Rappers often draw upon real-life events to inspire their music.
While some artists keep details vague enough to keep fans guessing,
others paint a picture so vivid that there is no doubt that the story is true.
Eminem is one of those rappers who makes every bar seem like a documentary about his life.
His songs are so vivid that he was once sued by a childhood bully for describing him negatively in a song.
Eminem is hip hop royalty
and regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time.
He is among the best-selling musical artists in the world,
having sold over 220 million records worldwide
and broke racial barriers by being one of the first white rappers to gain mainstream acceptance in hip hop.
But Eminem’s life wasn’t always easy,
and before the fame and success, he had a pretty rough upbringing.
Eminem’s back story is pretty well known at this point.
He was born in St. Joseph, Missouri but raised in Detroit, Michigan.
Em’s father left the family after his mother separated
and moved to California to raise his other family.
Growing up, Em and his mom would bounce around from town to town
between Missouri and Detroit, staying with friends and family members.
They eventually settled in the 8-mile area of Detroit,
a primarily black working-class neighborhood where Em was the target of bullies.
One bully in particular – a dude named D’Angelo Bailey –
severely injured him in an assault in 1982.
Em was only 10 years old at the time and in the 4th grade,
while Bailey was in the 6th.
D’Angelo beat up Em so badly
that his mom Debbie filed a lawsuit against the Macomb County School District in Michigan
where Em attended elementary school.
But a judge later dismissed the case,
claiming that the school was immune to lawsuits.
This event would have a major impact on Em and he would rap about it later in his career.
Em discovered hip hop as a teenager,
after hearing the song Reckless featuring Ice-T from the soundtrack to the movie Breakin,
a film from the 80’s about breakdancing.
Em was inspired to write his own raps and started making music at age 14.
He started a group with his friend Mike Ruby and they called themselves Manix and M&M.
He would take part in local rap battles at a nearby high school
with his friend and collaborator Proof
and would attend open-mic contests to show his skills.
He was respected by the underground hip-hop circles
but struggled to gain mainstream acceptance as a white rapper.
He released his debut project Infinite in 1996.
Although it got some local buzz,
it was a commercial failure and largely ignored by radio DJs
who told Em to stick with rock n’ roll.
On the project, Em has more of a laid back, underground rap style
that isn’t as shocking and dark as some of his later music.
This massive rejection by the industry in Detroit led the rapper to start making angrier, more aggressive tracks.
At the time,
he was living with his on and off girlfriend Kim and his baby daughter Hailey
in a crime-ridden neighborhood in Detroit, struggling to make ends meet.
After he was fired from his dishwashing job at a local restaurant 5 days before Christmas,
things got really bad.
He started diving farther and farther into substance abuse
and even attempted to commit suicide.
He had to move back into his mother’s trailer with Kim and Hailey –
but it was around that time that he developed the Slim Shady persona that made him famous.
Through this alter ego, he made he began making angrier music
that focused on themes of drug use, dark humor, sex, violence, and mental instability,
as well as the struggles of making a living and raising a child in a poverty-stricken neighborhood.
He released the Slim Shady EP in 1997,
a project that started to gain him some of the attention he was after.
After losing his job and getting evicted from his home,
Em went to Los Angeles to compete in the 1997 Rap Olympics.
He placed 2nd in the competition
and an intern from Interscope Records named Dean Geistlinger
asked Em for a copy of his album,
which he gave to the CEO of the company, Jimmy Iovine.
Jimmy Iovine is a legendary music producer
and label executive who has been responsible for shaping the careers of legendary acts like U2 and Tupac Shakur.
Jimmy Iovine is well known for his partnership with Dr. Dre
and was responsible for providing the initial financing and distribution for Death Row Records
and later the creation of Beats By Dre.
When Dean Geistlinger brought Jimmy the Slim Shady LP,
he immediately loved it and played it for Dre.
Both he and Dre agreed that they needed to find Em immediately,
which is where the artist's luck began to turn.
He released the Slim Shady LP on Interscope/Aftermath in 1999,
a project that was a more fleshed-out version of the EP he released two years prior.
On that project, was a song called Brain Damage,
where he raps about his old bully D’Angelo Bailey.
On the track,
Em attributes his odd personality and violent alter ego
to the brain damage he suffered as a child after getting beaten up by Bailey.
In the second verse of the song, he references his bully by name saying.
“Way before my baby daughter Hailie
I was harassed daily by this fat kid named DeAngelo Bailey
An eighth-grader who acted obnoxious ‘cause his father boxes
So every day he’d shove me in the lockers
One day he came into the bathroom while I was pissin
And had me in position and beat me into submission
He banged my head against the urinal ‘til he broke my nose
Soaked my clothes in blood, grabbed me and choked my throat”
Em goes on to paint a picture of the entire scene
even claiming the principal saw what was happening and joined in on the beating.
Em later admitted that he took some creative license with the story and that many of the details described
were altered to fit the rhyme scheme and to create more drama.
For instance –
D’Angelo Bailey was actually in 6th grade when he beat up Em, not 8th.
