Many people have a lot of things to say about famous American rapper Eminem – his real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, he is the world’s best-selling rapper and one of the best-selling artists of all time, and he is called the King of Hip Hop. As much as he has a strong fan base, Eminem has had his own share of controversies and criticisms. Like most famous public figures, Eminem has always been on a high pedestal where people will always have something to say about him. How many failed marriages has he had? Did he have a troubled childhood? Is Eminem really gay? Read on these rare facts about the rapper and try to decipher him yourself…
He was a bullied kid
Like many self-made people, Eminem has had it rough since he was a kid. He grew up in Michigan where black people was the dominant population, so being white has made him sot of an outcast. As a child, Eminem was extensively bullied at school and once spent a week in a coma because he was badly beaten when he was nine. All this bullying he received when he was a kid was his inspiration in some of his songs, which have no doubt helped other bullied kids overcome their challenges.
He is actually really shy and quiet
Most of Eminem’s childhood was spent moving from city to city because he was raised by a single mom. This meant that he had to transfer to a lot of neighborhoods and enroll in a lot of schools, which made it hard for him to adapt. Even though his rapping style may be characterized by explicit lyrics and boundless criticism for other musicians, in reality, Eminem is really shy and introverted. Growing up, he did not have many friends and considered only one guy his best friend.
His childhood dream was to become a comic book artist
Before becoming the King of Hip Hop, Eminem channeled his artistry to drawing and really wanted to be a comic book artist. He actually has a wide collection of comic books.
He cooks well.
Before all the glitz and glamour, Marshall Mathers used to cook at a family restaurant in Michigan. It was also from this same Michigan restaurant where he got fired right before Hallie’s, his daughter’s, birthday.
He immediately made an impression to Dr. Dre, his would-be producer, the first time they met.
During their first encounter, Dr. Dre had no idea who Eminem was and yet the rapper had quickly made an impression on him. Eminem was wearing a really bright yellow tracksuit that was sponsored to him during those times when he was hard on money and could not buy himself decent clothes. The producer thought Eminem looked like a banana. Of course, Dr. Dre was gracious enough to look past his comical costume and the two have been good business partners ever since.
He always writes something down
When he was taping for his debut movie 8 Mile, Eminem is always seen to be scribbling down lyrics or even random words in between takes. It is also a habit of his to browse through the dictionary, taking note of various words to come up with random rhymes. No wonder he’s such a good rapper!
He has had a turbulent romantic relationship with his on/off wife, Kim.
Kim’s and Eminem’s love story has the potential to be a working plot for a drama movie. They met when he was 15 and she was 13, and after two years Kim and her sister moved in with Eminem and his mother because they were running away from home. Fast forward to now, their relationship resulted to a total of two marriages, two divorces, and one child. Pretty crazy, huh?
He has expressed his intentions of never marrying again.
In an interview with him back in 2003, Eminem has made a pact with himself to never marry again after his highly publicized divorce from childhood love, Kim Scott.
People used to be think of him as a homophobic because of particular song lyrics.
The rapper has been very controversial due to his supposedly homophobic lyrics, particularly in the song “Rap God”: Little gay-looking boy / So gay I can barely say it with a straight face-looking boy / You witnessing massacre like you watching a church gathering taking place-looking boy / ‘Oy vey, that boy’s gay,’ that’s all they say looking-boy / You take a thumbs up, pat on the back, the way you go from your label every day-looking boy./ You be the judge.
One of his alter egos, Ken Kaniff, is a homosexual who is supposed to make fun of Eminem’s songs.
Eminem is also well-known for his famous alter ego, Slim Shady. But what most people don’t know is that he also has a lesser known alter ego, named Ken Kaniff, is a homosexual who mocks Eminem’s songs.
His Grammy performance with Sir Elton John back in 2001 started off as a joke… and the beginning of a really great bromance.
The Grammy’s in 2001 was a very remarkable one, because this was the Grammy’s that the world witnessed an unlikely, yet surprisingly genius collaboration of Eminem and Sir Elton John. This was also an iconic duet, since the homophobic stereotypes for Eminem started to change.
He turned to Elton John during the time that he was battling addiction.
Their friendship was further strengthened when Eminem was going through his battle against addiction. He was quoted to say that “Elton John calls him at least once a week.”
During an MTV Movie Awards, Eminem and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen staged a stunt wherein Cohen’s bare crotch collided with Eminem’s face.
The crazy comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Eminem devised a stunt to entertain the audiences of MTV Movie Awards 2009. Cohen was presenting an award while dressed as an angel, complete with a barefaced butt, as he was suspended in air and was descending down via a harness. As a part of their joke, Cohen’s butt was perfectly positioned just inches away from the rapper’s face, and that supposedly made Eminem feel offended and “walk out of the show”, (or at least that’s what they want to make the audience think). Eminem actually went straight to his hotel room and laughed uncontrollably for the next three hours.
In the movie The Interview, Eminem had a cameo appearance wherein he played himself, but as someone who came out gay.
This issue became very controversial, precisely because people really could not tell whether Eminem was just acting or was he subtly coming out. What was even more confusing was his statement about the issue that he said in a particular interview:
“It doesn’t matter. … I asked if I could just do my own thing with it, and Seth [Rogen] said ‘go ahead.’ He gave me the green light to come out in the movie. Maybe it was real, maybe it wasn’t. Does it matter? Should it matter?” So, what exactly should matter, Eminem?
An anagram of Eminem’s name is almost spelled “MenInMe.”
That’s just an observation, but what a weird coincidence, right?
Regardless if he’s gay or not, Eminem will still remain the same person whom every young rapper grew up admiring and looking up to. He will always be legendary, and he will always be the King of Hip Hop.