The second part of our exclusive Eminem interview

FLAUNTING A MISSHAPEN EGO

Legal problems might be piling up - he's filed for divorce from Kim but his wife has put in a demand for a $10 million and full custody of their daughter, his mother has taken an extra action for a second million bucks because of the comments he made in response to the original suit, he's due in court on 31 August to face preliminary assault and weapons charges and will be returning to face his mother on 13 September.

But still, Eminem's biggest problem is finding himself elevated to the position of Kurt Cobain prior to his tragic end in 1994: the biggest white star and product of a dysfunctional family who got enthroned as the key generational figurehead in a twister of success. A casual glance at the 26-year-old's life might explain his fury: growing up in 'da hood', the white kid had been beaten-up often but got hooked on hip-hop after hearing Ice-T rapping 'Reckless' (on 'Breakin' soundtrack) at the age of nine; his early attempts at dropping rhymes were constantly met with advise to 'get rock'n'rollin'', "Until they'd hear me rap," he proudly recalls.

"I didn't start writing lyrics until I was 14," Em remembers vividly, "and kept at it until I got really good at it. By the time I met Dre I had a vision of where I wanted to take it and he showed me how to take it there. How to execute it... I never felt I needed to impress anybody but myself and that is difficult because I see myself as a perfectionist and that can be rather difficult.

"My aim is always the same - to write a better song than the last one... To have different beats, different feel, to sound different... It's been two years since I started working with Dre and it is getting more comfortable, we trust each other more, we can be more open with each other..."

Before meeting Dre, Em released own album 'Infinite' (1996, a local label) that echoed with the rhymes hip at the time, something like Nas. While working as a $5.50-an-hour cook he continued to write and his 'Slim Shady EP' became his demo tape that won him a contract with Dre's imprint Aftermath (part of Interscope). Contrary to the stories 'Doc Rap' didn't spot him at the annual Rap Olympics in LA (which, by the way, Em didn't win but was a runner-up); after 'Shady EP' was played to him Dre said, "Find him. Now."

As a matter of historical accuracy, Em got the idea for his Slim Shady alter-ego while on the bog. It is his ruthless self as well as functioning like a defence mechanism. Always speaking his mind...

"People usually think there is a deeper meaning when I say 'F**k you' but it only means - 'F**k you'! I tend to be rather literal."


BRO FROM ANOTHER PLANET

Marshal's career is only 18 month old but he's made even oft-cited moral-offenders The Bloodhound Gang and Insane Clown Posse sound like kindergarten villains of culture. His producer/co-creator Dr Dre dubbed the current album "the last album on steroids", and one supposes he should know.

It seems that reality and fiction have morphed - he has been condemned by his grandmother as "vile and disgusting" because he's not "the same boy who used to sit on my lap" - and one has to wonder when the real Marshal III (it's a fact) steps back for Slim Shady to surface and when does Eminem emerge?

"Marshal Mathers ends when the Bacardi kicks in and Slim Shady raises his head; Eminem takes over when I hit the stage!"

Bacardi is certainly not what you'd instantly associate with the world's biggest badass dude and it turns out to be just a jovial euphemism for intoxicants of any and every kind. "My favourite mix of drugs is whatever is around, whatever is available on the night."

Further parallels with Cobain are drugs and a child, a daughter in both cases. Outsiders who made it to the world's stage to sound off their anger and angst. Eminem's debut album told us his hard-life story while the second addresses his coming to terms with the changed circumstances; but, everything might turn out rosy and where would bitterness, bile and anger come from?

"Then, I'll probably have to start rapping like Will Smith!"