History Music / Eminem

Mathers had a [[TroubledButCute troubled childhood]], raised on welfare by his mother who [[AbusiveParents emotionally and physically abused him]]. [[DisappearedDad His father walked out on the family when he was a baby]]. The family switched homes every two months before they settled down. [[KidsAreCruel He was bullied to ridiculous extents for being white in an all-black ghetto]]; once he was even put in a coma and had to re-learn all his basic functions when he woke up. He was often kicked out of his own house for nights, he had failed 9th grade 3 times, and he could never get a decent paying job, the homes he stayed in were often robbed, and had apparently tried suicide a few times.

* DoubleStandard: He's engaged in slut shaming in his interviews, never mind the fact that he himself constantly moons people onstage, appeared naked in his videos and did a nude photo shoot where he holds a dynamite stick over his male part.

* LiteralMetaphor[=/=]NotHyperbole: He would give an arm [[PapaWolf for his daughter]]... which is why he tatooed her face on his right arm.

*** Judging by the sales online, his appearance in "That's All She Wrote" on T.I.'s latest album is being viewed the same way.

*** The ironic thing is that his verses were prerecorded before Music/{{Jay-Z}} got ahold of the track. It was originally supposed to be a Royce da 5'9" song[[hottip:*:the "Jigga-Ji-Jigga" near the end of Em's first verse was recorded over the words "Royce, the king of Detroit" when Jay picked it up]].

* ShoutOut: "Without Me" music video. Eminem dresses up in a [[{{Batman}} Robin]]-esque costume and becomes ‘Rap-Boy’ to save the day, preventing underaged kids from buying his controversial albums! There's a lot of shots [[BatmanAndRobin on Eminem's crotch]], by the way.

* ClusterFBomb : In fact, the ONLY singles he's ever released that DON'T use the word fuck are "Just Lose It" and "We Made You". Not bad.

* AxCrazy: Slim Shady is this from time to time. [[LoonyFan Stan]] has shades of this as well, going so far as to inspire a [[DetractorNickname nickname]] for fanatics everywhere.

* HoYay: Memorably in the Dr. Dre song "What's the Difference", "I love you dawg." Though he did mean it in a father-son sort of way. Him and Music/FiftyCent though...
** Also in "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "All this time me and Dre have been fuckin' with hats off!"
** Retroactively taken to new levels with Proof in several songs on ''Recovery'', most notably "You're Never Over". Apparently they had pet names for each other...
** "Just Lose It" is full of {{Accidental Public Confession}}s.
-->Now I'm gonna make you dance\\
It's your chance\\
Yeah, [[FreudianSlip boy]]; shake that ass\\
[[ThatCameOutWrong Oops, I mean girl]]\\
Girl, girl, girl...
* HurricaneOfPuns: The entire Recovery album is littered with corny punchlines.

-> ''"WillSmith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records... Well I do, so [[TakeThat fuck him]] and fuck you too!"''

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: How he was treated (booed offstage before even getting a chance to rap, shot at, robbed, physically assaulted) for being white. He still gets it even to this day, with so many people refusing to acknowledge his talent because they feel he "stole black music". As he points out in "Without Me", so did ElvisPresley.

Around the time of recording ''The Eminem Show'', Eminem also appeared in the semi-autobiographical movie ''[=~8 Mile~=]'' and produced its soundtrack. While he hasn't done much acting since, he won an AcademyAward for the song "Lose Yourself". (He didn't go to the ceremony, [[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,625790,00.html preferring to sleep instead]].)

* AloneWithThePsycho Several of his songs, examples include: "Same Song and Dance", "3 A.M.", "Stan," and "Kim". Notably, except for "Stan", Eminem is usually the psycho.

* BeamMeUpScotty: In "Stan", the title character mislabels PhilCollins' song "In the Air ''Tonight''" as "In the Air ''of the Night''".

** [[SouthPark Lemmiwinks?]]

* GreenEyedMonster: He revealed that he was jealous towards LilWayne and KanyeWest during his hiatus, as he realized they were kicking ass and he was not doing much of anything.

* HoYay: Memorably in the Dr. Dre song "What's the Difference", "I love you dawg." Though he did mean it in a father-son sort of way. Him and [[FiftyCent 50 Cent]] though...

* MoralityPet: Eminem's long-standing friendship with EltonJohn is often cited as proof that he's not actually homophobic.

** Or on "Drop the World" from the LilWayne rock album. Most people weren't fans of the album, except for the song Em was on.

