Could the viewers hear some context behind yourself?
Well the name's Marshall Bruce Mathers III, or as most would know me, Eminem. I wasn't born there, but when I was around 13 years old, me n' my mom moved over to Detroit, where we lived in a black neighborhood; from what I remember there might've been a couple of other white houses too but not many. I started writing raps around 14 with a friend of mine named Mike and yeah.. that's where it started.
What effects did living in such a community have on your music?
Well, I think it's probably because of growing up on my block that I turned to hip-hop to begin with. Living in the hood with people of a different color who sorta turned into my brothers I grew up in a black community, so I adapted to their way of livin more than I did to the other communities in the states. The first rap song I heard was by Ice-T and I guess that opened my eyes and living where I did, it was something that helped me bond with the community and that really kept me on that track.
What kind of image do you think your music portrays?
To be honest, everyone can get what they want out of it, but really, all of my songs have got inspiration. They all have a message that I want to deliver whether it be about me, or my brothers, or our struggles or the world.
Your brothers?
My brothers. My brothers that've been through the same as me. Some of my songs let everyone else know about the issues we gotta deal with constantly. Rock Bottom was an example of that. It was my own perspective but it was pretty common, there weren't many jobs, not a lot of money, there was a lot of temptation to turn to crime to keep a living.
What about your language?
What about it?
How do you feel your language is affected by your home?
Oh well... I don't speak like how you might expect when you first see me as you wouldn't think I came from a ghetto and I imagine some people who first heard my raps without knowing my own background my have called me "fake" to a tee. But it ain't. This is how I talk and it's how I was raised, and that's just how it be. Cause of that I speak like that when I rap too. It's a part of who I am and my background and that makes it important for how I write and sing my lyrics to show that aspect of me and my block.
-End Of Transcript-
