EMINEM / RIHANNA - THE MONSTER

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, MO), known professionally as Eminem (stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip-hop in Middle America and is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. His success is considered to have broken racial barriers to the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. While much of his transgressive work during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him a controversial figure, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass and has been cited as influencing many musical artists. His most successful songs on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 include "The Real Slim Shady", "Without Me", "Lose Yourself", "Not Afraid", "Love the Way You Lie", "The Monster", "Godzilla", and "Houdini". After the release of his debut album Infinite (1996) and the extended play Slim Shady EP (1997), Eminem signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with The Slim Shady LP. His next two releases, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) and The Eminem Show (2002), were worldwide successes and nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the latter becoming the best-selling album worldwide of 2002. After the release of his next album, Encore (2004), Eminem went on hiatus, largely due to a prescription drug addiction. He returned to the music industry with the releases of Relapse (2009) and Recovery (2010), the latter becoming the best-selling album worldwide of 2010. He then released the U.S. number-one albums The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013), Revival (2017), Kamikaze (2018), Music to Be Murdered By (2020), and The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (2024). Eminem was also a member of the hip-hop groups New Jacks, Soul Intent, Outsidaz, and D12, and has collaborated with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5'9" as the duo Bad Meets Evil. Eminem starred in the 2002 musical drama film 8 Mile playing a dramatized version of himself. "Lose Yourself", a song from its soundtrack, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks—the most for a solo rap song—and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, making him the first hip-hop artist ever to win the award. He also co-founded Shady Records, which helped launch the careers of artists such as D12, 50 Cent, and Obie Trice, and established his own Sirius XM Radio channel, Shade 45. Eminem is amongst the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of over 220 million records. He was the best-selling music artist in the United States for the 2000s, placing third for the 2010s. He was the first artist to have ten albums consecutively debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and has had five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Curtain Call: The Hits (2005), "Lose Yourself", "Love the Way You Lie", and "Not Afraid" have all been certified Diamond or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He has won numerous awards, including 15 Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, 17 Billboard Music Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and an MTV Europe Music Global Icon Award. Billboard named him the "Artist of the Decade (2000–2009)", and Rolling Stone named him one of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" and "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time". In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Early life Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah "Debbie" (née Nelson). His mother nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him. Eminem's parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border before they separated. His father abandoned his family when Eminem was a year and a half old, and Eminem was raised only by his mother, Debbie, in poverty. He wrote letters to his father, but Debbie said that they all came back marked "return to sender". By the age of twelve, Eminem and his mother shuttled between states, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and mostly living with family members, moved several times and lived in St. Joseph, Savannah, Missouri, Kansas City, Warren, Michigan and Roseville, Michigan before settling in Detroit. For much of his youth, Eminem and his mother lived in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood. He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was beaten several times by black youths. His mother had a son named Nathan "Nate" Kane Samara. Eminem frequently fought with his mother, whom a social worker described as having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality". When he was a child, a bully named D'Angelo Bailey severely injured Eminem's head in an assault, an incident which Eminem later recounted (with comic exaggeration) on the song "Brain Damage". Debbie filed a lawsuit against the public school for this in 1982. The suit was dismissed the following year by a Macomb County, Michigan, judge, who said the schools were immune from lawsuits. Eminem was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic book artist before discovering hip-hop. He heard his first rap song ("Reckless", featuring Ice-T) on the Breakin' soundtrack, a gift from Debbie's half-brother, Ronnie Polkingharn. His uncle was close to the boy and later became a musical mentor to him. Following Polkingharn's suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking publicly for days and did not attend his funeral. At age 14, Eminem began rapping with high-school friend Mike Ruby; they adopted the names "Manix" and "M&M", the latter evolving into "Eminem". Eminem snuck into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle rap battles. On