Real Name:Marshall B. Mathers III
Alias:Slim Shady
Date Of Birth:10/17/73
Backround Information:
Eminem already has released "Infinite" (Unavailable) in 1997, "Slim Shady EP" (Unavialable) in 1998, "Slim Shady EP" in 1999, and "Marshall Mathers LP" in 2000. "The Marshall Mathers LP" has sold over 5 Million copies in the United States. He has appeared on Tony Touch's LP, DJ Clue's "The Professional Pt.2", Soundbombing Compilation, and DJ Butter's "Kill The DJ" to name a few. He has also created a record label, Shady Records, which he signed D12 to.
The Dirty Dozen, also known as The D-12, is a group that originated in Detroit Michigan. The idea for this crew began in the back of a car. Apparently it was Proof who came up with the idea for the Dirty Dozen. The crew was in a car, driving back from New York one night, and Proof mentioned that he wanted to start this concept called the Dirty Dozen. He said that each member of the group would posses his own alter-ego. Bizarre, another member of the group, remembers having all the guys over at his house, when Eminem came over and said, "Yo, I want to start this Dirty Dozen thing; I want to bring it on my new album and I'm gonna show you how raw I am." He then presented his "Slim Shady" tattoo to the group, who had no idea what it meant. Eminem explained, "Slim Shady, that's my second character." After this each member created their own alter-ego and began droppin' songs and creating beats in Eminem's basement on the eight track. Some people also argue that Eminem was the last to create an alter-ego (on the toliet), but does it matter?
Proof will always be the 'founder' of D-12. He organized the whole thing from the get go. He had a lot of people such as Denaun, Eminem, Bizarre, Eiy Kyu, Fuzz, at once and they were affiliated with Killa Hawk, B-Flat, and Dirty Rat all at once. A little after that Fuzz, B-Flat and Dirty Rat left and Eminem decided to persue a solo career. Killa Hawk was also once a member, but he was not in D12 for very long either. D-12 was over with, but it was only temporary. Right about when Eminem got a deal, Proof decided to start D-12 up again. He asked Denaun & Von (Kon Artis & Kuniva) to join since they already were in a group called Da Brigade. They then got Bizarre and Bugz, but Eiy Kyu decided not to join. Then they told Eminem about it so he joined D-12 too. Soon after Bugz got killed and Swift was scouted to join D-12 and Swift did. Swift used to be in the Rabeez with Bareda but he is with D-12 now. The original 4 members of D12 were Eiy Kyu, Proof, Eminem and Bizarre. Kon Artis was doing some production at the time, but he was not a member yet.
The group consists of six members. There is Eminem, Proof, Kon Artis, Bizarre, Swift and Kuniva. Each of these members have created their own alter-egos. Eminem's alias is Slim Shady. Proof's alias is Dirty Harry, Kon Artis is Denine Porter, and Bizarre went with Peter S. Bizarre. Swift picked out Swifty McVeigh and Kuniva decided to go with Von as his nickname. The reason the group is called D-12 and there are only six members, is because they counted each of their alter-ego's as another rapper in the group, totaling twelve members. One original member of D-12, Eiy Kyu, is currently not with The Dirty Dozen anymore but you can find him on Infinite and Underground EP.
The D-12 is currently under contract with Interscope Records and Shady Records (the record label started by Eminem). Their new album, Devils Night, will be released sometime during the Summer of 2000 or maybe a month or two later. To listen to some of the songs that may be on the upcoming album go to the Media Section of the site. The D-12 started recording sometime around January.
Also Eminem perhaps sums his 'white-boy rapper' tag best by saying "Every now and again one motherf***er comes along and now that motherf***er happens to be me." It remains to be seen how long the 'mutha' will be around, but his prospects certainly have exceeded the man he is most frequently compared with, Vanilla Ice. Despite the comparisons, neither seems fond of the other. Ice told Vibe recently that Eminem "raps like a girl" adding "I just don't like that little squeaky voice." Eminem responds to the comparisons by saying "Vanilla Ice wasn't into hip hop. He didn't know what the f**k he was doing. He just followed the trend." Em also distinguishes himself from the Ice man by going on the attack against virtually everyone in his raps, and the self created controversies have proven a windfall to the man's popularity.
Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in Kansas City, Missouri. He was raised by his mother splitting time between KC and Detroit. His childhood had its rough moments, as he was repeatedly beaten up by a school bully who eventually beat him up so bad that he was in a coma for 10 days. Marshall never had many friends though he did develop a close relationship with his uncle Ronnie Polkingharn, who shared his same desire to rap. The two saw little of each other after Marshall's move to Detroit was more permanent. Marshall later met Kimberly at High School and formed a rap group. His rap efforts initially were met with loud booing and laughter, but he later worked his way to respectability overcoming his skin color. Just when things were going good for Marshall, he was devastated to hear that his best friend Ronnie had killed himself. Marshall was so devastated that he stopped rapping for over a year.
Marshall's career was reborn though after his girlfriend Kim gives birth to Haile Jade. He launches himself as Eminem and puts out a CD entitled Infinite in 1996. Unfortunately, the album flops and things get so bad, Eminem and Kim are kicked out of their apartment and Kim ditches Em to move back home with her parents. Eminem isn't even allowed to see his daughter and her family thought of him as a loser. All this was too much for Eminem as he attempted suicide in December of 1996. The experience turned his life around and he is reborn as his alter ego, Slim Shady.
Fortunately for Eminem, his rap idol Dr. Dre was listening to a rap competition he took part in for an LA radio station. Dre didn't even know Eminem was white, later saying "It's pretty rare when you can find a white cat that can flow like that." His work with Dre under his Aftermath label quickly launches Eminem, along with excitement from MTV over his look and sound. The Real Slim Shady debuts at #2 in the Billboard charts and from there he hasn't looked back, releasing the Marshall Mathers LP in 2000. His success helped bring Kim back into his life, as the two married in September of 1999, despite the fact that he sang lyrics suggesting he wanted to kill her. The marriage was short lived though as on August 16, 2000 Marshall filed for divorce after separating in June. This success has done nothing to repair the relationship between Eminem and his mother, Debbie Mathers-Briggs, who filed a $10 million slander suit against him in 1999. Of course his lyrical jabs didn't stop there, with additional shots taken at primarily at Christina Aguilera, as well as *NSYNC, Ricky Martin, Britney Spears and everyone that Em felt was in the 'boy band' mix. It was ironic that Em took stabs at Christina for her comments that he felt dissed him, not to mention Will Smith, as his entire schtic is doing the same thing himself, leading many to wonder if Eminem can dish it but can't take it himself. As well, freedom of speech to Eminem doesn't translate to freedom of copyright, as he has joined Dre in speaking out against people illegally downloading his MP3s on Napster.
