After signing with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem achieved mainstream popularity with The Slim Shady LP (1999). Although his associates criticized him for hiring a white rapper, Dr. Dre was confident in his decision: "I don't give a f*** if you're purple; if you can kick it, I'm working with you."

"'Cause I'm beginning to feel like a Rap God, Rap God
All my people from the front to the back nod, back nod
The way I'm racing around the track, call me Nascar, Nascar
Dale Earnhardt of the trailer park, the White Trash God
Kneel before General Zod this planet's Krypton, no Asgard, Asgard"

In 1999, Eminem's mother sued him for $10 million claiming he was slandering her on The Slim Shady LP. In 2000, his wife sued for defamation after describing her violent death in "Kim". In 2001, sanitation worker DeAngelo Bailey sued Eminem for $1 million, accusing him of falsely portraying him as a school bully in "Brain Damage".

8 Mile follows white rapper B-Rabbit (Eminem) and his attempt to launch a career in a genre dominated by African-Americans. The title is derived from 8 Mile Road, the highway between the predominantly black city of Detroit and the largely white suburban communities to the north.

"Lose Yourself" became Eminem's first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single and remained there for twelve consecutive weeks.

"Can I get the attention of the class (huh my name is, what my name is)
For one second My name is (My name is Slim Shady)
Hi kids! Do you like violence? (Yeah yeah yeah!)
Wanna see me stick Nine inch Nails, through each one of my eyelids? (Uh-huh!)"

The Detroit rapper achieved a world record with "Rap God". The six-minute track contains 1,560 words which means that Eminem is spitting a tongue-twisting 4.28 words per second.