And obviously, the principal did not join in on the beating,
however, the Macomb County school district did reject the lawsuit,
so they didn’t do much to help.
Bailey would later sue Eminem for $1million over this lyric,
but not for a few years.
The album was a huge success and went triple platinum.
However, that success came along with a fair amount of controversy.
Critics went after Em for the graphically violent subject matter
and explicit sexual content.
However, this only fueled Em’s popularity and increased his notoriety.
Quickly after the release of his project,
Em began working on a follow-up and the Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000.
The album sold 1.76 million records the first week
shattering the previous record by a long shot
and Em became one of the most famous and controversial figures in music.
But all the fame attention brings negativity as well and just a year later in 2001,
the lyrics to one of his past songs, Brian Damage, came back to haunt him
when he was sued by his former childhood bully, D’Angelo Bailey.
Bailey filed a $1million lawsuit against the Slim Shady rapper,
claiming that Em made up false claims about Bailey and slandered his reputation.
At the time, Bailey was working as a janitor in Roseville,
Michigan. In the lawsuit, Bailey’s lawyer wrote:
"Eminem is a Caucasian male who faced criticism within the music industry
that he had not suffered through difficult circumstances growing up and he was, therefore,
a 'pretender' in the industry.
... Eminem used Bailey, his African-American childhood schoolmate,
as a pawn in his effort to stem the tide of criticism."
Bailey was accusing Em of using him to gain street cred to be more accepted by black artists
and the music industry in general.
However, in April 1999,
Bailey admitted to Rolling Stone that the bullying did occur.
In the interview, he said
"There was a bunch of us that used to mess with him.
You know, bully-type things.
... We flipped him right on his head at recess.
When we didn't see him moving, we took off running.
We lied and said he slipped on the ice."
Plus, there was also the record of Em’s mom
unsuccessfully suing the school district back in 1982,
claiming that constant bullying had caused him to exhibit nausea, headaches,
and antisocial behavior,
which is basically the entire premise of the song.
She also later told Rolling Stone that after the attack by Bailey,
Em suffered a cerebral hemorrhage
and was in and out of consciousness for five days.
She even claims that the doctors wanted to give up on him,
but she wouldn’t let them.
It’s also worth mentioning that Em and his mother have had a rocky relationship,
and that she also filed her own $10 million-dollar lawsuit
against the artist for defamation of character.
She claims that Em’s depiction of his childhood is totally inaccurate.
She says that she sheltered him from the violence of the inner city
and wasn’t the unstable drug user that he depicted her to be.
In the song Cleaning out My Closet,
on The Eminem Show album,
Em claimed that his mother suffered from a mental illness called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy,
a condition where a person will pretend that their child or someone close to them is sick,
just to gain attention for themselves.
He has also claimed that his mother was addicted to Valium
and used to sprinkle it on his food when he was younger
to keep him from acting out, which led him to develop an addiction to the drug.
He has referenced his relationship with his mother many times in his music,
typically in a pretty unflattering light,
so she ended up suing him as soon as he started getting famous.
The case was settled in 2001 for only $25,000,
out of which Deb Mathers only saw $1600,
the rest was awarded to her lawyer.
So, clearly, the judge didn’t think Em’s depiction of his mother was too far-fetched,
given how little money she received.
Although, Deb Mathers did agree to settle for $25,000,
despite claiming she was coerced into doing so. So, between the alleged mental disorders and the animosity toward her own son, it’s tough to know how accurate Deb’s side of the story is. Em later apologized to his mother on the song Headlights in 2014. At the time they were still not on good terms and it’s not clear whether they ever made up. However, the rapper has come a long way since and perhaps an apology is possible someday. But, just as Em was settling the case with his mother, he was hit with the suit from D’Angelo Bailey and in a similar turn of events, Bailey did not receive the payout he expected. Where Bailey messed up was admitting that Eminem fabricated the details in the story. If Em had admitted private details that Bailey didn’t want to be made public, he may have had a stronger case. However, the beating he gave the young Eminem was well documented and he even admitted to it himself when talking to Rolling Stone Magazine. There is nothing illegal about taking events from your past and dramatizing them for effect – in fact that’s what most rappers do. The only leg Bailey had to stand on was the fact that Em named dropped him directly in the song. If he was a popular artist whose career had been damaged by the name drop or he could prove that he somehow suffered harassment because of the song, he also may have had a better case. But in the end, the lawsuit seemed like a blatant cash grab than an issue of harassment. Judge Deborah Servitto dismissed the lawsuit in 2003, in a manner that made headlines because of how she delivered the verdict. She made up her own rap to give her ruling that went: “Mr. Bailey complains that his rap is trash // So he’s seeking compensation in the form of cash // Bailey thinks he’s entitled to some monetary gain // Because Eminem used his name in vain // The lyrics are stories no one would take as fact // They’re an exaggeration of a childish act // It’s, therefore, the court's ultimate position // That Eminem is entitled to summary deposition.” Summary deposition means that Em won the case and Bailey was not entitled to any money from the suit. The judge dismissed the case because the scene described in the song is clearly