Eminem says he created his alter ego Slim Shady as his music was ‘going nowhere’

LOS ANGELES — Rapper Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, said that he invented his Slim Shady alter ego as his music was “going nowhere.”

The 51-year-old rapper rose to global fame with his 2000 hit ‘The Real Slim Shady’, and in a video titled ‘Slim Shady vs Marshall Mathers: The Face-Off’ for a cover for Complex magazine, the musician reflected how his performing persona came about before saying it pushed him into addiction.

He told a younger AI generated version of himself in the clip: “I invented you because my life was …. My music was going nowhere and I was broke.”

He attacked his alter ego by declaring: “You didn’t fix anything. You actually made that worse. You’re the reason I had to self-medicate. Because of you I almost lost my career, my family, my life.”

“Life’s been great since you’ve been gone,” reports femalefirst.co.uk.

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Eminem recently released his latest studio album ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)’ and hours before it came out the rapper told fans on X, formerly called Twitter: “Public service announcement: the ‘Death of Slim Shady’ is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense. Enjoy.”

Public service announcement: the "death of slim shady" is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense. Enjoy.

— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) July 11, 2024

The rapper, who has been clean and sober for years after his well-documented addiction battles, had also shared an obituary for Slim Shady, declaring him dead ahead of the release of the record.