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The Birth of a Rap God

Marshall Bruce Mathers III was welcomed into the world on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri. As you might already know from his songs, Eminem didn’t have the easiest childhood. He struggled with poverty, abuse, and his father abandoned him when he was just a toddler.

Eminem sitting on a sofa in the concert house

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Since he was 14 years old, Mathers started rapping in clubs around Detroit, Michigan. After his low attendance required him to stay in ninth grade for the third year, he dropped out and focused on hip-hop music, determined to make a career out of it.