He is an outspoken, controversial songwriter, rapper and record producer. For younger generations, he is a musical genius. For elderly folk he is an offensive racket maker. But no one can deny that Eminem has strongly influenced the world of music and contemporary culture.

When he suddenly appeared in the 90’s he took the world by storm, but just as fast as he rose he fell, and burned in his immeasurable talent and pressure of global fame.

Here are 12 interesting facts about Eminem, the hip-hop prodigy.

Fact 1: Eminem, born Marshall Bruce Mather’s the third, dropped out of high school in year nine, after failing the year three times, and pursued his love for music. At the age of 26 he released his first album „Infinite“, which was poorly received.

Fact 2: Eminem’s name hit the world scene with his major label debut, The Slim Shady EP. It drew equal attention to his unique rapping style, as it did to the fact that he was a white rapper.

Fact 3: Eminem earned his place in the Guinness Book of Records for being the fastest selling hip-hop artist of all time. His 2000 album The Marshall Mather’s LP sold an astounding 1.7 million copies in its first week.

Fact 4: The same album, The Marshall Mather LP, sold over 10 million copies and is one of a few of albums to receive the diamond music certificate.

Fact 5: Eminem’s third album, The Eminem Show, also sold over 10 million copies and he became the only artist in history with two diamond certified albums.

Fact 6: In 2014 his name once again appeared in The Guinness Book for fitting the most words into a hit song with the 2013 hit song „Rap God“. It is approximated that the song included 1,560 words.

Fact 7: Eminem is referred to as Dr. Dre’s protégé. Throughout his career, he invoked the wrath of women and homosexuals with his offensive lyrics.

Fact 8: He was estranged from his mother, with whom he frequently butted heads, and married twice to his high school sweetheart Kimberley Anne Scott with whom he had a daughter Hailie Jade Mather’s. Apart from Hailie, Eminem adopted two daughters Alaina Mather’s, the child of Kim’s sister, and is the legal guardian of his younger half-brother Nathan.

Fact 9: Eminem is known for putting everyone under fire in his songs, especially his mother, Kim and sometimes even himself. Both his mother and his ex-wife sued him for defamation.

Fact 10: Eminem’s mum told her side of the story in a book titled „My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem“. She wrote that Eminem was a shy child often bullied at school and that at the age of nine he was hospitalized with cerebral hemorrhage due to a beating he received from an older kid. Eminem refers to this incident in the song „Brain Damage“, after which the once bully DeAngelo Bailey tried to sue him for 1 million dollars.

Fact 11: Eminem is considered the first artist to win the Best Rap Album Grammy for three consecutive LP’s. He has a total of 14 Grammy Awards.

Fact 12: With the song „Lose yourself“, Eminem become the first hip-hop artist to win an Academy Award in 2003.