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Dr. Dre’s impact on rap, hip-hop, and pop music in general is nothing short of revolutionary. His production informed the dominant trends for several decades of rap, updating the noisy clamor of Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad-produced tracks by bringing in funky rhythms for his breakthrough work with his group N.W.A., single-handedly inventing G-Funk in the ‘90s by reworking George Clinton’s spaced-out party funk into something aggressive yet still commercially viable, and then abandoning the style when it became too ubiquitous by the early 2000s. Dre’s rap skills were never as impressive as his production, but he played to his strengths by giving game-changing proteges the majority of time on the mike, first introducing the world to Snoop Dogg’s laid-back charisma and then to Eminem’s staggering technical abilities. Dre’s multifaceted role in the music industry saw him forming labels Death Row and Aftermath, the latter of which released massively important records by 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, and Anderson .Paak. Along with production duties, label CEO status, and other business ventures like his celebrity headphones-turned-streaming platform Beats by Dre, the good doctor continued to slowly and steadily release music of his own as the years went by, bolstering a discography full of groundbreaking work like his 1992 debut The Chronic with projects like his 2015 full-length Compton, and his six-song EP The Contract, released in conjunction with Grand Theft Auto in 2022.

Dre (born Andre Young, February 18, 1965) became involved in hip-hop during the early '80s, performing at house parties and clubs with the World Class Wreckin' Cru around South Central Los Angeles and making a handful of recordings along the way. In 1986 he met Ice Cube, and the two rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label started by former drug pusher Eazy-E. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz-n-the Hood," to HBO, a group signed to Ruthless. When the group refused, Eazy formed N.W.A. -- an acronym for N*gg*z With Attitude -- with Dre, Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella, releasing their first album in 1987. A year later, N.W.A. delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press, or MTV. N.W.A. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of "Fuck tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company, Priority, suggesting that N.W.A. should watch their step.

Most of the group's political threat left with Cube when he departed in late 1989 amid many financial disagreements. While Eazy appeared to be the undisputed leader following Cube's departure -- and he was certainly responsible for the group approaching near-parodic levels with their final pair of records -- the music was in Dre's hands. On both the 1990 EP 100 Miles and Runnin' and the 1991 album Efil4zaggin ("Niggaz4life" spelled backward), he created dense, funky sonic landscapes that were as responsible for keeping N.W.A. at the top of the charts as Eazy's comic-book lyrics. While the group was at the peak of its popularity in 1991, Dre began to make efforts to leave the crew, especially after he was charged with assaulting Dee Barnes, the host of a televised rap show, in 1991. The following year, Dre left the group to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight and N.W.A. affiliate the D.O.C. According to legend, Knight held N.W.A.'s manager at gunpoint and threatened to kill him if he refused to let Dre out of his contract.

Dre released his first solo single, "Deep Cover," in the spring of 1992. Not only was the record the debut of his elastic G-funk sound, it was also the beginning of his collaboration with rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dre discovered Snoop through his stepbrother Warren G, and he immediately began working with the rapper -- Snoop was on Dre's 1992 debut, The Chronic as much as Dre himself was. Thanks to the singles "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang," "Dre Day," and "Let Me Ride," The Chronic was a multi-platinum, Top Ten, Grammy-winning smash, and the entire world of hip-hop changed with it. For the next four years, it was virtually impossible to hear mainstream hip-hop that wasn't affected in some way by Dre and his patented G-funk. Not only did he produce Snoop's 1993 debut Doggystyle, but he orchestrated several soundtracks, including Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case (both in 1994), which functioned as samplers for his new artists and production techniques, and he helmed hit records such as Blackstreet's "No Diggity," among others, including a hit reunion with Ice Cube, "Natural Born Killaz." During this entire time, Dre released no new records, but he didn't need to -- all of Death Row was under his control, and most of his peers mimicked his techniques.

The Death Row dynasty held strong until the spring of 1996, when Dre grew frustrated with Knight's strong-arm techniques. At the time, Death Row was devoting itself to 2Pac's label debut, All Eyez on Me (which featured Dre on the breakthrough hit "California Love"), and Snoop was busy recovering from his draining murder trial. Dre left the label in the summer of 1996 to form Aftermath, declaring gangsta rap dead. While he was subjected to endless taunts from his former Death Row colleagues, their sales had slipped by 1997, and Knight was imprisoned on racketeering charges by the end of the year. Dre's first album for Aftermath, the various-artists collection Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath, received considerable media attention, but the record didn't become a hit despite the presence of his hit single "Been There Done That." Even though the album wasn't a success, the implosion of Death Row in 1997 proved that Dre's inclinations were correct at the time. Dre's de facto sophomore solo album 2001 -- which scored him a second Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Forgot About Dre" -- followed in 1999. That same year, Dre unveiled his next protégé, a young Detroit rapper named Eminem.

