20 Things You Didn’t Know About Eminem

Will the real Slim Shady please stand up? You know the line. You know the lyrics. You know the man. He’s the rapper with the fast flow, the daughter and ex-wife he refers to regularly. He grew up in the slums of Detroit in his trailer with his mother. He wanted better. His life story can be found inside his lyrics. However, that doesn’t mean you know all there is to know about Eminem. Slim Shady. Slim. Marshall Mathers. The man is a lyrical genius, but he’s also very private in many ways. There are many things you never knew about this rap superstar.

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His Stage Name is Clever

Have you ever wondered where Eminem came up with his stage name? Look no further than his given name. Marshall Mathers. Both start with M. So, he decided to give himself a name that went a bit with his name. M&M is, of course, a very famous and very copyrighted, very legally protected, very much unavailable stage name. But Eminem was not. He used it, he worked it, and now that’s how he is known and recognized all over the world.

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He Could be Bipolar

Eminem’s mom might not be the most reliable source on earth, but she’s told the media more than once that her son suffers heavily from bipolar disorder and that it only got worse once his daughter was born. We don’t have a clue if this is information we can confirm, but we know he did create a few names for a few personalities of his own and that his mother has said this more than once. If it’s true, we assume he’s probably getting help for his mental illness. He’s taking care of himself, for certain.

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He’s an Oscar Winner

Did you know Eminem is an Oscar winner? The man wrote and rapped the track “Lose Yourself,” when he starred in a film called “8 Mile,” and the track took home an Oscar. It is the first ever rap song to win an Academy Award. To be very clear, Eminem has more Oscars than some of the most famous actors of all time, including Tom Cruise. That’s a pretty rough realization for serious actors, but it’s pretty awesome for this rapper who didn’t even graduate high school. It just goes to show you need a dream and the desire to make it come true.

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He Gained Too Much Weight

During a time in his life, he was very happy with the way things were going for him, and he ate Fast Food all the time. He was not in control of his body, and that became a huge problem. In fact, the rapper was so into his fast food he gained so much weight his fans no longer recognized him. He knew he had to make a change when he overheard two people debating whether or not he was Eminem and ultimately decided he was not when they called him fat and said the rapper wasn’t fat.

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He’s the Best-Selling Artist in the 2000s

The man broke records. The took what he had, he turned it into gold. Then the turned it into gold again and again. Eminem dominated the music industry in the 2000s. He proved you don’t need to know the right people or grow up in a certain place, or even be a certain color, to be a successful rapper. He’s one of the most recognized names, faces, and voices in the world, and he’s a mega-superstar. He outsold every single other person who produced, rapped, sang, or introduced music in an entire decade.

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He’s a High School Dropout

It might not really surprise fans to know that their favorite rapper dropped out of school, but the details are often a bit sketchy. Eminem wasn’t a great student, which is surprising given his lyrical genius. The man was in the freshman year of his school three times before he realized his education wasn’t working out for him and it was time to move on. It’s not something he recommends anyone else try, and he did not become a superstar overnight when he quit school, either.

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His Names Are All Personalities

You’ve heard him referred to as Marshall Mathers, which is his real name, Slim Shady, Eminem; they are all different personalities. Marshall is who he is. Slim is his temper. He’s got a big one, a hot one; one he struggled to control for a long time. Eminem is his rapper stage name he uses to make sure people know who he is. He’s not the only musical genius to use different names for different personalities, either. Beyonce also does it, which makes us think there might be something to it.

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He Doesn’t Use Computers

You won’t see Eminem on the computer anytime soon. He’s not the kind of man who likes to use it, won’t use it, and doesn’t even care he can’t use it. He’s not willing to learn, he’s not going to go out of his comfort zone, and he’s not even remotely ashamed of that life choice. The man is good where he is, and we’re going to go out on a limb and say he’s probably going to be all right without knowing how to use the latest PC.

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His Mom Was a Teen Mom

When Eminem was born, he was born to a 17-year-old girl. She was young, she was naïve, and she was in labor for almost three full days. She nearly died when she went into labor and it was permitted to last that long, but she pulled through. It’s not a big secret that this young man had a very difficult upbringing and a very tumultuous relationship with his family, either. He worked hard to get where he is, and we are not certain he did this thanks to or in spite of his upbringing.

