Caleb Ryerson | Arts & Life Blogger

Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in Kansas City, Missouri, Mathers had a rough childhood. His mother was only 15 when he was born, and his father left six months after. Marshall, along with his mother, was forced to move from Kansas City to Detroit. He had to switch schools every two to three years. There was an incident in school where Marshall was beaten so badly by bullies that he had a seizure which resulted in a coma. Marshall had to relearn all of his motor skills after waking up from that coma. He then dropped out of school after failing ninth grade three times. This was the starting point in the brilliant rapper’s career.

The Marshall Mathers LP is the third album by Marshall Mathers, also known by his stage name Eminem. It was released on May 23, 2000 and garnered just over 1.75 million dollars in the U.S and sold 10,598,000 copies. Some of the singles in this album included “The Real Slim Shady” and “The Way I Am.” On a personal note, after I heard the song “The Real Slim Shady,” I was a huge fan of Eminem and was willing to listen to any song he put out in the future.

Throughout the years, Eminem has made five albums: “The Eminem Show,” “Encore,” “Curtain Call: Greatest Hits,” “Relapse,” and “Recovery.” These albums made Eminem known worldwide, and he is frequently called the hip-hop Elvis.

Eminem, age 40, has announced his newest album, “Marshall Mathers LP 2,” to be released on Nov. 5, 2013. This album will be his eighth and Eminem has already released a single to promote the album. The song is called “Berzerk,” and it is about Eminem’s road to fame. In this ‘80s-retro song, he talks about how he turns critics to crickets and parties all night. This song was released on Aug. 27, 2013 and has grabbed the attention of many audiences.

“Sometimes I feel like rap music is almost the key to stopping racism,” Eminem said, expressing his views of being a white rapper when there were only a few white rappers at the time he started. He feels like rapping together can bring together races, and by rapping about peace, everybody would forget their differences.

With Eminem’s age, fans and critics are questioning how long he will be able to put out album after album. The biggest gap that Eminem had between albums was the four years between “Curtain Call” and “Relapse.” As a fan, those four years felt like 10. It was strange not hearing from Eminem for such a long time. I hope to keep hearing from him long into the future.

Photo by Tyson Domingo