Eminem Reveals He Almost Quit Rap Prior To His First Deal

    He may now be one of the world’s highest selling emcees, but there was once a time before Eminem found fame and acclaim. Now, The List reports that Marshall Mathers actually almost gave up on his career before it even started.

    Em recalled that he almost gave up on music after getting booed off stage at his first live performance. Despite the trauma of bombing on stage, he worked past it and grabbed the mic once again. He went on to say that rapping has been his driving force in life and helped him come back from his lowest moments. 

    “The first time I rapped in front of actual people that mattered, in a club, I got booed. And it was very traumatic for me,” he said. “I just remember it being so fucking traumatic, and I think I went home and I was like, man, I quit. And you know a week later, a day later, an hour later I got the urge, and I was like, I gotta get up, I gotta do it again.”

    He went on to say, “I certainly feel like if it wasn’t for Rap, obviously, I wouldn’t be here, but it gave me my voice, it gave me my outlook, it gave me strength, you know what I came back from, overdose and a whole load of shit – without rap I wouldn’t be able to do a fucking thing.”

    RELATED: Eminem Has Started Working On New LP, Praises 50 Cent & Slaughterhouse

    127 thoughts on “Eminem Reveals He Almost Quit Rap Prior To His First Deal

    1. I thought he meant recently.. cause he sorta alluded to that a few times on Recovery. eh well, cool story bro

    2. LOL! at this editor are you fucking kidding me. I’m pretty sure we knew this for years, this article is a joke.

    3. This is the interview from The Art of Rap. SMH you guys should have see that movie and should know this shit

    4. so sad he didn’t.

      this mothafucka is so overrated it’s ridiculous

      corny ass mothafucka poppin pills and crying on his records bout his fiancee and his mom and son’s relationship

      1. Look at the impact he’s had on the game.. He paved the way for other white rappers too, you’re most probably a Mac Miller fan, so you can’t say much.

      2. I agree with everything he said this honky and his family don’t deserve to live.

      3. you guys probably dickride some super underground rapper, or the new flavor of the month… or probably both

    5. Most artists don’t have the luxury of being a recluse. Em isn’t the same caliber of MC he once was, but at least he knows his limitations. He could have made so many bad movies by now, but he didn’t.

      1. When is D12’s Shady debut droppin’? I want to hear what Obie Trice’s debut sounds like too? Statlanta is gonna sell millions. I heard that Eminem is gonna make a moive called “8 Mile” based on his life. Sounds dope. I just hope Em put out a kiler single (which sold millions and one of the greatest hip hop singles ever).

    6. I also heard that the editor of this almost quite journalism… is this true? because the story only broke a while ago.

    7. I wish his life was still fucked up cause he would make great music now that he’s happy his raps sound below average

      1. ^^Groupie?!?!?! Bitch I’m probably your father and you don’t even know!!! Once you grow a pennis and fuck a bitch you come talk to me 😉

      2. you’re a grown-ass groupie then nigga. wish his life was fucked up, fuck is that about. he got a real scare almost died from that shit, he don’t need that. some of his tracks he still kills it, more than a damn good percentage of emcees.

      3. ^^ Sorry if you got butthurt honey but all I said was the truth. He should get drugged again, it’s when he sounds better.

      4. I guess I am butthurt when I hear such retardation. he didn’t sound better for shit, you’re just being an overnostalgic bum who thinks someone needs drugs to spit ill. that’s fuckin retarded. he spit it raw on Hell: the Sequel and he still kills most emcees today.

    8. So when Nas makes a whole record about his daughter and Kelis, ya’ll praise it and think its amazing. When Eminem talks about his daughter and his wife, ya’ll talk shit. All of you who think this way are BITCHMADE. No disrespect to Nas btw.

      1. ON HIS LAST ALBUM HE RAPPED ABOUT SUCKING HIS UNCLE’S DICK Y’ALL CALLED IT ART N BEING CREATIVE GTFOH

    9. This must be Hip Hop DX’s slowest day ever. I mean, c’mon, he already said this shit, next y’all will post an articlte saying Kanye West farted on the street.

