Shortly after his birth,his father abandoned his family. Until he was twelve, Mathers and his mother moved between various cities and towns inMissouri(including St. Joseph,Savannah, Missouri andKansas City)

[8]

before moving toWarren, Michigan, aDetroitsuburb. After procuring a copy of theBeastie Boysalbum

Licensed to Ill

as a teenager, Mathers became interested in hip hop, performing amateur raps at age fourteen under the pseudonym "M&M" and joining the group called "Bassmint Productions" and releasedtheir firstEPcalled "Steppin' Onto The Scene". They later changed their name to "SoulIntent" and around 1995 they released their first single called "Fuckin' Backstabber"under the record labelMashin' Duck Records.

[1]

Although he was enrolled atLincolnHigh Schoolin Warren, he frequently participated infreestyle battlesat Osborn High School across town,

[9]

gaining the approval of underground hip hop audiences.

[1]

After repeating the ninth grade three times due totruancy,

[10]

he dropped out of high school atage 17.

[7]

Mathers was initially signed to FBT Productions in 1992, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass. Mathers also held a minimum-wage job of cooking and dishwashing at therestaurant Gilbert's Lodge atSt. Clair Shoresfor some time.

[11]

In 1996, his debut album

Infinite

, which was recorded at the Bassmint, a recording studio owned by theBassBrothers, was released under their independent labelWeb Entertainment.

[12]

Eminemrecalled

"Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like Nasand AZ . 'Infinite' was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself. It was a growing stage. I felt like 'Infinite' was like a demo that just got pressed up."

[13]

Subjects covered in

Infinite

included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Scott while on limited funds and his strong desire to get rich.

[14]

Early in hiscareer, Eminem collaborated with fellow Detroit MCRoyce da 5'9"under the stagenameBad Meets Evil.

[15]

After the release of

Infinite

, Eminem's personal struggles andabuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in his unsuccessful suicide attempt.

[1]

With the release of

The Slim Shady EP

, Mathers was accused of imitating the style andsubject matter of underground rapper Cage.

[16][17]

While promoting the EP, MathersapproachedInsane Clown Possemember Joseph Bruceand handed him a flyer which implied that the group would make an appearance at the EP's release party. Brucerefused to appear because Mathers had not previously approached him for permission touse the group's name in this way. Taking Bruce's response as a personal offense,Mathers subsequently attacked the group in radio interviews.

[18][19]

Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope Records, requested a demo tape of Eminem's after Eminem won second place at the 1997Rap Olympics.Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment. The two began recording tracks for Eminem's upcoming major-label debut

The Slim Shady LP

, and Eminem made aguest performance on the album

Devil Without a Cause

byKid Rock .

[1]

Hip-hop