Allt sedan Eminems genombrott i slutet av 1990-talet har lyssnare kunnat tolka och förstå Marshall Mathers bakgrund på olika sätt. Nu berättar Eminems lillebror, Nate Mathers, om uppväxten med rapstjärnan från Detroit. Vilket bättre forum att berätta än med Eminems dotter Hailie Mathers som driver den egna podcasten “Just A Little Shady” sedan en tid tillbaka. Relationen mellan farbror Nate och Eminems dotter förklarar Hailie själv:
“Nate is my uncle — my dad’s younger brother — but also we kind of grew up together because Nate lived with us for a while when I was young. I would say brother-uncle, you definitely act younger than your age. We are closer in age than you are to [my] dad, but still, I never realize how much older you are than me because I feel like you are like a brother.”
Nate är hela 12 år yngre än Marshall Mathers har samma mamma, men olika pappor. Under tonåren valde även brodern att lämna mamman och flyttade då hem till Eminem och Hailie. Även om Eminem ofta gestaltat en mörk bild av sin uppväxt, så ger Nate en helt annan bild av sin storebror:
“Oh, yeah, I mean going off the lyrics and everything – I could see that. He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today.”
Med åren började kändisskapet bli allt tydligare för den yngre brodern. Han förklarar i podcasten som citeras av ExtraTV:
“Yes, I started understanding a little more when reality would hit when I would start seeing [Eminem] on TV and going to shows and all the signatures and crazy people. I am like, ‘Alright, well, this is real’… A few years later, when I was able to leave from being under my mom’s care, I moved in with you guys.”
Självfallet lockades även Nate Mathers av att skapa musik:
“I started getting into music writing at a very young age – writing on pieces of paper, trying to learn raps and stuff like that. As I got older and wanted to think about that as a career, I had learned from your dad (my brother) how to do music and how to write formulas, compound syllables and tested it out in the beginning. From there, I started looking around for beats and whatnot and got comfortable enough with my voice and writing skills that I started recording and getting a feel for how I would deliver songs and how that would formulate to where people would enjoy it.”
Lillebror förstod att hans musik skulle ofrånkomligt jämföras med sin “rap god” till storebror. Han berättar vidare:
“I knew there was gonna be a comparison — ‘Hey, how does he sound compared to his brother? Does he have the same formula? Does he have the syllables? Is he like a battle rapper? Is he a free-styler? What can he do?’… It was never about that. It was more about just having fun and being around music and doing something that other people would enjoy.”
