Eminem: Slim Shady Goes Home
While much has been made of the controversy and commercial success of Eminem and his new album, "Slim Shady," little attention has been paid to the complex character behind the Detroit rapper.
Splitting his childhood between the streets of Kansas City and the Motor City, Eminem, a.k.a. Marshall Mathers, was raised by his single mother and never really knew his father. After his family eventually settled down in Detroit when he was 12, Eminem entered an admittedly tumultuous time in his life, and his passion for rap and freestyle soon became the dominant force of his formative years.
The lofty goal of securing renown and respect in rap circles seemed like all but a dream when Eminem released his mundane debut, "Infinite," back in 1996. But the disappointment caused Mathers to tweak his style into the highly animated, sharp-witted flow featured on "Slim Shady."
The young father also focused on winning over the underground hip-hop scene, a move that eventually earned him a spot on the first Lyricist Lounge tour and a friend and mentor in Dr. Dre., who produced several "Shady" tracks.
During a visit to Detroit, MTV News' Kurt Loder joined Eminem for a journey through the rapper's past, and the two discussed Mathers' hard knock life, his 3-year-old daughter, plans for Eminem's upcoming tour and his reaction to the critical outrage sparked by some of his over-the-top lyrics.
Our interview catches up with Eminem as the rapper returns to the house he grew up in, and attempts to persuade its current occupants to let him and Loder come inside for a little tour...
Eminem: This is the house. See back there? There used to be a garage there, but it burnt down. Looks like they've put a new front door on. Actually, it doesn't look that bad. Let's see if anybody's here...
(to person inside house) Hello? Yo, excuse me. Can we talk to you -- not through the door?
Voice: About what?
Eminem: My name is Slim Shady. I used to live in this house. I'm here with MTV right now.
Kurt: That always works for me when I want to break in someplace.
Eminem (to person inside): I used to live in this house six years ago, and I grew up here. What if we take a look in the back yard? Can we do that?
Voice: Yeah, go ahead.
Kurt: Who lived here? Was it just you and your mom?
Eminem: Yeah, my and my mother and my little brother.
Kurt: Where does she live now?
Eminem: She lives in Kansas City.
Kurt: Where'd your dad go, do you know?
Eminem: Nah, I never met my father. I heard he lives in California, and I heard he's trying to get in contact with me or whatever, but...
Kurt: Would you be up for that?
Eminem: Nah, man, not now. I never got one letter. I never got anything from him and I think he could have at least tried to write. He could have done something, made an effort.
Kurt: So what was your mom doing while you were growing up? Was she pretty much on her own?
Eminem: Yeah, she pretty much was, but she used to have different boyfriends and people like that who would come and go and help her out.
Kurt: So she was mainly on public support.
Eminem: Yeah, we was on welfare.
Kurt: Now what does she say now when she sees you on television? Does she actually watch you?
Eminem: Yeah, because I got a little brother, and he keeps MTV on all day. He tells me, "I've seen your video 100 times today." So I talk to my mother and she's like, "I'm proud of you and what you've made of yourself."
Kurt: Let's talk about the album a little bit. You write all your stuff down beforehand right?
Eminem: Much thought goes into everything that I do. Much thought. I'm conscious of every line that I write and making sure that everything is consistent. It doesn't take a lot of time, usually anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to write a song.
Kurt: Your daughter, who appears on the album cover, is 3 now. When she grows up and asks, "Dad, what's 'Guilty Conscience' all about? This track with the 15-year-old girl?" Would you be able to explain that song to her?
Eminem: I would be able to explain that song to her just like I would to any other child on the face of this earth. Anyone with a half a brain can see that "Guilty Conscience" was me just talking about the ways of the world and your conscience. It's a concept song.
It's like you got the bad half of you and you have the good half -- and it seems like in America these days, the evil side always rules. And that's what I was trying to do with that song. It was a concept, you know, me taking little stabs at Dr. Dre and him throwing them back.
As a kid growing up, my daughter is gonna know right from wrong. She's gonna know what to do and what not to do. She's also gonna go through the same things that other children do when growing up.
When I was 12 years old, if I heard an NWA record or I heard an Ice-T record, I never went out and shot somebody. You have to be smart enough to know.
Kurt: What did her mom think about "'97 Bonnie & Clyde," the track where you describe killing your child's mother and dumping her body into the ocean? How'd she take that?
Eminem: She flipped out, because we had actually broken up for a while and we went through a lot of issues. I was very mad at her at the time and that's just what I felt like writing. So I wrote the song and then we got back together a couple of weeks later after I finished the track. So I played it for her and we broke up again. She flipped out. She really flipped out.
Kurt: Has she gotten over that by now or...?
Eminem: I think she's over that song by now. She's moved on to other songs, yeah. But anything I go through, if it takes a toll or has an effect on my life, then I'm gonna' write about it...
Kurt: No matter what the consequences?
Eminem: Yeah. But look at Biggie, look at Tupac. If you look at any of those writers, you'll see [that] one minute Tupac is talking about hurting somebody and the next minute he's saying keep your head up. It's because the different moods that a person goes through and what you're feeling at that time ends up [being reflected] in the writing.
Kurt: Some critics have labeled "Slim Shady" as homophobic and anti-gay. Do you think those criticisms are justified at all?
Eminem: As far as being homophobic, I'm not. I never claimed to be homophobic. If I said in one of my songs that my English teacher wanted to have sex in junior high, all I'm saying is that I'm not gay, you know. People confuse the lyrics for me speaking my mind... I don't agree with that lifestyle, but if that lifestyle is for you, then it's your business.
Kurt: You're planning on heading out on the road soon. What's the tour going to be like? Big production, smoke bombs, lights?
Eminem: Well, I plan to have a really big show because I've been doing a lot of small venues lately and just packing them in. But now moving up to bigger venues, we can have a better show. I plan to have a true show this time instead of just grabbing a mike and rapping.
Kurt: There'll be like costumes and stuff like that?
Eminem: Yeah, yeah. We're gonna do a lot of stuff. Me and Dre have been discussing it.
Kurt: That'll be cool. So life is better now right?
Eminem: Life is definitely better now. I really don't want it to get much better, because I won't have anything to rap about if it does.
Kurt: That could be a problem. What would happen if you just got so good that there was nothing bad to say? Then the ballads would come out.
Eminem: Yeah, then the love songs. The love songs and the '80s remixes, you know.
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