Eminem has attained a position of eminence in the American cultural scene. He has broken the preconceived notions and tread new grounds. Love him or hate him, facts about Eminem says a lot about the person committed to accomplishing his dream, defying odds in the process. The American rapper and songwriter is known as the King of Hip-Hop, he has several achievements to his credit, these can be obtained by browsing the net but here we offer you interesting insights about the man who has become an icon.

1 Eminem was so severely bullied in public school that his mother sued the local school board for “failing to sufficiently protect her child”

9-year-old Marshall Mathers aka Eminem did not have a smooth time during his elementary schooling (He studied at Dort Elementary School), he was constantly plagued by bullies who split his lips and knocked the wind out of him. On a snowy day in 1982, one of the bullies, DeAngelo Bailey hit him in the face with a snowball laden with a heavy object while playing “King of the Hill.” The bully followed it with a sound beating resulting in temporary loss of vision and concussion. Enraged mother of Marshall Mathers sued the Detroit school board for not sufficiently protecting her child.(source)

2 Before he became a rapper, Eminem’s true dream was to become a comic book artist.

Rapping was not on the horizon for the young boy growing up in Detroit, deeply interested in story-telling, Eminem intended to have a career as a comic book artist. Lingering influence of “comic artist”can be seen in various animated threads throughout his career, including his Slim Shady Show series and the “Mosh”video.(source 1,2)

3 When Eminem was 20, he was arrested for a drive-by shooting with a paintball gun. The case was dropped when the victim did not show up in court.

Eminem did not always keep a good company and had numerous close brushes with the law. He was apprehended by the police when he and his friends shot at a police car with their paintball gun. But the rapper was not the one who shot at the car, his friend did. The case was dismissed when the alleged victim did not show up for the hearing.(source)

4 Eminem used the word “Nigga” only once in his song Criminal, but he decided to censor it.

Over the course of a long, successful career, Eminem has dissed several celebrities such as Moby, limp Bizkit, Micheal Jackson, Christina Aguilera. Sometime’s he dissed them to get even and at other times he took them on because their name’s rhymed with his lyrics, however, he has remained unapologetic about throwing shades on them. But there is an exception to every rule, Eminem voluntarily bleeped the word “Nigga” from his record because he did not want that word in his song.(source)

5 Eminem was offered the lead role in the 2013 sci-fi movie, Elysium. He was interested but he turned it down due to one major condition not being met: Elysium would have to be shot in his hometown, Detroit.

Matt Damon was not the first choice for Elysium, Neill Blomkamp, the director of the movie approached Eminem for the role of Max Da Costa. Eminem was interested, but he wanted the movie to be shot in his hometown, the two studios (Media Rights Capital & Tristar Pictures) refused and the role went to Matt. (source)

6 In the early days of iTunes, Universal Music Group used to deduct artists’ iTunes royalties, claiming costs for “packaging” and “breakage” on digital downloads, until Eminem sued them.

Numerous singers who had not foreseen the boom in digital music sales were cheated of their digital royalties by music companies until Eminem through FBT Productions sued the music giant Universal music for the unpaid digital royalties. The lawsuit happened when FBT Production realized that Universal Music was claiming digital downloads as the “distribution arrangement”, which have lower royalty rates, whereas digital downloads should rightfully come under the “license” arrangement as the music company was not doing any packaging that would cause breakage in the downloads.(source)