Eminem reflects in the song "8 Mile" upon his experiences in the neighborhood of Eight Mile Road where his career began. The movie of the same name for which the song was written showcases main character Jimmy Smith, whose life is loosely based on Eminem's real life struggles breaking into the underground hip-hop industry.

Eight Mile Road is a four lane semi-highway running east to west in southeastern Michigan, stretching 27 miles long. More than 70,000 cars travel it every day. Detroit, America's 10th largest city, is on the south side and thirteen suburbs share the north side. Originally serving as a baseline in a land survey to divide territories in 1785, it was given its name due to its distance from Detroit's river.

A largely blue collar commercial zone containing around 1,500 businesses ranging from auto-repair shops to fast-food restaurants landscapes the north side of Eight Mile Road. Scattered in between are occasional vacant lots, a few residences, manufacturing plants, and strip clubs. Abandoned cars and burnt-out shells of homes line the streets on the south side, providing a view comparable to a war zone. Businesses here include mainly pawn brokers, sex shops, topless bars, fast food restaurants, and cheap motels known as havens for prostitutes and drug dealers.

Detroit has a well known reputation for crime. In 2012 Forbes magazine ranked it #1 as the most dangerous city in the U.S for gang-related violence, with a murder rate second only to New Orleans in cities with a population over 200,000. Many residents believe the crime and poverty rampant around Eight Mile Road is inescapable. One example supporting this belief is of Eminem's long-time friend and band mate, DeShaun Holton, aka "Proof." The Detroit Free Press reported that on April 11, 2006, in the early morning hours at the Triple C nightclub on Eight Mile Road, Proof got into a dispute over a game of pool with Keith Bender, a medic and veteran of the first Gulf War. In the midst of the argument, Proof knocked Bender to the ground and shot him twice. Mario Etheridge, a friend of Bender's, returned fire and shot Proof in the head, killing him instantly. Bender died a week later. As wrenching as it was, events like Proof's were standard fare in the life of Marshall Bruce Mathers.

Arriving into this world October 17, 1972, in St Joseph, Missouri, Mathers' father waited until the boy was all of 18 months old before making himself scarce. Finding herself unexpectedly alone and with a baby to raise, Mathers' mother began what would become a 12 year search for a place to settle down.

In her memoir, My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, Debbie Nelson describes how Marshall was often the target for bullies at school because he was much smaller than the other kids. At 9 years old he was beaten so badly that he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. He spent four days in the hospital and had to relearn basic things like tying his shoes and pouring cereal. Doctors warned his mother that another blow to the head could kill him. A terrified Nelson would plunk a football helmet on his head before allowing him outside to play. An equally terrified Mathers would desperately cling to his mother at drop-off time in front of the school, not wishing to be subjected to further torture from his classmates. He often faked illnesses, once going so far as to smash his arm through a glass door, cutting a main artery in his wrist.

It's tough to always be the new kid at school. And after 12 years of changing scenery, Nelson and her pre-teen son settled down on Eight Mile Road, a place that became a harbinger in the form of music and fame.

Having discovered hip-hop at the age of 11 from a copy of Ice-T's "Reckless" given him by his uncle Ronnie Polkinghorn, Mathers' dream began. By the time he and his mother took up residence on Eight Mile Road, Mathers had decided that the fame offered by performing as a hip-hop artist was the only way to escape poverty stricken life and rise above a minimum wage job. After acquiring the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill, M&M was born, and this new persona was unleashed at 14, when he began performing amateur raps in freestyle battles at rival Osborn High School on Detroit's east side.

Somewhere amidst the turmoil of his childhood, M&M grew into Eminem. His freestyle rapping gained him friends and fans, and ultimately the notice of the recording industry. Crossing the median of Eight Mile Road provided him a newfound confidence and internal toughness he never had before. Today Eight Mile Road stands as a concrete reminder of the hardworking, gritty determination to overcome all odds and succeed no matter what obstacles one faces. He credits the embodiment of his new persona as a living testament to the values running deep in the hearts of Detroit citizens: "I am no longer scared now, I'm free as a bird, Then I turn and cross over the median curb, Hit the burbs and all you see is a blur, I'm Eight Mile Road."

Valerie Bordeau
October 14, 2015

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