Eminem Other ventures

Shady Records

Main article: Shady Records

See also: Bad Meets Evil and Soul Intent

Following Eminem's multiplatinum record sales, Interscope offered him his own label; he and Paul Rosenberg founded Shady Records in late 1999. Eminem signed his Detroit collective, D12, and rapper Obie Trice to the label and signed 50 Cent in a 2002 joint venture with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. In 2003, Eminem and Dr. Dre added Atlanta rapper Stat Quo to the Shady-Aftermath roster. DJ Green Lantern, Eminem's former DJ, was with Shady Records until a dispute related to the 50 Cent-Jadakiss feud forced him to leave the label. The Alchemist is currently Eminem's tour DJ. In 2005 Eminem signed another Atlanta rapper, Bobby Creekwater, and West Coast rapper Cashis to Shady Records.[23]

On December 5, 2006, the compilation album Eminem Presents: The Re-Up was released on Shady Records. The project began as a mixtape, but when Eminem found the material better than expected he released it as an album. The Re-Up was intended to introduce Stat Quo, Cashis and Bobby Creekwater.[265] While he was recording Infinite, Eminem, Proof and Kon Artis assembled a group of fellow rappers now known as D12, short for "Detroit Twelve" or "Dirty Dozen", who performed in a style similar to Wu-Tang Clan.[266] In 2001 D12's debut album, Devil's Night, was released.[267] The first single from the album was "Shit on You", followed by "Purple Pills" (an ode to recreational drug use) and "Fight Music". "Purple Pills" was rewritten for radio and television, removing many of the song's references to drugs and sex, and renamed "Purple Hills".

After their debut, D12 took a three-year break from the studio. They reunited in 2004 for their second album, D12 World, which included the hit singles "My Band" and "How Come". "American Psycho 2" featuring Cypress Hill member, B-Real, was another popular hit.[267] According to D12 member Bizarre, Eminem was not featured on his album Blue Cheese & Coney Island because "he's busy doing his thing".[268]

In January 2014, Bass Brothers announced that D12 had returned to record at F.B.T. Studio and they were working on an album with Eminem on at least three songs. Bizarre reported that he was still part of the group and that the album was scheduled for a 2014 release.[269]

Acting career

After small roles in the 2001 film The Wash and as an extra in the 1998 Korn music video for "Got the Life" (during which he gave the band a demo tape), Eminem made his Hollywood debut in the semi-autobiographical 2002 film 8 Mile. He said it was a representation of growing up in Detroit rather than an account of his life. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself" (which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003 and became the longest-running No. 1 hip hop single in history).[270] Eminem was absent from the ceremony, and co-composer Luis Resto accepted the award.[271]

Eminem voiced an aging, corrupt, Ebonics-speaking police officer in the video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof and guested on the Comedy Central television show Crank Yankers and a Web cartoon, The Slim Shady Show[272] He was signed to star in an unmade film version of Have Gun – Will Travel,[273] and was considered for the role of David Rice in the 2008 film Jumper.[274] Eminem had a cameo appearance, arguing with Ray Romano, in the 2009 film Funny People. In a 2010 interview with Jonathan Ross, he stated "You know, I love music so much. This is my passion, this is what I want to do. Not saying that I won't do a movie ever again, but this is me."[275]

He played himself in the Entourage season-seven finale "Lose Yourself" with Christina Aguilera.[276] Although Eminem was offered the lead role in the 2013 science-fiction film Elysium, he turned it down because director Neill Blomkamp would not change its location from Los Angeles to Detroit.[277] Eminem had a cameo appearance as himself in the 2014 film The Interview. During an interview with the main character, Dave Skylark (James Franco), Eminem satirically comes out as gay.[278]

Books and memoirs

On November 21, 2000, Eminem published Angry Blonde, a non-fiction book featuring commentary of several of his own songs, along with several previously unpublished photographs. On October 21, 2008 his autobiography The Way I Am was published. Detailing his struggles with poverty, drugs, fame, heartbreak, and depression, it includes stories of his rise to fame, commentary about past controversies and original lyric sheets from "Stan" and "The Real Slim Shady".[279] An autobiography of Eminem's mother (My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem) was published the following month, in which Debbie Nelson describes her childhood and adolescence, meeting Eminem's father and her son's rise to (and struggles with) fame.

Advertising and charity

Eminem appeared in two commercials which were shown during Super Bowl XLV. In the first, a one-minute spot for Lipton's Brisk iced tea, he is a claymation figure.[280] In the second, a two-minute ad – the longest in Super Bowl history at the time – for the Chrysler 200, Eminem drives through Detroit (with "Lose Yourself" as the soundtrack) to his show at the Fox Theatre.[281][282]

He established the Marshall Mathers Foundation to aid disadvantaged youth. The foundation works in conjunction with a charity founded by Norman Yatooma, a Detroit attorney.[283]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Eminem donated "mom's spaghetti" (a reference to a line from his song "Lose Yourself") to healthcare workers at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.[284] Additionally, he donated a pair of Jordan 4 Retro Eminem Carhartt shoes, which are rare, to be raffled off with proceeds going to COVID-19 relief.[285]

Royalty Flow

In September 2017, a company called Royalty Flow (a subsidiary of Royalty Exchange), filed to issue an IPO under SEC Regulation A+ to raise money with the intent of purchasing either 15% or 25% of Eminem's former production team's (The Bass Brothers, aka FBT Productions) share of his sound-recording royalties.[286][287][288][289]

Politics

Eminem has expressed his political views in multiple songs. However, instead of endorsing presidential candidates, he has primarily focused criticizing candidates. The first was "Mosh", which was released in 2004, a few weeks before the 2004 United States presidential election, and heavily criticized then president George W. Bush. However, he did not directly endorse John Kerry in the song, either.[290] He wouldn't express political views again until the 2016 election when he released Campaign Speech, which criticized presidential candidate Donald Trump.[291] The following year, he again criticized Trump in a freestyle titled "The Storm". In the freestyle, he expressed support for former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the National Anthem protests and expressed his displeasure for any of his fans that support Trump.[292] In his song "Darkness", he heavily references the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, and, at the end of the music video, he expresses his support for gun control.[293] The week before the 2020 United States presidential election, he approved his song "Lose Yourself" to be used in a campaign video for Joe Biden.[294][295]