a number of appearances as a background artist in 1990s music videos, one the most surprising of which was for the metal band, Korn.

Marshall Mathers appeared in the video for Korn’s ’90s hit ‘Got the Life’ in an attempt to break into the mainstream. At this time he was just beginning to establish himself on the rap circuit. Having formed his first group in 1988, the newly-named Soul Intent released their self-titled EP in 1995. Two years later, in 1997, Mathers started to record the demos for his Slim Shady EP and made the move to LA to compete in the Rap Olympic, having been fired from his job and evicted from his house.

By the time he appeared in the ‘Got The Life’ video, Mathers was on the cusp of breaking through. He just needed something to galvanise his success and – more practically – something that would give him enough money to pay his rent. Working as an extra didn’t pay well – it never has – but Mather’s saw the background role as an opportunity to get close to people who were already working in the music industry.

As Korn’s guitarist, Munky, recalled in 2014: “There were some extras on the set of our video ‘Got the Life.’ Some kid came up to me and gave me his demo,” he began. “I was really drunk and I was like [out of it]. He’s like, ‘Hey, check it out, I’m a rapper.’ I’m like, ‘I’m just a guitar player.’ It turned out that kid that was on our video was Eminem. He was an extra in that video.”

Eventually, all that hustling paid off. In 1999, Slim Shady was released to huge critical acclaim – going triple platinum by the end of the year. Over the next decade, his success (and the controversy that accompanied it) only increased, and by the time the end of the millennium rolled around, Eminem was one of the most famous rappers on the planet.