    10. Okay HipHopDx your next story will be that Ray J and Kim kardashian now has a sex tape.. Old fucking news man

    11. You know how u feel when people say eminem is white trash.. ?? add that to how eminem feels mulitiply it by 100, that is how every black person feels when they encounter racist shit from white people. Personally i think Em is the best but i understand why some black people respond the way they do.

    12. One of the highest selling mc’s? He is the highest selling rapper of all time. He still sells more then any rapper today. Fuck all the politics Eminem is top 5 DOA. Im black and I can admit this. But you notice no one in the hip hop media ever admits this. I never heard big Tigga or Sway or any radio personality or dj ever confirm this. Whats so bad about a white dude being the best selling artist of a mostly black genre..? Oops I guess I just answered my own question.

      1. Poor kid, you’ll never understand. Listen to the words of KRS-One and then you come talk to me, OK?

      2. ‘Poor kid, you’ll never understand. Listen to the words of KRS-One and then you come talk to me, OK?’

        OK this is what KRS-One said about Eminem: ‘He is dope, his new 3 A.M song about the killing is nasty and very creative’

        Not an Eminem dickryder, but that’s KRS-One on Eminem and I really don’t know what point you wanna make…

      3. the problem is that you goons digest high record sales as quality and fall for every marketing gimmick created by Interscope to make you believe EM is so great. If he didn’t have the Interscope monster in his corner, he would have been an underground MC forever. He turned his back on the Outsidaz, the Rawkus crowd, and all the people he ran with in the beginning and let the industry myth builders sell you the Elvis and Vanilla Ice “best ever” dream to you and you ate it up. Creating a lame story about demo’s and dumb luck, they sold you this story of Dr. Dre discovering EM and growing from there. If Dre was real, he would still be pushing his Aftermath fam, but once the hype of Eminem blew up, the STANs came out in support to claim that the white guy is the best. I am not saying he isnt talented, but once you separate “the great white hype” from marketing and sales, EM doesn’t hold a candle to the honesty of the true school MC’s. White people flock to anything “white” dominated by minorities and EM’s success is evidence of that. Stop drinking the kool aid and figure out if you like EM cause you like him, or you like him because you’re told to like him because he is great. Mind games can dip in your pockets your whole life. Sometimes you vote for a candidate because he is the only candidate, like Republicans and Mitt Romney. They don’t like him, but they don’t want to lose so they will settle.

      4. @bee dee.. its funny that you have to come up with assumptions to try to validate your point..and how are you so sure dre didn’t discover and signed eminem? you don’t muthufucker. and telling me to consider whether i like him or because im told to like him..lmao..thats just stupid.ever heard of freedom of choice?..your whole essay is idiotic.. trying to come up smart and playing the whole ”white hype” card..
        “EM doesn’t hold a candle to the honesty of the true school MC’s.”.. thats the line which tells me where you get butt hurt, its plain to see youre just sad because your favourite rapper doesn’t get as much acknowledgement..

    13. gets me real upset thinkin bout how im 21, and i first listened to eminem at age 9, and now hes basically out of gas, it makes me real depressed to think that his talent was the result of major drug use, because drugs do give u creativity..which he clearly lost as of now..this sloppyhouse album has got me really heated, this shit has 3 horrible forefront singles…

      1. nigga you were 9. that’s why you think he ran out of gas

        sayin he lost a bit of it is okay. but he’s going on over a decade and still kills the majority of emcees today.

        but hey you know what? some lil sumbitch soon is gonna reply to my post and list me a bunch of obscure jerkin-the-curtain underground niggas that are OBVIOUSLY iller than him. why? cause that’s how the industry works. when the fact is dude been killin it for a long time, fell a bit in the middle but still went grindin at it hard.

        niggas like lil wayne ran out of gas. when really it been runnin on a honda civic since he started.

      2. It’s not that he ran out of gas so much as it is that the radio is so different today that the most popular songs from Recovery were his worst (in my opinion). Cold Wind Blows, So Bad, Almost Famous, and Untitled were a lot like Slim Shady type songs. Obviously not quite to the degree because he isn’t a 25 year old goon any more. He grew up but the lyrics and concepts are still strong in those songs. Plus he had a lot of other songs that were solid on that album, the radio stations just blew up the wrong ones.

