Forbes has published the list of 250 greatest self-made Americans to celebrate those who embody the American Dream by reshaping business and proving that anyone can make it to the top.
It is full of actors, entrepreneurs, musicians, and athletes – people who entered the public eye because their presence became indispensable to the very fabric of American society.
Eminem
You can find Eminem at No.79, right between BET co-founder Robert Johnson and Nine West retail fashion mogul J. Wayne Weaver. Marshall is one of only a handful of people who made it to the first hundred without having a billionaire status.
His entry points at his dire financial situation and the role the Rap Olympics played in opening a door to success for him:
Raised by a single mother in housing projects, Eminem was evicted from his apartment the day before he flew to Los Angeles to compete in the Rap Olympics, an event that led to his discovery by Dr. Dre.
Dr. Dre
Meanwhile, Dre himself is ranked No. 20 on the list and is featured on the latest Forbes cover.
The text for the list entry comes directly from the extensive article and interview with Dre. Specifically, from the bit where he remembers that he was ready to work hard from his childhood to fund his needs, without feeling any embarrassment:
The rapper cut grass to buy shoes when he was a kid. “I would do what I had to do”.
50 Cent
And where we see these two, the chances are high that we will see the third one – another Interscope success story and now a media mogul in his own right: 50 Cent. Sitting at No.124, Fifty gets an entry that reads:
Curtis Jackson, whose drug-dealing mom died when he was young, started dealing himself at age 12 before making it as a rapper.
Together with Jay-Z (No.19), Kendrick Lamar (No.155) and Cardi B (No.166), they are the only representatives of the hip hop world on this list. While the genre itself is built on and thrives on the shoulders of self-made pioneers, not many have accumulated wealth and influence that rival those of more traditional paths to success. But at the dawn of our century, it was impossible to imagine a rapper in these circles of power. Until Eminem came to change the game forever.