Book Description

Eminem: The Real Slim Shady examines the rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor who has become one of the most successful and well-known artists in the world. Providing far more than a biography of his life story, the book provides a comprehensive description, interpretation, and analysis of his personas, his lyrical content, and the cultural and economic impact of Eminem's work through media. It also contains the first in-depth content analysis of 200 of the rapper's most popular songs from 1990 through 2012.

The book is organized into three sections, each focusing on one of the artist's public personas (Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers, Eminem), with each section further divided into chapters that explore various aspects of Eminem's cultural, spiritual, and economic significance. Besides being a book that every fan of Eminem and pop music will want to read, the work will be valuable to researchers in the areas of race and ethnicity, communication, cultural and musical studies, and hip hop studies.

About the Author

Marcia Alesan Dawkins, PhD, is clinical assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication. An award-winning writer and educator, Dawkins is the author of Clearly Invisible: Racial Passing and the Color of Cultural Identity. She writes frequently on race, diversity, media, religion, popular culture, and politics for several high-profile media outlets, including The Huffington Post, Truthdig, The Root, and Cultural Weekly. Dawkins holds a doctorate from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.