Happy Birthday Marshall Bruce Mathers III

Happy 39th Birthday Eminem. Even though he was born in St. Joseph, Mo back in 1972, the people of Michigan will most likely always consider him a native son. He's spent the bulk of his professional career championing the city of Detroit and this year alone, he along with the advertising big wigs at Chrysler helped keep a positive image of the city going on television screens around the world with the now imfamous Imported From Detroit campaign.

If anything, time and age has helped mellow out the former shock rapper and morphed him into a business man/mogul rather than a guy bent on continuously cursing out his exes and mom during his songs. He's grown a lot, been through a lot, and somehow doesn't look like he's on the verge of 40 in the slightest. Maybe it's all that Lipton Brisk Iced Tea that he's drinking. It's been roughly decade since Eminem changed rap music, its audiences, and the culture around it with his meteoric rise to the top of the charts with The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show, all of which went platinum multiple times over.

If he retired today, he'd still easily end up in the Rock'Roll Hall of Fame. However he's still got a ton of juice left and could end up as one of the most innovative and provocative artists of the modern era. That much is up to him. As for now, let's just wish the man a happy birthday and hope that he continues to make people in Michigan proud.

Here's one of my favorite Eminem moments of all time as he freestyles with his former sidekick, the late great DeShaun "Proof" Holton.