** His duet with {{Jay-Z}}, "Renegade", is the most literal example of [[OneSceneWonder this trope]]: Em's the only guest on the whole album. This was even {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by {{Nas}} during his feud with [[JayZ Jay]], saying "{{Eminem}} murdered you on your own shit!"
*** The ironic thing is that his verses were prerecorded before {{Jay-Z}} got ahold of the track. It was originally supposed to be a Royce da 5'9" song[[hottip:*:the "Jigga-Ji-Jigga" near the end of Em's first verse was recorded over the words "Royce, the king of Detroit" when Jay picked it up]].

* SampledUp: Results tend to be SugarWiki/{{Awesome|Music}}, as shown by:
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSLZFdqwh7E&ob=av2e Stan]]" for Dido's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TO48Cnl66w&ob=av2n Thank You]]".
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4hAVemuQXY&ob=av2e Sing for the Moment]]" for Music/{{Aerosmith}}'s "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKuchOdtcFs&feature=related Dream On]]", though [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]].
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lexLAjh8fPA&ob=av2e Like Toy Soldiers]]" for Martika's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpJy46o_7b0&feature=fvst Toy Soldiers]]".
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgT1AidzRWM&ob=av2e Beautiful]]" for [[{{Queen}} Queen + Paul Rodgers']] "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o77jpbegrqc Reaching Out]]".

* SelfTitledAlbum: Arguably his first three, which would put him in {{Weezer}} territory...

** He does the same schtick with [[FiftyCent 50 Cent]] on another album, playing ‘Robbin’ to his ‘Gatman.’

* ThatCameOutWrong: Lampshaded on "Evil Deeds"

* TruthInTelevision: {{Rihanna}} is featured in the song and video for "Love the Way You Lie" -- which deals, naturally, with [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel domestic violence]].

* UrbanLegends: Discussed in "Stan" when the title character talks about the misinterpretation of the lyric of PhilCollins' song "In the Air Tonight".

* WretchedHive: "Amityville"

His first studio album was released in 1996. The album, called Infinite, was not a success; underground rappers and critics alike felt it was a bad imitation of the likes of {{Nas}} or {{Jay-Z}}.

** And EltonJohn, [[SincerityMode yes, really]], Eminem asked him for advice on how to deal with his drug issues and Elton helped him.
* {{Metaphorgotten}}: From [[NickiMinaj "Roman's Revenge"]]:

** Arguably AlternativeCharacterInterpretation considering he just kicked a drug habit and could easily be referencing that.

[[caption-width-right:348:Hi, kids. Do you like violence? Wanna see me stick NineInchNails into each one of my eyelids?]]

* ButNotTooBlack: See HypeAversion below.

* BerserkButton: You don't even have to insult Hailie to set Eminem off, mentioning her is enough for him, which is [[PetTheDog sweet]] in it's own [[PapaWolf scary]] way.

* PapaWolf: Very, ''[[BerserkButton very]]'' protective of his beloved daughter Hailie. And although his BerserkButton has yet to be publicly pressed on the matter, he's always very clear about the devotion he feels towards his three legally adopted children (niece Alaina, stepdaughter Whitney, and little brother Nathan) as well.

* PapaWolf: Very, ''[[BerserkButton very]]'' protective of his beloved daughter Hailie.

* HiddenDepths: A rapper whose songs' material consists of murdering his wife, doing copious amounts of drugs, raping numerous people, and in some cases committing serial murder. And in his personal life he's banned swearing in his house and generally avoids the spotlight whenever possible.

*** Doubles as an AndTheFandomRejoiced because the last song they did together ("Touchdown") was godawful - Em actually admitted that he considers his verse on that song one of the worst he's ever made.

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, AKA Eminem, AKA Slim Shady is a popular rapper from Warren, Michigan.

* TheTropeSong: "Hailie's Song".

* AlterEgoActing: Marshall Mathers, the [[MoralityPet loving]] father with a [[DarkAndTroubledPast checkered past]]; Eminem, the insanely skilled and insightful emcee; and Slim Shady, the AxeCrazy, immature, and fucking hilarious fiend.

* BonnieAndClyde: Eminem has a rap song called "'97 Bonnie and Clyde". Surprisingly it's an imagined fantasy about Eminem and his daughter Hailie carrying her "[[BigSleep sleeping]]" mother Kim to the beach and dumping the body into the ocean.

[[caption-width-right:348:A cross between [[MarilynManson Manson]], {{Esham}} and [[Music/OzzyOsbourne Ozzy]].]]

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, AKA Eminem, AKA Slim Shady is a popular white rapper from Warren, Michigan.

[[caption-width-right:348:A cross between [[MarilynManson Manson]], {{Esham}} and [[OzzyOsbourne Ozzy]].]]

-> ''"WillSmith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records... Well I do, so fuck him and fuck you too!"''