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I'll admit it: I'm just now getting into Eminem. Ten years ago the dude was way too angry and whiny for my liking. But now I'm ten years older and kind of angry and whiny myself, so he makes a lot more sense. Some things just age better with time. Aside from "We Made You," I haven't even heard the new album, "Relapse." I'm still on "The Slim Shady LP." I figure by the end of next year I'll be up to "Encore."

Now that he's given up guns, I can say how I honestly feel about Emimen without fear of getting shot. The dude embodies the best and worst of rock and rap. He's full of contradictions, addictions, mindless machismo, and open emotional wounds. Eminem is the most overhyped and misunderstood icon since Elvis. He's too dumb to be a real leader and too smart for most mainstream media, who want to reduce him to misogynistic stereotype. All of this makes him the perfect pop-culture hero.

So in honor of Eminem's new album - which I'll play as as soon as someone gifts it to me (hint...you know who you are) - here's a brief history of Marshall Mathers' career highs and lows. At least the parts that interest me.

 

 

Interscope Records' Jimmy Iovine heard Eminem's demo after the freestyler won second place at the '97 Rap Olympics (not to be confused with the '88 Winter Olympics where Japan won the rap silver medal; what an upset). Iovine passed it onto Dr. Dre, who ended up producing two singles for Emimen's 1999 major label debut: "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience." That album sold over 250,000 copies in its first week and set the stage for a white rap revolution. Sorry, Vanilla Ice. 

 

 

 

 

It's well-known that Eminem comes from a less-than-stable family. His dad abandoned him shortly after birth, and he's had a very public feud with his mom since she first sued him for $10 million in 1999 for slander surrounding some "Slim Shady" lyrics. She followed that with a 2008 tell-all book, supposedly written to pay for her medical bills (she has breast cancer). Family values, indeed.

 

 

 

 

Eminem's relationship with Dr. Dre is one of the most successful interracial marriages in music history. Dre has executive-produced all of Eminem's major-label albums and produced his most popular singles, including the Grammy-winning "The Real Slim Shady." The two also won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo for "Forgot About Dre," from Dre's "2001" album.

 

 

 

 

Eminem's mom isn't his only difficult female relationship. He and Kimberley Anne Scott met in high school, married in 1999, divorced in 2001, remarried in 2006, then divorced for good three months later. In the midst of this matrimonial bliss was Kim's suicide attempt and a lawsuit against her husband for depicting her death in his song, "Kim."

 

 

 

 

Eminem went into the 2001 Grammy Awards getting a lot of flack from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who weren't happy about his public homophobia. To prove he could be as sensitive as the next guy, Eminem performed his single "Stan" with Elton John singing Dido's part. Eminem would later reveal that Sir Elton helped him beat his drug addiction. Thankfully, Em's resisted Elton's fashion choices.

 

 

 

 

Eminem was a member of the Detroit rap collective D12 (as in "the Dirty Dozen") since 1990, but it took his solo success to bring the group to prominence. D12 was the first act he signed to his Shady Records label. Their 2001 "Devil's Night" LP went platinum, but Eminem quickly reduced his involvement due to his solo career. Then in 2006, band member Proof was killed in a gun fight outside a Detroit club. A third D12 album is waiting.

 

 

 

 

Eminem made his acting debut in the 2002 film as rapper Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. It was a thinly veiled autobiography, with B-Rabbit trying to get props from black rappers while escaping his bleak home life. "8 Mile" won Eminem an Academy Award for the song "Lose Yourself," beating out that year's favorites, U2. The rapper was at home asleep when the award was announced.

 

 

 

 

In 2002, Eminem was given a mixtape of songs by drug dealer-turned-rapper 50 Cent (who had recently recovered from being shot nine times at close range). Eminem signed him to a million-dollar deal and included one of his songs on the "8 Mile" soundtrack. The label relationship didn't last long. 50 Cent got his own label, G-Unit, a year later.

 

 

 

 

Eminem was busted on gun-assault charges in 2000 and 2001, blaming drug and alcohol dependence on his problems. He supposedly sobered up by 2002. However, in 2005, Eminem bowed out of the "Anger Management Tour 3" with 50 Cent, Obie Trice, and Lil' Jon because of his addiction to the sleep medication Zolpidem. He now claims to be gun- and drug-free. I'm not gonna argue.

 

 

 

 

Emerging from his self-imposed hiatus, Eminem released his autobiography, "The Way I Am," in late 2008. He shared all of his childhood traumas, along with handwritten lyrics to his most famous songs. Less than a month later Eminem's mother released her own version of Em's childhood with "My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem: Setting the Record Straight on My Life as Eminem's Mother." No lyrics were included.