Saturdays, they attended open mic contests at the Hip-Hop Shop on West 7 Mile Road, considered "ground zero" for the Detroit rap scene. Struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, Eminem was appreciated by underground hip-hop audiences. When he wrote verses, he wanted most of the words to rhyme; he wrote long words or phrases on paper and, underneath, worked on rhymes for each syllable. Although the words often made little sense, the drill helped Eminem practice sounds and rhymes. In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kimberly Anne "Kim" Scott to stay at their home. Several years later, Eminem began an on-and-off relationship with Scott. After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, 17-year-old Eminem dropped out of Lincoln High School. Although interested in English, Eminem never explored literature, preferring comic books, and he disliked math and social studies. He states that he later received a GED.Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills, one of which was at Little Caesar's Pizza in Warren. He later said she often threw him out of the house anyway, often after taking most of his paycheck. When she left to play bingo, he would blast the stereo and write songs. Alter egos Eminem uses alter egos in his songs for different rapping styles and subject matter, including Slim Shady and Ken Kaniff, among others. Slim Shady is the controversial and rebellious alter ego of Eminem, introduced in his 1997 extended play The Slim Shady EP. Conceived during a period of personal and professional struggle, Slim Shady allowed Eminem to express his darker, more aggressive thoughts through exaggerated and often violent lyrical content. This persona embodies the chaotic, satirical side of Eminem's music, pushing boundaries with provocative, sometimes offensive, themes, which blend fiction and reality. The use of Slim Shady is shown in The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Encore, Relapse, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Kamikaze, Music to Be Murdered By, and The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). Slim Shady's influence on Eminem's career is significant. His shock-value content helped skyrocket the rapper to fame, but also attracted criticism and legal challenges, particularly due to songs like "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" and "Kim", where he addresses deeply personal and often disturbing subjects, such as family conflicts and imagined violence. Despite the controversy, the Slim Shady character is credited with much of Eminem's early success, but over time, the persona also contributed to the rapper's personal struggles, including substance abuse. Another character is Ken Kaniff, a gay man who pokes fun at Eminem's songs. Ken was created and originally played by fellow Detroit rapper Aristotle on The Slim Shady LP, where Kaniff makes a prank call to Eminem. An argument after the album's release prompted Eminem to use the Kaniff character on The Marshall Mathers LP and later albums (except Encore and Recovery). Aristotle, angry with Eminem's use of his character, released a mixtape in his Kaniff persona ridiculing him. Acting Career After small roles in the 2001 film The Wash and as an extra in the 1998 Korn music video for "Got the Life" (during which he gave the band a demo tape), Eminem made his Hollywood debut in the semi-autobiographical 2002 film 8 Mile. He said it was a representation of growing up in Detroit rather than an account of his life. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself" (which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003 and became the longest-running No. 1 hip-hop single in history). Eminem was absent from the ceremony and co-composer Luis Resto accepted the award. Eminem voiced an aging, corrupt, AAVE-speaking police officer in the video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof and guested on the Comedy Central television show Crank Yankers and a Web cartoon, The Slim Shady Show He was signed to star in an unmade film version of Have Gun – Will Travel, and was considered for the role of David Rice in the 2008 film Jumper. Eminem had a cameo appearance, arguing with Ray Romano, in the 2009 film Funny People. In a 2010 interview with Jonathan Ross, he stated "You know, I love music so much. This is my passion, this is what I want to do. Not saying that I won't do a movie ever again, but this is me." He played himself in the Entourage season-seven finale "Lose Yourself" with Christina Aguilera. Although Eminem was offered the lead role in the 2013 science-fiction film Elysium, he turned it down because director Neill Blomkamp would not change its location from Los Angeles to Detroit. Eminem had a cameo appearance as himself in the 2014 film The Interview. During an interview with the main character, Dave Skylark (James Franco), Eminem satirically comes out as gay. Books and memoirs On November 21, 2000, Eminem published Angry Blonde, a non-fiction book featuring a commentary of several of his own songs, along with several previously unpublished photographs. On October 21, 2008, his autobiography The Way I Am was published. The book was first published on October 21, 2008, by Dutton Adult. It is a collection of Eminem's personal stories, reflections, photographs, original artwork, and original lyric sheets from "Stan" and "The Real Slim Shady". It details his struggles with poverty, drugs, fame, heartbreak, family and depression, along with stories about his rise to fame and commentary on past controversies. The book is illustrated with never before published photos of Eminem's life. It also contains original drawings, previously unpublished lyric sheets, and other rare memorabilia. The autobiography is named after his 2000 song "The Way I Am". An autobiography of Eminem's mother (My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem) was published the following month, in which Debbie Nelson describes her childhood and adolescence, meeting Eminem's father and her son's rise to (and struggles with) fame. Discography: Studio albums - Infinite (1996) - The Slim Shady LP (1999) - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) - The Eminem Show (2002) - Encore (2004) - Relapse (2009) - Recovery (2010) - The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013) - Revival (2017) - Kamikaze (2018) - Music to Be Murdered By (2020) - The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) (2024) Collaborative albums - Devil's Night (with D12) (2001) - D12 World (with D12) (2004) - Eminem Presents: The Re-Up (2006) - Hell: The Sequel (with Bad Meets Evil) (2011) - Shady XV (2014) Greatest Hits albums - Curtain Call: The Hits (2005) - Curtain Call 2 (2022) (2024) Eminem album houdini Soundtrack albums - 8 Mile (Music from and Inspired By the Motion Picture) (2002) - Southpaw (Music from and inspired by the Motion Picture) (2014) Reissued albums - Relapse: Refill (2009) - Music to Be Murdered By – Side B (2020) Extended plays - Slim Shady EP (1997) Box sets - The Singles (2004) - The Vinyl LPs (2015) - Eminem x Fortnite Radio (2023) Read more on Last.fm. 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Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), professionally known mononymously as Rihanna, is a Barbadian singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, entrepreneur and fashion designer. She has attained fourteen Billboard Hot 100 number ones thus far and is the second Barbadian artist to win a Grammy Award. She is also a cultural ambassador for Barbados. In 2021 Rihanna was named a "National Hero" in her home country, earning her the title "The Right Excellent." Rihanna was born in Saint Michael, Barbados to Ronald Fenty, a warehouse supervisor, and Monica Fenty, an accountant. Her mother, a native of Guyana, is Afro-Guyanese and her father is Bajan and Irish. She is the oldest of three siblings; two younger brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty. She began singing at around the age of seven. Her childhood was deeply affected by her father's addiction to crack cocaine and parent's rocky marriage, which ended when she was fourteen years old. Rihanna attended Charles F. Broome Memorial School, a primary school in Barbados, and then the Combermere School, where she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates at the age of fifteen. In 2004 she won the Miss Combermere Beauty Pageant. She was an army cadet in a sub-military programme that trained with the military of Barbados and Shontelle was her drill sergeant. At the age of 15, she formed a girl group with two of her classmates. In 2003, friends introduced Rihanna and her two bandmates to record producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing in Barbados with his wife. The group auditioned for Rogers, who said that "the minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn't exist." While auditioning for Rogers, Rihanna sang Destiny's Child's cover of "Emotion". Over the next year, Rihanna and her mom shuttled back and forth to Rogers home in Stamford, Connecticut. Then, shortly after turning 16, she relocated in the United States and moved in with Rogers and his wife. Carl Sturken helped Rihanna record a four-song demo, which included the ballad "The Last Time," a cover of Whitney Houston’s hit "For the Love of You" and what would become her first hit, "Pon de Replay" to send to various recording companies. It took a year to record the demos, because she was going to school and would only record during summer and Christmas school breaks. Rihanna's demo made its way to Def Jam, which invited her to audition for the label's then-president, Jay-Z, who quickly signed her. Rihanna broke into the recording industry in 2005 with the release of her debut album Music of the Sun, which features the number 2 hit single "Pon de Replay". Less than a year later, Rihanna released album artist=Rihanna]A Girl Like Me and earned her first number-one single, "SOS, which sampled the popular 80s track "Tainted Love". "Unfaithful" was also released and was fairly successful. Rihanna released her third album Good Girl Gone Bad in June 2007. Prior to the release of the album, she spent the week of the Grammys writing songs for the album with Ne-Yo. She adopted a more sexual image while recording the album, eventually dying her hair black and cutting it short. Rihanna worked with Timbaland and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, as well as previous musical collaborators such as Stargate, Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers to re-imagine her album compositions with uptempo dance tracks. Rihanna commented, "I want to keep people dancing but still be soulful at the same time. You feel different every album, and [at] this stage I feel like I want to do a lot of uptempo [songs]." The album topped the charts in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Russia and Ireland, and peaked at number two in the United States and Australia. Unlike previous work, the album featured a more dance-pop sound instead of the dancehall, reggae and ballad styles. The album received positive reviews by critics, becoming her most critically acclaimed album at that time compared to her previous efforts. It yielded eight hit singles - "Umbrella" "Shut Up and Drive", "Don't Stop The Music" "Hate That I Love You" "Rehab" "Disturbia" "Take A Bow" "If I Never See Your Face Again" - all singles reaching the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 — including the worldwide number-one hit "Umbrella," featuring Jay-Z. In addition to reaching number one in various countries, "Umbrella" was the number one single in the United Kingdom for ten consecutive weeks, making it the longest-running number-one single since Wet Wet Wet's single "Love Is All Around" spent fifteen weeks at the top in 1994. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007 published by Rolling Stone magazine. In 2008, "Umbrella" earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It managed to stay at number one in the United Kingdom for 10 weeks, the longest time spent by a female and in the 21st century, on this chart. "Umbrella" has also been recognised in various forms of accolades by the music press. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007, published by the music magazine Rolling Stone. Time magazine also listed the song number three on their Top 10 Songs of 2007. The song is listed number one on Entertainment Weekly magazine's list of the 10 Best Singles of 2007, while topping the magazine's poll for the best single of 2007. Blender magazine awarded the song Song of the Year in their Readers' Poll 2007. The music press has considered "Umbrella" as 2007's Song of the Summer, while The New York Times writer Kelefa Sanneh regarded it as "arguably 2007's signature slow jam". In August 2009, Rihanna collaborated with Jay-Z and Kanye West on "Run This Town." The song peaked at number two on Billboard Hot 100 and also reached the top ten in five other countries. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia for the September 2009 Issue. The shoot was influenced by Rihanna's hair, which she had cut for the shoot into a mohawk-like style. The style of the shoot was Extreme Couture and very dark, and in one shot she appeared semi-nude. Rihanna performed "Run This Town" along with Jay-Z and West for the "Answer the Call" concert at Madison Square Garden in September 2009, making it her first musical performance since the altercation with Brown. The trio also performed "Run This Town," on the premiere of The Jay Leno Show on September 14, 2009. In November of 2009, Rated R was released in the wake of a physical altercation with romantic interest Chris Brown, who pled guilty to felony assault. The album's lead single, "Russian Roulette" -- written with Ne-Yo - was one of the year's most controversial singles. The album also includes collaborations with Tricky, The-Dream, Stargate, and SRP. One year later, Rihanna released her fifth studio album called Loud. It's lead single, "Only Girl (In the World)", reached number one in more than ten countries. The song also won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. Talk That Talk was released one year after Loud. With the song "We Found Love", Rihanna became the fastest solo artist in the chart's history to achieve twenty Hot 100 top-ten singles, breaking the previous record set by Madonna. The song later became her eleventh number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. "You Da One" became the second single from the album but was not as successful as "We Found Love". The third single from the album, "Talk That Talk" featuring Jay-Z, was announced on Rihanna's Twitter. The fourth single, "Where Have You Been", peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. On February 20, 2012, Rihanna and Chris Brown released 2 remixes, one featuring the "Talk That Talk" album track "Birthday Cake" and the other featuring Chris Brown's "Turn Up The Music" In April 2012, the singer appeared in the movie "Battleship", which is based on the game of the same name. Rihanna's seventh album Unapologetic was released on November 19, 2012; it was preceded by the lead single Diamonds, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming Rihanna's twelfth number one single on the chart and tying her with Madonna and The Supremes for the fourth-most number ones in the chart's history. On January 28, 2016, Rihanna released her eighth studio album ANTI exclusively through streaming service Tidal. The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming Rihanna's second number one and eighth top ten album on the chart. The album was supported by the release of four singles including the lead single "Work" featuring Drake, which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Further platinum singles "Needed Me" and "Love on the Brain" both peaked inside the top ten of the Hot 100. In 2016, Rihanna was featured on several singles. The first collaboration was Calvin Harris' "This Is What You Came For," which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two in the United Kingdom. Rihanna was also featured on Drake's "Too Good" from his album Views and Mike Will Made It's single, "Nothing Is Promised". On June 27, 2016, Rihanna released "Sledgehammer", the lead single from the Star Trek Beyond soundtrack. On August 28, Rihanna was honored with the MTV Video Vanguard Award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Rihanna was elected artist of the decade of 2010 by Pitchfork, Insider, Lofficiel among other major music magazines. In October 2022, Rihanna released "Lift Me Up" from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, marking her first solo single since 2016's "Love On The Brain". It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 in the UK. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award, making it Rihanna's first nomination in both awards. On February 12, 2023, she performed at the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, marking her first performance since the 2018 Grammy Awards. Her Halftime show became the second most watched Halftime show of all time with 118.7 million viewers, just after Lady Gaga’s (117.5 million), but behind Katy Perry’s (121 million). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.