      3. “hey let me make a condescending reply with no argument to make it appear I’m right when I haven’t said shit!” – Decatur

        nigga wash your ass

    14. SO BECAUSE SOMEONE SELLS MORE ALBUMS HE’S BETTER?? THIS HONKY DOES NOT HAVE A CLASSIC ALBUM..LETS BE REAL WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME ONE OF Y’ALL SAID LET ME LISTEN TO THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP THAT SHIT CLASSIC FOH..NAS HAS 4 OR 5 CLASSIC ALBUMS THATS A TRUE MC..THIS CLOWNS JUST HAS MILLIONS OF DUMB WHITE FANS THAT KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT HIP HOP

      1. “THIS CLOWNS JUST HAS MILLIONS OF DUMB WHITE FANS THAT KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT HIP HOP”

        I know plenty of Asians, Mexicans & blacks that think Eminem is a beast. It’s not just white people that love Em. Your blatant ignorance makes me laugh.

        “NAS HAS 4 OR 5 CLASSIC ALBUMS THATS A TRUE MC”

        And who really goes back to listen to ALL of Nas’ albums? They just go back to Illmatic & they leave it at that.

      2. To the first anonymous: you cannot ever get to look me in my face and truthfully tell me you know one non white Eminem fan.

    15. C HELLA RAPPERS SAID HE’S NICE

      BEEN GETTIN PROPS SINCE DA 1ST CD

      BUT IT’S U FCUKBOIS

      U STANS DAT NOBODY LIKES U WANNA MAKE IT LIKE NO ONE ELSE EXISTED EXCEPT HIM

      U ACT LIKE BEASTIE BOYS, RICK RUBIN, 3RD BASS HOUSE OF PAIN EVER EXISTED & N!GGAS ROLLED WIT THEM

      JUS LIKE EM ROLLED WIT N!GGAS SINCE DAY 1

      I CAN IMAGINE ALL THE FAN MAIL & SHOW TALK

      “Y U HANG OUT WITH N!GGERS UR BETTER!”

      HE MADE 2 SONGS 4 U

      THE REAL SLIM SHADY & STAN

      & U FCUKBOIS CAN’T C HE’S TALKIN BOUT U TELLIN U LEGGO HIS NUTS

      HE DON’T WANNA B DA GREATEST WHITE RAPPER

      HE JUS WANNA B A RAPPER

      U MADE HIM A DRUGGIE 2 EASE DA PAIN FROM UR FCUKBOI TENDENCIES

      EMINEM WAS ON THE RZA REMIX WAKE UP FOR SWAYS RADIO SHOW

      CUT IT OUT

      N1GGAS EVEN HAD LUV 4 BUBBA SPARXXX RA THE RUGGED MAN BROTHER ALI

      IT’S U CLOWNS THAT MADE N!GGAS TUNE OUT EMINEM & EVEN WHITEBOYS IN DA INDUSTRY AND OUT HAVE SAID THIS OVER THE LAST 10 YRS

      IT’S U NOT HIM

      1. You the truth. Em does get dickrided too much. And its making his fans look bad. I’m not the average EM Fan tho. I listen to 2pac, Hov, Biggie,Nas, Game, Weezy kendrick lamar, Slaughterhouse, Kanye and then Eminem. But Eminem deserves credit for all he’s done. He changed the Game up. Like Pac, Nas and Lupe Fiasco, Eminem is a lyrical genius.

