Marshall Mathers, known more famously by the stage name “Eminem” is considered widely as one of the greatest, if not most influential rap and or music artists of all time. The associations surrounding Marshall do not stop with music however. When brought up, the name Eminem could potentially conjure up thoughts of drug abuse, domestic violence, poor education, bullying and poverty.

To say that Marshall Mathers had a troubled upbringing would be considered by those familiar with his story to be a drastic understatement. He was an only child at birth and had no siblings until the age of 13. His father abandoned him at the age of one and a half. By age 12, Marshal and his family had already moved several times. They finally settled into a poor neighborhood in the suburbs of Detroit.

 During this time, Marshall would have frequent fights with his mother and all of his written letters to his father would come back “return to sender.” Mathers was also frequently bullied at his school and in his neighborhood. He spent three years in the ninth grade and ultimately dropped out of high school. Throughout all of this, Marshall retained a passion for storytelling and idolized rapper Dr. Dre.

Eminem raps about instances of his mom abusing drugs, people going through her purse and having items come up missing. His mother was a social worker and Eminem raps about being a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. He mentions his mother telling him that she wishes he had died in place of his uncle.

While often difficult to pinpoint the exact circumstances responsible for each behavior, (correlation doesn’t necessarily equate to causality) the conditions we laid out could be linked to some of the outcomes Marshall eventually faced throughout his life.

Circa 1996, Marshal was working 60 hours a week as a dishwasher for minimum wage. Could this have anything to do with a lack of education or the lack of educational pursuits? Could it be related to the yearning for his daughter to have a better childhood than he did? Was it the best option he had considering the context of his upbringing?

Marshal had a rocky relationship with his girlfriend Kim, whom he married twice, the mother of his daughter, Hailey. It has been said that individuals learn a lot about intimate relationships from their parents. Often, patterns are repeated. If one was never taught how to receive and give love properly, this could carry over to their adult relationships.

After being fired from his aforementioned job as a dishwasher due to personal issues stemming from drug abuse, Mathers attempted suicide. One must ask if the attempt on his life was due solely to life stressors at that moment in time or if it was a culmination of years’ worth of trauma and drug use punctuated by the proverbial straw breaking a camel’s back?

Throughout his life, Marshall developed a love for the versatility of language. He enjoyed the ability that using it in rhyme form could allow him to express himself. A common side effect of living in a toxic and or neglectful environment is the inability to express oneself. Autonomy of thought is ignored, vocalization of needs minimized or ridiculed. Many decide consciously or subconsciously to give up this futile pursuit of recognition and censor themselves to the extreme.

Fast forward to his first major break and his ultimate explosion into superstardom. (It was all a very fast process.)  He first got recognized in 1997 and by 99’ he was a triple platinum artist.  

Mathers had more than one alter ego at his disposal to express himself lyrically. “Slim Shady” was a rendition of Marshall that allowed him to use anger to express himself. With this alter ego, he would blurt out the vilest thoughts he could conjure up.

 I’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to this rapper’s dark past. Some of the circumstances surrounding this individual need not be discussed for sake of this analysis. I do have a hard time believing that all this negativity was not a reflection into the depths of his troubled psyche.

At the height of his career, Marshall would play the lead role in a movie about himself. “8 Mile” which chronicled a portion of the rappers early adulthood. Thus, providing Marshall further opportunity to satiate a seemingly endless desire to tell his story. A story about hardship, neglect, trauma, anger, unlawfulness, and pain. A story about dancing with monsters. It’s also a story of perseverance, a story of beating the odds and a story of survival.    

Along the lines of the latter story themes, an argument could be made for the positive contributions made by Eminem. In the latter stages of his career, particularly in his album “Recovery” Eminem goes on to detail the idiosyncrasies of recovering from drug addiction. I have seen this album used, and garner positive feedback within recovery programs here in Massachusetts. Without the experience of being a former addict, I believe therapists are at a disadvantage in treatment.

When considering who to choose for this project, I knew I was looking for someone who’s troubles where well documented, but more importantly, someone who had spoken openly and excessively about their childhood from a first-person point of view.  If it also was a person who does so through artistic endeavors, that could provide the deepest insight possible into one’s mind. Mathers trauma’s bleed directly into his lyrics.  It’s hard not to always remember him as the rapper who was consistently yelling through the speakers about his past.

Ecudes (2024 )~

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminem

https://people.com/who-is-debbie-nelson-eminem-mom-8405426

Who Is Eminem's Ex-Wife? All About Kim Scott (people.com)

Eminem - Cleanin' Out My Closet (Clean) (youtube.com)

The Heartbreaking Life Of Eminem | From Poor Beginnings to a Rap God | Full Documentary - YouTube