Eminem has to be one of the most talented rappers in hip-hop history.
A video recorded on August 20, 1998 show the man himself five months before he burst onto the scene with 'My Name Is' and demonstrates how immense his talent is.
In the footage Eminem asks DJ Stretch to 'keep the same beat' before launching in to a freestyle verse.
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He then raps: "I look at my life in a new light, fuck it give me two mics. I write songs for me, fuck what you like.
"You probably hear me rap half-hearted because I don't even like rap anyway. I'm just trying to get my porn career started."
Watch the footage here...
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The video is from the documentary Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives about the '90s college radio station that helped launch the careers of many of the biggest names in hip-hop. The film also features exclusive footage of Jay-Z, Nas, The O.C. Pharoahe Monch and other rap stars before they made it big.
Eminem said of the radio show: "Stretch and Bobbito was our dream. The fact we had a chance to be on it was crazy.
"It was certainly a highlight and a boost for my career and self esteem. We felt like we made it."
Earlier this year the 44-year-old artist confirmed he's working on a new album through a post on Facebook. He also linked his fans through to a new song titled 'Campaign Speech', which you can listen to here...
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The cover of the album is reminiscent of The Beatles' 1968 eponymous 'White Album'.
The release comes after his 2013 release, 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2'.
Born in Kansas City, his father left when he was still a baby. At five he moved to Detroit but was beaten so much by his step father that his mother returned the family to Kansas City before moving back to Detroit when he was 11.
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His mother had next to nothing and two children to raise, leaving Marshall Mathers to fend for himself on the rough streets of Detroit.
Eminem is of course white but he was raised in black neighbourhoods and quickly embraced the culture around him.
In an interview with Spin Magazine in 2000, a year after his first record, 'The Slim Shady LP', was released, the rapper talked at length about his influences and how he first got into the rap game.
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"When you're a little kid, you don't see colour, and the fact that my friends were black never crossed my mind. It never became an issue until I was a teenager and started trying to rap," he said.
"The first hip-hop shit I ever heard was that song 'Reckless' from the Breakin' soundtrack; my cousin played me the tape when I was, like, nine.
"I thought it was the most incredible shit I'd ever heard."
But it was when Eminem heard The Beastie Boys for the first time that he decided he wanted to become a rapper.
"That's what really did it for me. I was like, 'This shit is so dope!' That's when I decided I wanted to rap," he said.
From then on, Eminem played as many shows as he could, breaking down the 'white rapper' barrier which dogged him in the early days. And the rest, as we know, is history.
Featured image credit: PA Images
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