Not Afraid- Eminem
John Stone
English 101
Scott McClanahan, Instructor
8 April 2013
Eminem- “Not Afraid”
Eminem is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is known as one of the most controversial and best-selling artists of the early 21st century. Eminem was born as Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, MO. Mathers had a turbulent childhood and never knew his father, Marshall Mathers Jr., who abandoned the family when he was still an infant. As a result, Eminem was raised by his mother, Deborah Mathers and they moved frequently between Missouri and Detroit, Michigan- spending large chunks of time in public housing projects. "I would change schools two, three times a year," Eminem recalled. "That was probably the roughest part about it all" (A&E Networks). This itinerant lifestyle left a large impact on his personality. Eminem has been scathingly critical of the way his mother raised him. Through his song lyrics, he has publicly accused her of being addicted to prescription drugs as well as subjecting him to emotional and physical abuse. Despite being a poor student, Eminem always had a deep love for language at one point even studying the dictionary. Eminem stated "I found that no matter how bad I was at school, like, and no matter how low my grades might have been at some times, I always was good at English ... I just felt like I wanna be able to have all of these words at my disposal, in my vocabulary at all times whenever I need to pull 'em out. You know, somewhere, they 'll be stored, like, locked away" (A&E Networks) As a teenage dropout, Eminem found a way to express his passion for language, as well as to release his youthful anger, through the emerging musical genre of hip-hip. Mathers assumed the stage name M&M- a playful reference to his initials, which he later began writing phonetically as "Eminem." This period in Eminem 's life working odd jobs to make ends meet while participating in rap battles and desperately
English 101
Scott McClanahan, Instructor
8 April 2013
Eminem- “Not Afraid”
Eminem is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is known as one of the most controversial and best-selling artists of the early 21st century. Eminem was born as Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, MO. Mathers had a turbulent childhood and never knew his father, Marshall Mathers Jr., who abandoned the family when he was still an infant. As a result, Eminem was raised by his mother, Deborah Mathers and they moved frequently between Missouri and Detroit, Michigan- spending large chunks of time in public housing projects. "I would change schools two, three times a year," Eminem recalled. "That was probably the roughest part about it all" (A&E Networks). This itinerant lifestyle left a large impact on his personality. Eminem has been scathingly critical of the way his mother raised him. Through his song lyrics, he has publicly accused her of being addicted to prescription drugs as well as subjecting him to emotional and physical abuse. Despite being a poor student, Eminem always had a deep love for language at one point even studying the dictionary. Eminem stated "I found that no matter how bad I was at school, like, and no matter how low my grades might have been at some times, I always was good at English ... I just felt like I wanna be able to have all of these words at my disposal, in my vocabulary at all times whenever I need to pull 'em out. You know, somewhere, they 'll be stored, like, locked away" (A&E Networks) As a teenage dropout, Eminem found a way to express his passion for language, as well as to release his youthful anger, through the emerging musical genre of hip-hip. Mathers assumed the stage name M&M- a playful reference to his initials, which he later began writing phonetically as "Eminem." This period in Eminem 's life working odd jobs to make ends meet while participating in rap battles and desperately
Cited: A&E Networks. Biography. 2013. April 2013 <http://www.biography.com/people/eminem-9542093>. KO Video. Eminem. 2006-2011. April 2013 <http://www.kovideo.net/not-afraid-video-eminem-1152539.html>. Mathers, Marshall. lyrics.com. 2010. April 2013 <http://www.lyrics.com/not-afraid-lyrics-eminem.html>. Mathers, Marshall. "Not Afraid." Recovery. 2010.