Eminem’s second studio album The Slim Shady LP was released 23 years ago.
The 20-track record dropped on February 23, 1999 and changed the landscape of rap music forever, as well as the life of the then 24-year-old Marshall Mathers.
The failed chef, who had been fired from his cooking job at Gilbert’s Lodge in Detroit before the album’s launch, garnered critical and commercial acclaim.
The Slim Shady debuted at No2 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US and proved hugely popular, remaining on the chart for 100 weeks.
It also picked up the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, with Eminem also taking home Best Rap Solo Performance for his Slim Shady track My Name Is.
Here’s the unbelievable story behind The Slim Shady.
Failed chef
(Image: Getty Images)
Eminem is today worth millions of pounds but his life before the release of The Slim Shady LP is almost unrecognisable.
While working on the record, the 49-year-old rapper was working as a cook at Gilbert’s Lodge in Detroit for $5.50 (£4) an hour, trying to support his young daughter Hailie.
To let off steam, the fledging artist would share lyrics from the forthcoming album with his co-workers, including the lyrics to the famously dark Slim Shady track ’97 Bonnie & Clyde.
(Image: Getty Images)
The song details a fictional conversation of Eminem talking to his daughter Hailie as he disposes of her mother Kim’s corpse after killing her.
Of her reaction to being played the track by Eminem, Gilbert’s waitress Lynn Hunt previously told LA Times: “I told him it was morbid killing your baby’s mother. He told me, ‘yeah, but it will get me somewhere someday.'”
He was, of course, right, and getting fired from his Gilbert’s Lodge job later led Slim to record another of the album’s hit tracks Rock Bottom.
Twisting truths
(Image: The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
It seems 97 Bonnie & Clyde caused Eminem quite a bit of bother.
The song initially featured on the rapper’s debut EP, with the 8 Mile star wanting to incorporate the dark track onto his follow up album with a few crucial adjustments.
Slim changed the name of the song and re-recorded the track to feature his daughter Hailie’s vocals.
Given the song’s dark theme, he also avoided telling Kim about the trip to the recording studio and instead told her he was taking Hailie to the restaurant chain Chuck E Cheese – which didn’t go down well.
Of Kim’s reaction, Eminem previously told Rolling Stone: “When she found out I used our daughter to write a song about killing her, she f***ing blew.
“We had just got back together for a couple of weeks. Then I played her the song and she bugged the f**k out.”
Dual lawsuits
(Image: Wenn)
Following the release of The Slim Shady, Eminem was hit with a number of lawsuits – including one from his own mother.
Debbie Nelson took issue with the My Name Is lyric “I just found out my mom does more dope than I do” and filed a lawsuit against her son to the tune of $10million (£7.3m).
The lawsuit alleged Eminem had also slandered Debbie in newspapers and broadcast media – and after confusion regarding the suit, Debbie eventually agreed to a settlement of $25,000 (£18.3k).
Though largely absent from the legal proceedings, Eminem said his lyrics and statements about Debbie were completely true and the pair became estranged.
(Image: Getty Images)
The rapper later referenced Debbie’s lawsuit in his 2002 track Without Me.
In bars pertaining to the suit, Eminem can be heard rapping: “I just settled all my lawsuits – fuck you, Debbie.”
Eminem was later sued for slander and invasion of privacy by Michigan based janitor DeAngelo Bailey, who the rapper referenced as a school bully in his Slim Shady track Brain Damage.
That lawsuit and its subsequent appeals were all denied.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
