Eminem Worked This Job to Pay the Bills Before He Became a Famous Rapper

Eminem is one of the best lyricists in the game today with a net worth of around $230 million. But before he was discovered by Dr. Dre and introduced to the rest of the world, Em did what he had to do and worked where he had to work to make ends meet.

Now we’re taking a look at where Slim Shady worked before he became one of the most famous rappers in the world.

Eminem didn’t always want to be a rapper

Marshall Mathers was born on Oct. 17, 1972, to Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah Nelson in St. Joseph, Missouri. His father left when he was a baby and Em and his mother moved around from place to place eventually settling in a Detroit neighborhood. We know Eminem had aspirations to become a rapper years before he made it big, but it isn’t what he always wanted to do.

According to The Things, when he was a kid he enjoyed comics and took an interest in storytelling. The latter is something that’s evident today in his music. As for the actual comics, he was very good at drawing and wanted to be a professional comic book artist when he grew up.

That changed when he discovered hip-hop after his Uncle Ronnie gave him the Breakin’ soundtrack. From then on Em immersed himself in that art instead.

He worked at restaurant

Eminem attended Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan. Even though he’s known as a rap genius, he had poor grades in high school and often skipped classes. After repeating the 9th grade three times, he decided to drop out of school altogether. This was a decade before he recorded his debut studio album and his mother needed help paying the bills so to make money Eminem worked some regular jobs just like the rest of us and one was at a restaurant.

According to MTV News, pre-fame the “Rap God” hitmaker worked as a short-order cook at Gilbert’s Lodge in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, as did fellow D-12 member Mr. Porter. Eminem said he wasn’t just flipping burgers though. His job required him to do more in the kitchen including washing the dishes.

The “Stan” rapper returned to his roots of working at an eatery recently when he surprised fans by serving them at his Mom’s Spaghetti restaurant in Detroit.

Em also worked a job similar to the one he had in ‘8 Mile’

If you’ve seen 8 Mile, then you may be wondering if Eminem actually worked in a factory like his Jimmy “Rabbit” Smith character. Turns out, he did. He spent his days working at a machinery factory before everyone knew his name.

In the 2002 film, the scenes of Em at work were shot at New Center Stamping Inc. plant where his character stamped auto body parts. It’s located on East Milwaukee Avenue in Detroit.