Dre's focus then shifted to work with his label and production for other artists. A third, and final, album titled Detox had been announced, but as the producer devoted time to Aftermath artists like 50 Cent and Eminem, the album suffered numerous delays. Work for the Game, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, and others brought Dre to 2006 when he partnered with Jimmy Iovine and launched the celebrity headphones company Beats by Dr. Dre. After sports figures and other celebrities adopted the headphones en masse, Beats' success skyrocketed. By 2010, the company was valued at just under a billion dollars. Dre dipped back into rapping by dropping two singles: "Kush" featuring Snoop Dogg and Akon and "I Need a Doctor" with Eminem and Skylar Grey. He continued to tease Detox, but ended up returning to the studio to focus on his next big breakout act, Compton's own Kendrick Lamar. At the start of 2014, Beats launched a streaming music service, Beats Music. Beats was acquired by Apple Inc. later in the year, as Dre announced he was the "first billionaire in hip-hop." In 2015, the Academy Award-nominated N.W.A. biographical drama Straight Outta Compton was released in theaters and influenced the producer to scrap Detox in favor of an LP inspired by the film. The album Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre landed that same year with Kendrick Lamar, Anderson. Paak, Ice Cube, the Game, Eminem, and many more on the guest list.

With N.W.A.'s cultural resurgence and mainstream recognition of their legacy in the history of rap and hip-hop, the group received another honor for their contribution to music with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. In December of 2021, video game Grand Theft Auto Online used six previously unreleased Dre songs in an updated version of the game. These songs were eventually released in 2022 as EP The Contract. In February of 2022, Dr. Dre performed at the Superbowl LVI half-time show with Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and others. Around this time, Dre gave interviews saying he was working on new music with Blige, as well as with Floetry vocalist Marsha Ambrosius. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Apart from being one of the best-selling artists in music history, Eminem is one of the greatest rappers of his generation. He's effortlessly fast, fluid, dexterous, and unpredictable, capable of pulling off long-form narratives or withering asides. And thanks to his mentor Dr. Dre, he's had music to match with thick, muscular loops evoking the terror and paranoia conjured by his lyrics. To be certain, a great deal of the controversy Eminem courted came through in how his violent fantasias, often directed at his mother or his wife, intertwined with flights of absurdity that appealed to listeners too young to absorb the psychodramas explored on his breakthrough albums The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem's commercial peak came around the time of his 2002 album The Eminem Show (which went platinum 27 times over) and with his crossover onto the big screen that same year with 8 Mile, a film that earned him acclaim for his performance and an Oscar for the film's anthem, "Lose Yourself." Eminem's journey as a living rap legend included struggles with addiction, near-constant feuding with other artists, and a celebrity status that shifted as the years went on. Through all his various changes, however, he continued growing as an artist as well as consistently hitting high commercial marks. Though critics could be unkind to efforts like 2009's Relapse or 2017's Revival, fans made sure that each new album sold at least platinum numbers and topped the charts. Instead of recycling old ideas, the rapper experimented with new production approaches, faster flows, and increasingly complex multisyllabic wordplay on projects like 2020's Music to Be Murdered By and the 2024 concept album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), in which he confronted and killed his alter ego.

Born Marshall Mathers in the Kansas City, Missouri suburb of St. Joseph, Eminem spent his childhood between Missouri and Michigan, settling in Detroit in his teens. At the age of 14, he began rapping with a high school friend, the two adopting the names "Manix" and "M&M," which soon morphed into Eminem. Under this name, Mathers entered battle rapping, a struggle dramatized in the fictionalized 8 Mile. Initially, the predominantly Black audience didn't embrace him, but soon his skills earned him a reputation, and he was recruited to join several rap groups. The first of these was the New Jacks, and after they disbanded, he joined Soul Intent, who released a single in 1995. This track also featured Proof, and the two rappers broke off on their own to form D-12, a six-member crew that functioned more as a Wu-Tang-styled collective than a regularly performing group.

As he was struggling to establish his career, Eminem and his girlfriend Kim had a daughter, Hailey, forcing him to spend less time rapping and more time providing for his family. He assembled his first album, Infinite, which received some underground attention in 1996, not all of it positive. After its release, Eminem developed his Slim Shady alter ego, a persona that freed him to dig deep into his dark id, something he needed as he faced a number of personal upheavals, beginning with a bad split with Kim, which led him to move in with his mother and increase his use of drugs and alcohol, capped off by an unsuccessful suicide attempt. All this sturm und drang was channeled into The Slim Shady EP, which is where he first demonstrated many of the quirks that became his trademark, including his twitchy, nasal rhyming and disturbingly violent imagery.

The Slim Shady EP opened many doors, the most notable being a contract with Interscope Records. After Eminem came in second at the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles, Interscope head Jimmy Iovine sought him out, giving the EP to Dr. Dre, who proved eager to work with Eminem. They quickly cut Em's Interscope debut in the fall of 1998 -- during which time Marshall reconciled with Kim and married her -- and The Slim Shady LP appeared early in 1999, preceded by the single "My Name Is." Both were instant blockbusters and Eminem became a lightning rod for attention, earning praise and disdain for his violent, satirical fantasias.

