Did you know Eminem had a completely secret life that not many of his fans know about? Starting off with one secret that really adds the Shady to Slim Shady. He was apparently a target for the Secret Service. Yup, you heard that right. Eminem was apparently being looked into by the feds.
Investigated for His Lyrics
This was after the release of his song in 2003, which just happened to be titled “We Are American.” Guess it raised alarms for someone at the Secret Service, or they may just be huge fans that wanted to spend some time with him. Who knows? Either way, there’s a specific lyric in the song that’s a bit concerning. Slim Shady said that he doesn’t rap for Dead Presidents; instead, he’d rather see the president dead. That’s a line that’s definitely a bit morbid, but is it really something worth getting investigated for by the Secret Service? I don’t think so. It’s been rumored that the line was directly referencing President Bush, but Shady’s people stated that the line was just a metaphor for money, and so the case was dropped.
Bullying and Childhood Trauma
Can you imagine one of the best rappers of all time getting taken out by the Secret Service? Back in those days, just about everyone was being investigated for one thing or another. The Secret Service was probing into things and taking them apart to figure out what people meant by what they said. And so it’s no surprise that even Eminem became the target of this.
On a lighter note, here’s something that you probably have in common with Shady: he’s a huge nerd. Eminem may not look the part, but he’s got a massive collection of comic books. An executive of his went as far as to tell MTV that his accumulation of comics was otherworldly. That should give you a pretty good idea of just how much he loves collecting those things. Apparently, his favorite superheroes are Spider-Man, The Hulk, Batman, and Superman. Definitely a man of culture.
The Struggles of Youth
He’s been reading these comics from a very young age. In fact, he even considered becoming an illustrator for comic books back when he was younger. He was super passionate about his artwork too and could definitely have cemented a decent career for himself as a graphic novelist. But then again, the world definitely would have missed out on his amazing rapping career.
Thinking of his childhood, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. In fact, he was put in a coma when he was young. Shady was the subject of a lot of bullying, like a lot of other children. But when he was nine years old, things took a turn for the worst for him. His bullies, for no reason at all, took things way too far, and he got into an accident that apparently hurt him so badly that he had to be put into a coma.
Rising Above Adversity
It was medically induced and lasted for about 10 days. His injuries stemmed from a snowball he’d been thrown that had a stone inside of it. It left him bleeding on the bathroom floor of his school for quite a few hours, and the worst part? It took hours for someone to finally find him. He was lying on the floor bleeding the entire time. That’s painful to imagine, let alone live through.
It left him with some pretty serious injuries, resulting in memory loss and brain damage. Eminem seems to have gotten over the incident, but unfortunately, this was just one of many situations of bullying he encountered as a kid. At another point, a bully split his lip and knocked the wind out of him. But in a weird way, all these hardships made him turn into the amazing rapper that he is today.
Read Also: Why Other Rappers Fear the Rap God Eminem
Overcoming Challenges
Shady said that he wanted to become successful to prove all his bullies wrong. But while talking to Anderson Cooper, the “Lose Yourself” rapper stated that he was always singled out. And after being relentlessly torn down and defeated, he’d continue to find the courage to keep going. In the end, he knew that he had to prove all his bullies wrong, and that’s what kept him moving despite all the difficulties he went through at this time.
The rapper stated that there was some sort of rebellious youthful rage in him, and this continued to fuel him as he stepped foot into his rapping career as well. He didn’t shy away from mentioning that he was a white man making music, which was predominantly black. And so he often faced criticism from people who said that he didn’t belong in this genre and field. People also told him that he wasn’t going to succeed simply because of the color of his skin.
Finding Support and Recovery
But just as he kept going and standing up to those bullies when he was a kid, Shady didn’t give up. And in the end, he became much more successful than any of the naysayers that stood in his way. Throughout it all, Shady stated that he wanted to show people that he could and that he would. That said, he wasn’t alone throughout his journey. In fact, he got some assistance from some pretty legendary people.
One time, he even asked for some personal help from Elton John. Shady revealed that at one point in his life, he’d gotten super close with the eight-time Grammy winner. While speaking to Detroit Metro Times, Shady revealed that the two have shared pretty similar things in their lives, and because of that, he felt the need to contact Elton and ask for help. This was during the time when Eminem had gotten addicted to non-prescribed painkillers. It started having hugely negative impacts on his life, and after suffering a nearly fatal accident, he decided to call Elton John. Elton talked to Eminem about his own struggles with addiction and what he did to overcome those kinds of urges.
Realizing the impact these could have on your life is the first step, plus having someone to talk to about it is also hugely important. So, the two continued to give each other pep talks. They definitely became great friends as a result, and when Elton John advises you to do something, well, you just have to do it. Shady’s been pretty clean ever since, as far as I know. Eminem doesn’t shy away from taking help, and that’s a great thing.
Expanding His Craft
Sometimes the assistance isn’t always from people though. He used the help of a dictionary to expand his lyrics. Hey, everyone’s been there at one point, right? You’re trying to add a little bit of an extra flair to your English essay and start googling fancy synonyms to basic words. Well, as a rapper, you need to not only do that but also make them rhyme well enough. It’s not as easy as it sounds. So of course, Shady decided what better way to expand his lyrics than to straight-up open a dictionary.
He stated that he actually kind of enjoyed doing it, even if others might find it the most boring thing in existence. And you have to admit, it’s kind of a genius thing to do. It shows how committed he is to his music, plus he’s open to adding new words to his vocabulary that could help spice up his lyrics. If you ever get a chance to meet him in real life, you know exactly what to give him as a gift.
Respect His Space
That said, here’s something you should never do if you happen to meet him, and that is staring at Shady. No one likes being watched, but Shady especially hates it. There have been reports of Eminem getting super uncomfortable because he was being stared at. Definitely understandable, especially for someone like him who probably gets recognized all the time in public.
