Guts Over Fear
Eminem ponders whether his career is coming to or an end or if it’s too late to start over. “I just wanna play my part, should I make waves or not?” He’s had to change his style because he wasn’t ‘gangsta’ enough. He feels as though he had to unlearn everything he learned when we was growing up listening to the art form he was raised on. He wonders if each song he writes/sings is a repeat of the last – just saying things in a different way. “How many times can I say the same thing different ways that rhyme?”
Did you know?
- “Guns over Fear” has peaked at number 3 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100 as of September 12, 2014.
- Previews of the song premiered in trailers for the film The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington.
- Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage name Eminem and by his alter ego Slim Shady was born in St. Joseph, Missouri.
- In addition to his solo career, Eminem is a member of the group D12, as well as one half of the hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil, alongside Royce da 5'9".
- Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States.
- Rolling Stone magazine declared him The King of Hip Hop.
- Friends and family contend Eminem was a happy child but also "a bit of a loner" who often was bullied; one such persecutor, De'Angelo Bailey, beat Eminem so significantly that he suffered a severe head injury. In response, Debbie Nelson filed a lawsuit against the school in 1982, but the case was dismissed the following year.
- As a child, Eminem developed an interest in storytelling and aspired to become a comic book artist before discovering hip hop.
- After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17.
- At the age of 14, he began rapping with high-school friend Mike Ruby, the two adopting the names "Manix" and "M&M," which soon morphed into Eminem.
- While struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, he gained the approval of underground hip hop audiences. To put together verses, Eminem wanted the most words to rhyme, and would write long words or phrases out on paper and, underneath, proceed to rhyme each syllable. Even though it would often make little sense, the drill helped him practice.
- Eminem had his first run-in with the law at age 20, when he was arrested for involvement with a drive-by shooting with a paintball gun. Even though the paintballs did not break, he was still arrested. However, the case would be dismissed when the victim did not show up in court.