Eminem Just Released Some Emotional Songs About His Three Kids, Here’s A Full Breakdown Of Their Relationship (2024)

In case you missed it, Eminem released his highly-anticipated new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), on Friday.

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The conceptual album sees Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, battle his alter ego, Slim Shady, to the death through a series of songs and rap battles.

For context, the rapper first debuted Slim during the very early days of his career back in the ‘90s, and the persona is known for his provocative and offensive lyrics.

Throughout the album, Marshall repeatedly acknowledges the childish way that Slim has targeted marginalized communities over the years, and even calls him out for deliberately provoking outrage for the attention.

For example, in “Guilty Conscience 2” he raps: “Just immature and literally you’re still mentally 13 and still thirsty for some controversy.”

Meanwhile, Slim continuously mocks Marshall for “gaining a conscience” and accuses him of being scared of getting “canceled.”

But toward the end of the album, things take a turn, with Eminem focusing on his personal life in two emotional tracks dedicated to his children.

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It is widely known that Eminem shares a daughter, Hailie Jade, with his ex-wife, Kim Scott, and the now-28-year-old has been regularly name-dropped in the star’s songs since he found fame.

In fact, Hailie even featured on some of her dad’s raps when she was a toddler, including the highly controversial 1999 song "'97 Bonnie & Clyde,” where Eminem fantasizes about murdering her mom.

However, many people are unaware that Eminem is also the adoptive father to two more children: Hailie’s half-sibling, Stevie, now 22, and cousin, Alaina, now 31, whose birth mom is Kim’s twin sister Dawn, who sadly died in 2016.

Eminem was true to his word, and after he found mainstream success as a rapper in 1999 at age 27, he became Nate’s guardian. The star has always been open about the struggles and neglect that he endured throughout his own childhood, and said that he was determined to give the children in his life a better upbringing.

The first time the rapper mentioned Alaina in his music is in his 2004 song “Mockingbird,” where he says: “Lainey, uncle's crazy, ain't he? / Yeah, but he loves you, girl, and you better know it.”

Meanwhile, Stevie is Kim’s child withEric Hartter, who died in 2019. Eminem legally adopted Stevie in 2005, when they were 3 years old.

The star’s most notable reference to Stevie is in his 2010 song “Going Through Changes,” where he refers to them by their now-deadname. Stevie came out as genderfluid in 2021, when they also announced that they had changed their name.

And Eminem affirms Stevie’s new identity on his latest album, with all three of his children, as well as Nate, being name-checked in “Temporary” and “Somebody Save Me.”

“Somebody Save Me” opens with an audio recording of young Alaina calling Eminem “daddy” as she begs him to come and eat with the rest of the family. It is believed that this song is about Eminem’s 2007 overdose, which he almost died from after becoming addicted to prescription medication.

“I don't even deserve the father title,” Eminem begins. “Hailie, I'm so sorry / I know I wasn't there for your first guitar recital / Didn't walk you down the aisle / Missed the birth of your first child / Your first podcast, lookin' down, sweetie / I’m so proud of how you turned out / Sorry that I chose drugs and put 'em above you.”

Hailie, who launched a podcast in 2022, actually did get married earlier this year, and Eminem was present to walk her down the aisle — with photos of them enjoying a father-daughter dance at the ceremony surfacing online at the time.

Elsewhere in the song, Eminem suggests that Alaina, who would have been around 14 years old at the time, was the one who heard him fall to the ground following the overdose.

“Alaina, sorry that you had to hear me fall in the bathroom,” he raps. “Sorry that I missed your gradu-, wait, Nate, I should just congratulate you / On bein' a dad to Carter and Liam, look at you / Little bro, sorry I left you / Sorry that I'll never get to / Hold or hug my little nephews.”

Alaina — who got married last year — ended up being the family’s first-generation college graduate, graduating from Michigan’s Oakland in 2017. Eminem was incredibly involved throughout her college education, with Alaina previously sharing a photo of him wearing a T-shirt representing her Alpha Delta Pi sorority.

The T-shirt read: "The best kind of father raises an [Alpha Delta Pi] daughter,” with Alaina adding in the caption at the time: “it's true & i got the best one out there."

Hailie also graduated from college with honors, and Eminem proudly references his daughters’ achievements in his song “Habits.”

Meanwhile, Eminem adds in “Somebody Save Me": “Stevie, I'm sorry, I missed you / Grow up and I didn't get to / Be the dad I wanted to be to you / Things I wanted to see you do / This is my song from me to you / Sorry I gave up, but I'm just so defeated.”

Speaking on Mike Tyson’s Hotboxin’ podcast in 2020, Eminem said that his children are his proudest achievement, sharing: “When I think about my accomplishments that’s probably the thing I’m the most proud of is that — being able to raise kids."