Eminem, (born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972), is one of today's most popular and controversial rappers.

Eminem's first album was entitled Infinite and was highly criticized. Before releasing the album, he had lots of underground tracks that spanned multiple mixtapes. Eminem's early work involved rapping about mostly drugs and getting bullied. He was heavy into the underground freestyle circuit, competing and winning multiple competitions.

In February of 1999, once he'd hit the mainstream, he soon released The Slim Shady LP. The album sold 283,000 copies its first week. To date, the album has been certified 4x Platinum.

In May 2000 he released The Marshall Mathers LP, and the first single released from it (The Real Slim Shady) It was a huge hit. During the first week, it sold 1,760,049 copies, becoming the fastest-selling rap album in history, more than doubling the previous record held by Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut Doggystyle. Other singles from the album include The Way I Am and Stan.

In 2002 he released The Eminem Show, in 2004 Encore and in 2005 Curtain Call: The Hits.

Eminem also has his own record label, Shady Records (a sublabel of Aftermath Records), 50 Cent is signed to his record label on a joint venture between Dr Dre's Aftermath and Eminem's Shady Records.

Not only does he produce and write music, but he also starred in his own movie based on his own experiences growing up in Detroit. It's entitled 8 Mile. As well as this, he is a member of the rap group called D12 (Dirty Dozen) consisting of himself, Swifty McVay, Kon Artist, Kuniva, Bizarre, and the late Proof.

In 2005, speculation began that he was retiring from the music industry when his next album was rumoured to be called The Funeral. In December 2005 he released Curtain Call: The Hits, and told MTV that he was not ending his music career, merely putting it on hold for a while, not knowing when, or indeed if he would release another album.

He has released an album under his Shady Records called 'The Re-Up', a Shady Records compilation. It is also reported he is releasing his own new album in 2008.

In 2007 he continued his music career with the new album which still is untitled, and is highly rumored.

He has won 9 Grammys to date and an Academy Award for "Lose Yourself."

His name, Eminem, are his initials M&M (Marshall Mathers).