One of the most talented wordsmiths in hip-hop history and a lightning rod for controversy throughout his career, Eminem has left an enormous imprint on American pop culture. Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1972, and raised by his single mom (who he would later eviscerate in song), spending most of his youth in a working class suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

After a couple underground releases, he was discovered by N.W.A. co-founder Dr. Dre, who co-produced his blockbuster debut album, 1999’s The Slim Shady LP. Songs like his signature hit “My Name Is” and the more introspective “Guilty Conscience” presented Eminem as the demon spawn of middle America, at once uproariously funny, violently angry, self-lacerating, and offensive, with skills on the mic no one could deny. 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP featured “The Real Slim Shady” and “Stan,” the title of which became universal slang for overly intense fans. 2002’s The Eminem Show featured another hit, “Without Me.” That same year, he summed up his trailer-park-to-rap star mythos in the biopic 8 Mile, and a soundtrack that delivered the enduring amped-up anthem, “Lose Yourself.”

All of these albums contained unsparing satires of celebrity culture as well as lyrics that were frequently condemned as misogynistic. He was married twice to Kim Scott, who he rapped about viciously on 2000’s “Kim.” As the 2000s progressed, albums like 2004’s Encore, 2008’s Relapse, and 2010’s Recovery took on a darker, more dour tone. In 2007, he was hospitalized after a methadone overdose, and announced he was sober the following year. In the 2010s, he became a more reclusive figure and also somewhat more earnest-seeming.

In 2016 he released the song “Campaign Speech:” which criticized then-candidate Donald Trump. While his skills as a lyricist remained undiminished and he continued to have hits, fans and critics responded tepidly to albums like 2017’s Revival, 2018’s Kamikaze, and 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By. In 2024, he retired the alter-ego that made him famous with his 12th album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). — Jon Dolan