28 Years Ago Today, a Detroit Rapper Was Signed by Dr. Dre — Now, He’s the World’s Best-Selling Rapper
In early 1998, Dr. Dre, riding high off the success of NWA and his new label, Aftermath Entertainment, received a demo tape from his business partner, Jimmy Iovine. Lovine described the tape to Rolling Stoneas a "pissed off white guy" who "sounds like his pants are on fire." While not inherently sounding like the ideal audition for Dre's brand-building on the road to an empire, Dre heard the tape and responded, "Find him. Now."
While executives at the Interscope imprint expressed concern about Dre signing a white guy, perhaps fearing a Vanilla Ice-esque novelty act to a now billion-dollar empire, the rap legend recalled responding, I don’t give a f**k if you’re purple: If you can kick it, I’m working with you."
The angry, blue-eyed rapper in question was, of course, Eminem, AKA Marshall Bruce Mathers III. Then approaching his 26th birthday, the Detroit-based star in the making had ten years of music under his belt by the time Dre signed him. Mathers originally went by MC Double M from 1988, and started as a member of the group New Jacks, creating demo recordings with DJ Butter Fingers.
Although this wasn't an overnight success story, New Jacks eventually evolved into Bassmint Productions, then Soul Intent, before becoming Detroit-oriented group D12, signed to local label Web Entertainment by the early-to-mid 1990s. Along with friends Bizarre and Mr. Porter, it was the D12 group that partnered Eminem, the moniker Mathers had adopted at this point, with Proof, one of the rapper's closest collaborators and confidants until Proof's death in 2006.
Although D12 continued to enrich Eminem creatively before and after his success, their EP, titled The Underground E.P., as well as his debut solo album, Infinite, were commercial flops. Now a father, with the millennium now drawing to a close, Mathers continued to work as a cook and dishwasher at a local restaurant to support his family financially. Slim Shady EP, released in December 1997, sold 500 copies and drew mixed reviews from rap critics upon initial release.
However, a copy of the EP landed in the right hands, and Slim Shady EP, once called out for its crass lyricism and weird alter ego, would mutate into Slim Shady LP in 1999, with Dre serving as producer, and it went on to quintuple-platinum sales. An appearance at the 1997 Rap Olympics, attended by Interscope Intern Dean Geistlinger, who requested the EP and sent on to Iovine, and eventually Dr. Dre.
Dre's expertise in production, paired with the zaniness of the Slim Shady persona, birthed a Lennon-McCartney-like partnership in the rap genre, yielding early hits for Eminem, namely "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience," featuring Dre as an artist. Together, they re-shaped Eminem's style and public image, which Mathers would eventually say "saved his life" following years of struggle.
Over 220 million record sales later, Eminem said Dre, who he was a fan of in his early years, inspired — and scared — him enough to be a better artist, and wanted to be worthy of his investment in him.
"I remember one of the first times I went out to L.A. I met Dre and Jimmy [Iovine] at Interscope, and it felt so ridiculous and so far-fetched that this was happening," Eminem told Interview Magazine in 2017. "When Dre walked in, it was like an out-of-body experience. Nothing in my life had been going right for me, but he put me up in the Oakwood apartments and paid my rent so I could record with him."
"There was a period when I stayed up writing for 48 hours straight and ended up crashing at, like, six in the morning. I wanted to be prepared for Dre because I thought, 'If I’m not ready for every aspect of this, this could be it for me.'"