Eminem: The Curtain Falls on Shady

Will Slim Shady and Eminem ride off into the sunset? Recently, all signs are pointing to yes, with his current "Encore" Tour coming to an end on September, 17 in Dublin, Ireland. Friends of Marshall Mathers have been saying he will step away from the spotlight to focus on producing. Since this may very well be the final curtain for Eminem on stage, we thought we'd take a look at what Mathers has created and where he is headed.

Eminem (aka Slim Shady), born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, October 17,1973 in Kansas City, Missouri, moved around from town to state with his mother before settling in Detroit at the age of 12. The rap bug bit Mathers in high school, which he dropped out of in grade 9, and from there he went on to join various groups in the city's underground scene. Mathers' break came in 1999 when he was discovered by Dr. Dre, who adopted the young rapper as his protege and served as co-producer on the successful debut of The Slim Shady album. Since then, Eminem's career has been full of great success as well as lawsuits, criminal charges and tabloid headlines.

Why would Eminem want to put the brakes on such a successful and lucrative career? In a relatively short amount of time, Mathers has accomplished more than any other hip-hop artist before him. His record sales are in excess of one billion dollars, he has won countless awards and has proven himself to be the driving force behind the rap music of today. Despite the success, the need to go out on top could be a factor as, at 33 years of age, Mathers has done exactly what he set out to do. In an article featured in his hometown paper, The Detroit Free Press, fellow rapper and right-hand man Proof had this to say about the peroxide blonde phenomenon:

"Em has definitely gotten to the level where he feels like he's accomplished everything he can accomplish in rap...He wants to kick back and get into the producing thing."

What does the future have in store for Eminem? Whether you like him or loathe him, you have no choice but to respect the fact that a bleach blonde white kid from Detroit was able to create a persona for himself, that in a very short time skyrocketed him to fame and fortune. That persona, which centered around an angry young homophobic misogynist assured him a ton of attention. Granted, a lot of it negative, but still it was his gimmick. He worked the industry and the system to his advantage. Now that Eminem and Shady are headed for an early retirement to the gates of producing heaven with such acts as 50 Cent, D12 and Obie Trice, you can bet your bottom dollar this prima donna will be just as successful behind the scenes. In the same Detroit Free Press article producer, Mark Bass had this to say about the evolution of Eminem:

"As much as he caters to his fans, this has always been about putting food on the table... and he knows the right thing to do to make sure that happens. If that's moving into producing 50 Cent and the other new artists he's handling, then that's what it is. He's a smart guy. He knows what he's doing."

Whatever way Mathers evolves as a producer, it's safe to assume he'll probably be the one responsible for finding the next hip-hop superstar to take his place, just like Dre did with him back in 1999. Even though fans will be disappointed, they can take comfort in the fact that at least he'll still have his hand in shaping the future of hip-hop for many years to come.

They tried to shut him down on MTV but it feels so empty without him.