cartoonish and no one would actually believe the exact events were true. Bailey and his lawyer clearly mishandled the case from the beginning. They tried to make it about race by saying Eminem was a Caucasian who was using Bailey, an African American to gain sympathy about his upbringing – but there is no way the listener could know that, unless they knew who Bailey was already. Secondly, they tried to say that the song was affecting Bailey’s rap career, with little proof that he had a real rap career to begin with. Finally, they claimed that he fictionalized many elements of the song except for the central premise – which was that he did bully Eminem pretty severely when they were kids and there is documented evidence to prove it. It seems kind of far-fetched that Bailey and his lawyer would even think that they had a shot at winning – although I guess it was worth a shot. Em has been sued several times by his family members and those close to him growing up – from his mom to his ex-wife to his childhood bully – and somehow always manages to come out on top. Despite all his success, the dude has had a pretty rocky personal life and really likes making songs about violently assaulting and murdering people from his past. But he does it in a way that is so creative and outlandish that it’s hard for those lawsuits to stick. Thankfully, Eminem has put his past behind him and today sticks to dissing safer targets like Donald Trump and MGK. But you never know really when the old slim shady is going to come back. If you liked this video check out some of our previous videos! From Rappers Getting Ran Up On to Rappers that are killers we cover the most insane stories that you need to hear! Well, that's all for today! If you enjoyed this video, go ahead and give us a thumbs up and let us know in the comments what you'd like to see in the future. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel and hit that notification button, so you never miss any great content like this. Catch you in the next video!
So, between the alleged mental disorders
and the animosity toward her own son,
it’s tough to know how accurate Deb’s side of the story is.
Em later apologized to his mother on the song Headlights in 2014.
At the time they were still not on good terms
and it’s not clear whether they ever made up.
However, the rapper has come a long way since and perhaps an apology is possible someday.
But, just as Em was settling the case with his mother,
he was hit with the suit from D’Angelo Bailey and in a similar turn of events,
Bailey did not receive the payout he expected.
Where Bailey messed up was admitting that Eminem fabricated the details in the story.
If Em had admitted private details that Bailey didn’t want to be made public,
he may have had a stronger case.
However, the beating he gave the young Eminem
was well documented and he even admitted to it himself when talking to Rolling Stone Magazine.
There is nothing illegal about taking events from your past
and dramatizing them for effect, in fact that’s what most rappers do.
The only leg Bailey had to stand on
was the fact that Em named dropped him directly in the song.
If he was a popular artist whose career had been damaged by the name drop
or he could prove that he somehow suffered harassment because of the song,
he also may have had a better case.
But in the end, the lawsuit seemed like a blatant cash grab
than an issue of harassment.
Judge Deborah Servitto dismissed the lawsuit in 2003, in a manner that made headlines
because of how she delivered the verdict.
She made up her own rap to give her ruling that went:
“Mr. Bailey complains that his rap is trash
So he’s seeking compensation in the form of cash
Bailey thinks he’s entitled to some monetary gain
Because Eminem used his name in vain
The lyrics are stories no one would take as fact
They’re an exaggeration of a childish act
It’s, therefore, the court's ultimate position
That Eminem is entitled to summary deposition.”
Summary deposition means that Em won the case
and Bailey was not entitled to any money from the suit.
The judge dismissed the case
because the scene described in the song is clearly cartoonish
and no one would actually believe the exact events were true.
Bailey and his lawyer clearly mishandled the case from the beginning.
They tried to make it about race by saying Eminem was a Caucasian
who was using Bailey, an African American to gain sympathy about his upbringing,
but there is no way the listener could know that,
unless they knew who Bailey was already.
Secondly, they tried to say that the song was affecting Bailey’s rap career,
with little proof that he had a real rap career to begin with.
Finally, they claimed that he fictionalized many elements of the song
except for the central premise,
which was that he did bully Eminem pretty severely when they were kids
and there is documented evidence to prove it.
It seems kind of far-fetched that Bailey and his lawyer would even think that they had a shot at winning,
although I guess it was worth a shot.
Em has been sued several times by his family members
and those close to him growing up,
from his mom to his ex-wife to his childhood bully,
and somehow always manages to come out on top.
Despite all his success,
the dude has had a pretty rocky personal life
and really likes making songs about violently assaulting and murdering people from his past.
But he does it in a way that is so creative and outlandish that it’s hard for those lawsuits to stick.
Thankfully, Eminem has put his past behind him
and today sticks to dissing safer targets like Donald Trump and MGK.
But you never know really when the old slim shady is going to come back.
If you liked this video check out some of our previous videos!
From Rappers Getting Ran Up On
to Rappers That Are Killers
we cover the most insane stories that you need to hear!
Well, that's all for today!
If you enjoyed this video, go ahead and give us a thumbs up
and let us know in the comments what you'd like to see in the future.
Don't forget to subscribe to our channel
and hit that notification button, so you never miss any great content like this.
Catch you in the next video!