Eminem’s Progress to Fame
Eminem became an international star in 1998, when he published his first critically acclaimed LP Slim Shady under the label of well-famous Dr Dre, a rapper and a music producer. Eminem paved his road to success by his unique style or rap, in which strong lyrics and humorous language predominate. So far, Eminem has won 13 Grammies and even one Oscar, has published 7 albums, and has sold over 100 million copies worldwide.
There are two main things that led Eminem to such worldwide recognition: his determination and his appeal to people. Eminem had troubled adolescence. He grew up in rough neighborhood, populated mostly by black people, and was raised in poverty by his mother only. His struggle to survive led him to local hip-hop contests where he thought he could win some money to provide for his and his mother’s life. One of those contests changed his life’s route - Rap Olympics MC battle – in which he ended up second but was recognized by Dr Dre as unique talent.
Eminem sings exclusively about his own experiences – his drug abuse, bad relationships with mother and wife, love of daughter, poverty and struggle in childhood – all such things that people can easily relate to or be empathetic about.
He denies singing about money and fruits of fame, that is to say, all those predominate motives in nowadays songs. This is the main thing that makes him different from other rap/hip-hop artists. The other thing that makes him different is that he is a white male who does very well in a discipline that is considered to be black people’s thing.
It seems Eminem became popular over night. That happened because, at the time, Dr Dre was a very important figure in music industry, due to his former involvement with “gangsta rap” scene and a relation with rap iconic figures such as Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. His word meant something.
Eminem’s road to fame is purported with controversial videos, his own movie, and both negative and positive publicity. His videos put to ridicule popular stars at the time (such as Marilyn Manson, Britney Spears and Mariah Carey), but also show Eminem’s humorous and playful side. Reaction to them is sometimes positive, but, in other times, negative – Eminem is accused of being misogynistic, homophobic and even having anger management problems. His movie, 8 Mile, gives him even larger recognition and appeal, for he bravely depicts in it hard times growing up in a black society.
Eminem has become a star because he acted sincerely and bravely. He is a talented individual, but that talent could not rise to the surface if Eminem’s character was not the way it was. He learned the hard way how to succeed and he showed the world and still shows, through his music, how it should be done. The key is to never give up your dreams and to have just a bit of luck to make them happen (the right people, or the right surroundings).
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