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His Mom is the Reason He Married Kim

You know the name. He’s mentioned her – in an unflattering light – more than once in his music. Kim is the woman with whom Eminem shares his daughter. They were married, and they began their relationship when they were just kids. They were only 15 when his mother allowed this young runaway girl to move into their trailer, and that’s when it all happened for them.

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His Mom Sued Him

In case you were mistaken about his relationship with his mother and thought it was a bit more enjoyable than he likes to mention in his raps, Eminem’s own mother sued him fast after he made a name for himself. In his hit song “My Name Is…” he mentions his mother uses more drugs than he does, and she was not happy about that. She sued him on the ground he was defaming her good name.

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His High School Bully Also Sued Him

When Marshall Mathers was just a high school student repeating the ninth grade as many times as it takes other kids to get to their senior year before dropping out, he was the unfortunate victim of a bully. So he wasn’t in love with school and didn’t do well. That was his own choice and he doesn’t need anyone else’s comments, but De’Angelo Bailey felt differently. The man bullied him, grew up, became a janitor, and then sued Eminem for rapping about him in a song called “Brain Damage,” because he felt that the rapper ruined his good reputation. Right.

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Dr. Dre Loved Him Immediately

Dr. Dre is one of the most famous men in the music industry, and he’s worked with Eminem since the start. He once said he never found even one person from a demo tape. Until he heard Slim Shady. He told his people to find this man right away and get him into his office. He was given a bad rap for signing a white man to rap, but he didn’t care what color he was because his talent was so impressive. He was not interested in what others had to say about this choice, and we are here to say that was a wise move.

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He Lied to His Wife

When he was married to Kim, he once told his wife that he and their toddler daughter were going to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate, but he actually took her to his recording studio. Her voice was used to record a piece for his hit song “97 Bonnie and Clyde,” which might seem very cute. Except that the song is about how he killed his wife and disposed of her dead body somewhere. So we are going to assume he lied to his wife because he didn’t think she’d be very cool with that information.

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He Did Remarry His Wife

When he and Kim decided to end their very unhappy marriage, they were never ever getting back together (as Taylor Swift might say) and he was not right about that. They did eventually decide they wanted to get married again, and they did so in 2006. That did not work out for them, as it happens. They ended up being just as unhappy the second time around, and they didn’t last much longer the second time than they did the first.

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Elton John Saved His Life

When Eminem was making his way through the rap game, he was addicted. He took too many prescription drugs, did too many awful things to his body, and really did a disservice to himself. He wasn’t good to his body or his mind, and he wasn’t good to his life. He decided it was more than time for him to quit with the addiction game, and he needed help. So he called the one and only Sir Elton John to help him get clean. The singer helped the rapper spend 18 months overcoming his addiction.

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The Secret Service Investigated Him

If you’ve ever wondered whether the Secret Service does their job seriously, they do. When Eminem released a song called “We As Americans,” back in 2003, he made a comment in the rap about how he’d rather “see the president dead,” than rap for dead presidents. And that was not a moment the president’s number one guards took lightly. They didn’t find that he had any real animosity, but they did find it to be something worth investigating.

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He’s Got Four Kids

Eminem might only be the legal father of one little girl, his daughter Hailie, but he’s got three kids. His ex-wife and the mother of his daughter has another child from another relationship. Her name is Whitney. Kim, his ex-wife, also has a twin sister, Dawn, who has a daughter named Alaina. He has legal custody of all three children. He has also has legal custody of his half-brother, Nathan. He cares for them all as his own, makes sure they do what they need to do, and he cares for them quite well. His own daughter is quite smart and ambitious.

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He is Proud of His Daughter

Despite his issues, the issues his ex-wife has, and their public problems, Eminem’s daughter has grown up quite well. She’s now 28-years-old, and graduated from the University of Michigan. She has a huge Instagram following, and she is a smart girl. She was homecoming queen at her high school, and the staff at the school said at the time she won because she is smart, she’s kind, and she’s athletic. She’s an all-around good girl, and her father is very proud of her.

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He’s Got Regrets

Eminem has regrets, and it was all released recently when he dropped his newest album. He mentions he feels sorry for using his daughter’s name in his songs, rapping about her, making his own overdose happen, being addicted, fighting so publicly with her mother, and making her a subject of his own messed up mind. He’s clearly feeling bad for all that he’s put her through, but she seems to be doing well on her own, and we seem to think he must have done something right at some point for her to be where she is.

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