    16. Em will and always will be one of the highest selling rappers of all time, it sucks for others because they get mad an say he ain’t the best but when there favorite rappers like nas, tech, or anybody that even takes a pic with him they instantly gotta start hatin on him or just jump back on the wagon, the way I see it for you fuckers that say he was better on the drugs I pity you people cause it shows how just fuckin low humanity really would stoop to just to see someone die on drugs then rather see them rise and still being able to have the ability to fucking kill it in the game, So I’m still an Eminem fan whether you like it or not call me a stan but I’m a real fan So keep killin it Em And Fuck Y’all

    17. Damn some of u r harsh. Ems had a huge impact on rap and if u cant c that then there is no hope (btw, not sayin that peeps like beastie boys aint do nothin). and just cos he dont make music as well as he used 2 dont mean u can wish 4 him to be drugged up again. thats like ur boss sayin ‘u didnt show up to work’ and then shootin u in the head. overreaction man, and not needed.

      1. And you’re too much butthurt, and that’s definitly not necessary. If you can’t take a fucking joke, go away, this site ain’t for you.

    18. You guys are fucking retarded. Straight extra chromosome carrying internet dweebs. Who cares if this topic about Em was brought up before. It was an interesting read and if you’ve heard about it before, then why come on here to comment? You were OBVIOUSLY still interested. Get out your high chair and sit right you fags.

    19. can’t wait to see what his next album will sound like. Prob. gonna sell like 700,000-800,000 1st week like Recovery.

      1. the climate aint changed that much since 2010 when recovery dropped fool.. in fact in 09 with the height of the GFC and music industry bombin he sold 600 week one with no major single .. hate him or love him he moves units

    20. All people do is hate and chirp on this site. Not to mention, why we even speaking about race now, who gives a fuck if he’s white. we are talking about Eminem as an artist not a white guy rapping. People are still so ignorant and it’s not only white people that are racist, every other race is as well.

    21. I used to think Em was so popular because he was white(which may be true to an extent) but seeing as literally every other white rapper has flopped, even Mac miller failed to go gold i just don’t know anymore maybe there’s something there

      1. Mack Miller don’t need to go gold…he is independent….so even if he sales 30,000….that is mad money…he gets all that…He makes more money of 30,000 sales then a major artist on a major label makes going gold. Not to mention Mack Miller sells out damn near all his shows…..thats why he has his own tv show….Miller is good..trust me

    22. When a friend of mine buys new shoes he asks the attendant which colour he has sold the least of and he buys them weather he likes the colour or not. A lot of you people hate Eminem for the sole reason is that his music is popular. Or because he is white and you are black. Just admit it.

      1. your friend is stupid then… buying shit he doesn’t even like just for the sake of being different, that’s lame…

    23. Schwarz strikes again….

      The Beasties are a great example. Close to 30m sold, first album did around 9m, no one cared about their race and they were embraced in the Hip Hop community. Inducted in the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame, great career.

      But if you scroll thru these comments, Eminem changed the game (although nothing changed in Hip Hop except maybe your personal interest in it), is the best to ever do it, is one of the highest selling, had a huge impact on rap, if you don’t like him it’s because he’s white. Beasties aren’t even mentioned.

      Why don’t you compare the Caucasian rappers against each other? Why is always whoever is Black versus Eminem? Because it’s a great time for some of his rabid fans (NOT ALL OF THEM) to say “the white dude is better than all the n****rs”. He has to be on top so you can claim victory. It’s quite obvious.

    24. if eminem is that wack how come he is on most rappers top 5 DOA eg Jay z,kool g rap,fabulous,redman,rakim scarface and more.fine he might not be number one as theys no such thing as number one as everybody has thier own list but u cant take em out the top list.

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      IF YOU STRUGGLING WITH THAT CREDITT HISTORY ISHH, GET RID OF ALL DAT TODAY – CALL THESE PEEPS AT 8^8^8-9-2-7 -3-3-5-6. . THEY DO AMAZING WORK AND THEY ARE CHEAP AS FUQQ. GOT RID OF ALL MY SHYYT IN NO TIME.

      MY HOMEBOY WAS IN THE GUTTA TOO, AND HE CLEANER THAN ME NOW-gettin a condo!!

      Hit em up – THEY WILL HELP U!!..

    26. niggas shut the fuck up emeiem makes good music I’m pretty sure if you were a rapper too and had the opportunity to make a song with elton john you wouldn’t be able to do shit with it now go kick rocks and go be somebody yourselves fuck all you people trying to hate on eminem kill yourselfs

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