Interview with Eminem

Are fame and fortune dreams come true? According to Eminem, they're more of a nightmare.

Born Marshall Mathers III and alternately known as Slim Shady, the guy from Detroit came from out of nowhere, skyrocketed to hip-hop stardom in less than two years, and is now a household name, unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. With four-million copies sold in five weeks (ten-million to date), Eminem's latest release The Marshall Mathers LP scored the best-selling solo debut week in pop history. The CD won countless awards, accolades, and, an avalanche of criticism, for its implications of violence and prejudice. The unrestrained rapper has become a steady guest on every rock radio station's playlist and every publication's headlines. Each for very different reasons. Eminem has kept the news desks full with his controversial lyrics, arrests, weapons charges, lawsuits, marital disputes, and, believe it or not, four Grammy nominations – complete with corresponding backlash from critics and activist groups alike.

Eminem Interview (MTV, 2002)

Eminem's current mode of transportation has none of the plush luxuries you would assume a rapper might have in his traveling venue: no TV, no PlayStation 2, no DVD player and no roof.
"Throw it up," the Detroit rhyme Goliath says, looking down at an anxious fan waving a CD. Eminem's in New York City, traveling with a small entourage around Manhattan on a double-decker bus, made for tourists to go site-seeing. But Slim Shady is the spectacle today as he rides downtown from Times Square.
"I remember them days, just being so f---ing hungry," Eminem laughs after trying to catch the guy's CD that was flung to him from street level. "People will go to such lengths. I would do anything to let people hear my sh--. I didn't care, [I was like] 'Please dub my sh--, please listen to my demo.' "