His Name Is Eminem, And He's Going On Tour
Eminem, the Detroit-based rapper whose Slim Shady LP is riding high on the Billboard 200 albums chart, is preparing to take that momentum onto the road next month.
The rapper will launch a series of concert dates April 7 at the House of Blues in Chicago, according to a representative at Eminem's publicity firm, who declined to be named. The tour is expected to last six weeks and will mostly be held in small venues.
The April 15 show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, also will feature appearances by hip-hop group the Beatnuts and Mix Master Mike, the Beastie Boys' touring DJ, according to Chris Roslan, a spokesperson for the show's producer, Metropolitan Entertainment.
Several other dates have been confirmed for venues in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Denver, Colo.; and West Hollywood, Calif. No other dates were available, the publicity representative said.
Slim Shady LP finished this week at #4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, down a spot from the week before. In the three weeks since it's been released, the album has sold 653,019 copies.
The disc includes such profanity-laced tracks as "Brain Damage" (RealAudio excerpt) and "My Name Is" (RealAudio excerpt). A toned-down version of the latter is in heavy rotation on modern rock radio stations.
The 24-year-old rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, has been the subject of criticism for the album's lyrics, which depict acts of murder and rape and which sometimes possess a tone that could be construed as homophobic. Eminem said recently that Slim Shady, the album's narrator, is merely a character he fashioned for shock value.
"The world's gonna know when they pop in this Slim Shady [album] that
something's wrong with this guy," the performer said
Eminem Tour Dates:
April 7; Chicago, Ill., House of Blues
April 9; Pittsburgh, Pa., Metropol
April 15: New York, N.Y., Hammerstein Ballroom
April 22; Lake Buena Vista, Fla., House of Blues
May 2; Denver, Colo., Lodo Music Hall
May 8; West Hollywood, Calif., House of Blues
