Eminem: With new album and Houdini single, what is Slim Shady’s legacy?

But Mathers was different, “a true product of ghetto streets,” wrote Nick Hasted in his Eminem biography.

This left him uniquely placed to manage what Jeff Weiss called the “cultural debt”, external faced by white rap artists.

It helped that his flow, honed through years of rap battles, was spectacular.

Prof Anthony Kwame Harrison, a sociologist specialising in hip-hop, praised Eminem’s skills, saying “his outstanding rhyming and songcraft made him the last white rap pioneer”.

Despite this, his 1996 album, Infinite, failed to attract major labels.

His early mentors, the Bass Brothers, suggested the idea of “shock-rap”, which led to the birth of Slim Shady.

“The market didn’t take to it until he got a little foul-mouthed,” added Mark Bass.