If there is such a thing as destiny then it really can balance any good fortune with plethora of reminders that each of us is just putty in its grip, as Eminem has been finding out over the past few months.

He might be the hottest rapper on the planet, his second album, 'The Marshall Mathers LP' has outsold his debut 'The Slim Shady LP' by a million! It required just 10 weeks to effortlessly surpass the debut's quadruple platinum certification of its entire shelf-life. And yet, despite all the fame and riches hardly anybody would like to be Eminem right now, including the man himself.

The Eminem album is another instalment in the creative chapter opened up since the Detroit, Michigan native hooked-up again with Dr Dre (of NWA infamy) to produce a second credible white-rap album. Once more it cranks-up on obscenity-strewn lyrics with impudently violent images, hilarious and demented rhyming, but this time it's more reality-based. Again fuelled by an Empire State Building-sized chip on the shoulder, its game is controversy and its language that of street-level profanities. The thing is that Em sings what most men think in private, probably.

Our protagonist's troubles, legal in particular, started as soon as the hit-single 'My Name Is' was shifting units as if it were popcorn, when his mother sued him for defamation of character for rapping that she had been taking more dope than him; the court date is looming large after Eminem refused a settlement. On a lighter note he offended a score of pop-stars and boy-bands on his last hit single, 'The Real Slim Shady', using some couplets that namecheck Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst and Christina Aquilera who is (supposedly) performing fellatio on him and MTV-US presenter Carson Daly, and dissing N'Sync and Britney Spears.

"She (Aguilera) wants to sue me," Eminem voices his defence, "and I don't really care if she, or anybody else does it or not; I think it's funny that an artist wants to sue another artist for saying something that is an artistic expression. I believe that I should be able to say what I want on a record and if someone wants to sue me, they are welcome. If everybody wants to sue me then I'll be a broke motherf**ker!"

ACCIDENTAL VILLIAN

The blue-eyed, bottle-blond Em talks nonchalantly but his words resonate with his beliefs and integrity.

"I believe I'm controversial but I just speak my mind. Pop stars and boy bands can be totally bland, empty and pure entertainment, and they are forgiven for all of it. I try to raise some issues and I get knocked back. That's why there are so many people I'm dissing, whether they deserve it on not. Most of the times things just rhyme and really don't mean much. But if you want to read into it, do it, there is nothing I can do about it. This album is more personal which I realised as soon as I wrote four songs, and that's why it's titled 'The Marshal Mather's LP', it's a true story."

The true story has had so many ensuing episodes that he could have recorded the second chapter already. There was an incident in June when he pulled a gun and threatened the Insane Clown Posse's associate Doug Dail (for which, if found guilty, the sentence can be 9 years) who was allegedly kissing his wife; soon afterwards Em would separate from Kim Mathers after she tried to commit suicide.

The pending court cases mean that Eminem had to cancel his Euro-trip including his headlining appearance at the Reading Festival. It might even delay Em's plans to star in a movie based on his life but, at least, he is an animated character on the 'Net (www.slimshadyworld.com). It probably will not because he lives in the country where justice depends on your ability to pay...

Part 2 of the Eminem interview will be published on Tuesday 22 August.