He quickly followed The Slim Shady LP with The Marshall Mathers LP in the summer of 2000. By this point, there was little doubt that Eminem was one of the biggest stars in pop music: the album sold almost two million copies within the first two weeks of release, but Mathers felt compelled to tweak other celebrities, provoking pop stars in his lyrics, and Insane Clown Posse's entourage in person, providing endless fodder for the tabloids. This gossip blended with growing criticism about his violent and homophobic lyrics, and under this fire, he reunited his old crew, D-12, releasing an album in 2001, then touring with the group.

During this furor, he had his biggest hit in the form of the moody ballad "Stan." Performed at the Grammys as a duet with Elton John, thereby undercutting some accusations of homophobia, the song helped Eminem cross over to a middlebrow audience, setting the stage for the ultimate crossover of 2001's 8 Mile. Directed by Curtis Hanson, best known as the Oscar-nominated director of L.A. Confidential, the gritty drama fictionalized Eminem's pre-fame Detroit days and earned considerable praise, culminating in one of his biggest hits with the theme "Lose Yourself," which won Mathers an Oscar.

After all this, he retreated from the spotlight to record his third album, The Eminem Show. Preceded by the single "Without Me," it turned into another huge hit, albeit not quite as strong as its predecessor, and there were some criticisms suggesting that Eminem wasn't expanding his horizons much. Encore, released late in 2004, did reach into more mature territory, notably on the anti-George W. Bush "Mosh," but most of the controversy generated by the album was for behind-the-scenes events: a bus crash followed by canceled dates and a stint in rehab. Rumors of retirement flew, and the 2005 appearance of Curtain Call: The Hits did nothing to dampen them, nor did the turmoil of 2006, a year that saw Mathers remarrying and divorcing Kim within a matter of four months, as well as the shooting death of Proof at a Detroit club.

During all this, Em did some minor studio work, but he soon dropped off the radar completely, retreating to his Detroit home. He popped up here and there, most notably debuting the hip-hop channel Shade 45 for Sirius Satellite Radio in September 2008, but it wasn't until early 2009 that he mounted a comeback with Relapse, an album whose very title alluded to some of Mathers' struggles with prescription drugs, but it also announced that after an extended absence, Slim Shady was back. While not quite a blockbuster, the album went platinum, and Eminem followed it at the end of the year with an expanded version of Relapse (dubbed Relapse: Refill) that added outtakes and new recordings. Recovery, initially titled Relapse 2, was issued in June 2010. The album debuted on top of the Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for five consecutive weeks, while its leadoff single, "Not Afraid," debuted on top of the magazine's Hot 100 singles chart.

The year 2010 also brought Eminem back together with Royce da 5'9" under the Bad Meets Evil moniker. In turn, June 2011's Hell: The Sequel marked the release of their first EP as a duo (barring the previous month's release of key EP track "Fastlane" as a single) and was their first batch of new material since a 1999 double A-side. After an intense period of recording, Eminem announced in August 2013 that his next solo album would be a nostalgically themed set of new material entitled The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which landed in early November. The album featured the singles "Berzerk," "Rap God," and "Survival," plus the chart-topping hit "The Monster" with Rihanna. In 2014, new tracks landed on the double-disc set Shady XV, which celebrated the Shady label's 15th birthday. The singles "Phenomenal" and "Kings Never Die" featuring Gwen Stefani arrived a year later, both taken from the Southpaw soundtrack.

Eminem resurfaced in October 2017 with a freestyle anti-Trump rap, which didn't appear on Revival, the December 2017 album that was filled with cameos, including appearances by Beyoncé ("Walk on Water"), Ed Sheeran ("River"), and P!nk ("Need Me"). His seventh straight chart-topper, it ultimately failed to match the sales heights of past efforts, despite the international success of the "River" single. The next year, without warning, Eminem issued his surprise tenth album, Kamikaze. The set featured appearances by Joyner Lucas, Royce da 5'9", and Jessie Reyez, as well as "Venom," from the film of the same name. In January 2020, he repeated this surprise-release approach with 11th studio album Music to Be Murdered By. The album featured production from Dr. Dre and cameos from the now-usual host of special guests, this time featuring Q-Tip, Ed Sheeran, Anderson .Paak, and the late Juice Wrld, among many others. The set debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and was re-released in expanded form in December under the title Music to Be Murdered By: Side B. In 2021, Eminem appeared on the Skylar Grey song "Last One Standing" along with Polo G and Mozzy. The track was featured on the soundtrack for the film Venom: Let There Be Carnage and cracked the Top 100 of the Billboard charts. 2021 also saw Eminem opening a spaghetti restaurant in Detroit, named Mom's Spaghetti after a line from "Lose Yourself."

In February 2022, he performed alongside Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and others at the half-time show of Super Bowl LVI. That June, Eminem released "The King and I," a track he recorded with CeeLo Green for the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic, Elvis. "The King and I" was one of three new songs on Curtain Call 2, a 2022 compilation covering the singles Eminem had released since Curtain Call: The Hits. "From the D to the LBC," a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, was also featured on Curtain Call 2.

In June of 2024, Eminem released his 12th studio LP The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). The album largely centered around the concept of Marshall Mathers being kidnapped by his alter ego Slim Shady and fighting internally between these two sides of his personality. The album included production work from Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, and Benny Blanco, as well as rap cameos from Big Sean, BabyTron, JID, and others. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine