But the one thing that stood out was the name “Slim Shady”, which is repeated every time in the chorus.
So who was Slim Shady?
To put it simply, Slim Shady is a personality created by Eminem in the 90s. He has come up with various “identities” that he assumes for his songs. Eminem itself is an alter ego for Marshall Mathers. But what is the reason for him donning multiple identities? It stems from his childhood and early life.
So let us go a little into the past before Eminem became the star he is today.
Marshall Mathers — The Beginning
Before he was Eminem, he was Marshall Bruce Mathers III.
Marshall faced several traumatic experiences as a child. First, his father abandoned him and his mother, Debbie when he was only 18 months old. Every attempt a young Marshall made to connect to his father was futile. His mother, Debbie was a drug addict who hated him. Her behavior caused her to lose custody of Nathan, her son from another relationship. Later, Marshall became his legal guardian. Marshall had also experienced abuse and trauma at the hands of his stepfather, which he rapped about in the song “Stepdad”.
Because of their financial constraints, Marshall grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Detroit where he lived in a trailer park. He struggled to fit in with other kids and was bullied constantly, once to the extent he nearly died when his school bully, DeAngelo Bailey beat him up in the washroom until he passed out. He was in a coma for a week. Debbie tried to file a lawsuit against the school but failed.
Marshall faced another tragedy in 1991 when his uncle, Ronnie Polkingham committed suicide. Ronnie was his best friend and the one who introduced him to hip-hop and break dancing. As a tribute, Marshall tattooed his uncle on his life arm.
Probably since he never saw a stable relationship, this mirrored in his life too. Marshall met Kimberly “Kim” Anne Scott and her twin sister, Dawn. They moved in with Marshall and Debbie and soon after, he started dating her. Their on-again-off-again relationship led to a wedding and the arrival of Marshall’s biological daughter, Hailie Jade. The couple had a dysfunctional relationship with repeated cheating, and alcohol and drug abuse.
Eminem — The Stage Name
Marshall used to rap as a teenager with a high school friend. That was when he came up with the stage name “M&M”, which eventually became Eminem, the name he is synonymous with. Now as Eminem, he started becoming popular after participating in freestyle rap battles and open mic contests. It was difficult for a white person to break through in a black-dominated industry so he worked extra hard, learning the dictionary, and breaking words into syllables which he then tried to find rhymes to.
Becoming Slim Shady
Around this time, Eminem joined the rap group D12 where he came up with Slim Shady, who was a violent, sadistic alter-ego. Slim Shady was a literal description of Eminem— as a teenager, he was skinny, and shady means having a dark side, which he did. As Slim Shady, he often rapped about all his traumas, usually painting violent pictures of rape and murder with excessive drug usage and mental instability. This was the way he would get over his trauma and release his pent-up anger.
Despite being appreciated by the underground hip-hop audience, one of the lowest points in his life was when he got fired from his job three days before Christmas, which is also Hailie’s birthday. This was also the time when he tried to commit suicide and lost his home.
Soon after, he participated in the 1997 Rap Olympics and stood second. He was discovered by an intern working at Interscope Records. Soon, Dr. Dre heard The Slim Shady EP, an album Eminem had recorded as a demo. And the rest is, well…history.
Conclusion
Eminem soon took over the music industry after the release of the 4x platinum album, The Slim Shady LP. With all his albums topping the Billboard charts, starring in 8 Mile, a movie based on his life, and winning numerous awards and accolades, Eminem truly cemented his position as the Rap God. Slim Shady continues to be a part of his work. However, it has been toned down as Marshall has matured over the years and rapped about his addiction recovery and newer experiences in life.
How many alter-egos does Eminem have in all?
Eminem has three personalities that he raps through:
Slim Shady: the sadistic, violent, and dark oneEminem: the public figure, his stage nameMarshal Mathers: just a regular person
Which was the darkest song of Slim Shady?
It has to be Kim from The Slim Shady LP, where Slim fantasizes about killing the mother of his child and dumping her body in the river. This song was about Kim Scott Mathers, his then-wife. She even tried to commit suicide after watching Marshall perform the song live.
