Eminem - Early career, Infinite, and The Slim Shady LP

1996–99: Early career, Infinite, and The Slim Shady LP

Eminem was soon signed to FBT Productions, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass, and recorded his debut album, Infinite, under their independent label Web Entertainment.Subjects covered in Infinite included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Scott Mathers while on limited funds. During this period, Eminem's rhyme style was primarily inspired by rappers Nas and AZ and his work lacked the comedically violent slant he would later gain fame for. Infinite was largely ignored by Detroit disc jockeys, and the feedback Eminem received—"Why don't you go into rock and roll?"—led him to craft angrier, more moody tracks.

During this time, he and Kim Scott lived in a high-crime neighborhood, where their house was burglarized numerous times. He held a minimum-wage job of cooking and dishwashing at the rustic, family-style restaurant Gilbert's Lodge at St. Clair Shores for some time. Eminem was described by his former boss as a model employee, once working 60 hours a week in a six-month period shortly after Hailie’s birth. Shortly before Christmas, he was fired from his job at Gilbert's Lodge. "It was, like, five days before Christmas, which is Hailie's birthday. I had, like, forty dollars to get her something." After the release of Infinite, Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in an unsuccessful suicide attempt. By March 1997, he was fired from Gilbert’s Lodge for the last time, and was still living in his mother’s mobile home with his daughter and Scott.

Things began to pick up when Eminem developed his sadistic, ultra-violent alter ego Slim Shady. The character, "a drug-dealing, bloodthirsty thug who spits furious rhymes about murder, rape, drugs and living by the law of the urban jungle," tapped into Eminem's rage and resentment. In the spring of 1997, he recorded his debut EP, the Slim Shady EP, issued later that winter by Web Entertainment. The EP features constant references to drug use, sexual acts, mental instability, and over-the-top violence. Other departures were his exploration of more serious themes—such as dealing with poverty and marital and family difficulties—and his direct and self-deprecating response to criticism. Hip-hop magazine The Source featured Eminem in its "Unsigned Hype" column in March 1998. After being evicted from his home, he traveled to Los Angeles to participate in the 1997 Rap Olympics, an annual nationwide rap battle competition. He placed second, and the staff at Interscope Records who attended the event sent a copy of the Slim Shady EP to company CEO Jimmy Iovine. Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment. Dr. Dre recalled, "In my entire career in the music industry, I have never found anything from a demo tape or a CD. When Jimmy played this, I said, 'Find him. Now.'" Dr. Dre faced criticism from associates for hiring a white rapper, but maintained confidence in his decision: "I don't give a fuck if you're purple: If you can kick it, I'm working with you." Eminem, who had idolized Dr. Dre since listening to his group N.W.A as a teenager, was nervous to work with him on the album: "I didn't want to be starstruck or kiss his ass too much..... I'm just a little white boy from Detroit. I had never seen stars, let alone Dr. Dre." However, he became more comfortable working with Dr. Dre after a series of highly productive recording sessions.

Eminem released The Slim Shady LP in February 1999. It became one of the most popular albums of the year, going triple platinum by the end of the year. With the album's popularity came controversy surrounding many of the album's lyrics. In "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", he describes a trip with his infant daughter, disposing of his wife's body. Another song, "Guilty Conscience", ends with his encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover. "Guilty Conscience" marked the beginning of the friendship and musical bond that Dr. Dre and Eminem would share. The two label-mates would later collaborate on a line of hit songs, including "Forgot About Dre" and "What's the Difference" from Dr. Dre's album 2001, "Bitch Please II" from The Marshall Mathers LP, "Say What You Say" from The Eminem Show, "Encore/Curtains Down" from Encore, and "Old Time's Sake" and "Crack a Bottle" from Relapse. Dr. Dre would go on to make at least one guest appearance on all of Eminem's studio albums under the label Aftermath. The album has now been certified 4× platinum by the RIAA. With the release of it, Eminem was accused of imitating the style and subject matter of underground rapper Cage.