Mom says grief kept Eminem from the spotlight

Rapper Eminem's estranged mother thinks her son's forthcoming album "Relapse," his first since 2004's "Encore," is long overdue.

"He needs to shake the dust off and get out there," said Debbie Nelson, in an interview with LiveDaily about her book "My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem: Setting the Record Straight. "He can do anything."

"Relapse" is rumored for release before the end of the year. Nelson chalks up the wait between albums primarily to the April 2006 death of D12 member Proof in an after-hours club shooting.

"No one can set a time on grieving," she said. "You go through a lot of emotions. You're angry. You're sad. You blame yourself. It's a very hard thing to deal with. There's a little bit of shock. You can't believe it actually happened and it's actually true. It is hard."

Nelson touches on Proof's death in her book, in which she writes that, shortly after Proof died, she tried unsuccessfully to mend fences with Eminem, with whom she currently has no relationship.

"A mother knows when her son is in trouble," she writes in the book. "One night in August my maternal instincts got the better of me. I drove to Marshall's mansion in the hopes of seeing him. As I got out of the car, I was shaking but I knew that if we could sit down, just the two of us, for a proper chat, we could resolve our issues."

She was stopped by guards even before she reached the front door. She writes that since then, she has received calls from several people close to Eminem saying that he is "extremely depressed" and drinking. Nelson fears Eminem, known to her as Marshall Mathers, will end up like Elvis Presley.

"My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem" tells the story of a headstrong mother trying to raise two children in the wake of abusive relationships. Writing the book was cathartic for Nelson, who calls Michigan home. She says that the project is not about money; it's about setting the record straight with listeners who may see her as the "monster" portrayed in the Eminem song "Cleanin' Out My Closet."

"There hasn't been hardly any money made off it," Nelson told LiveDaily. "It was just to get my side out there and to let people know a little about me and who I am. I'm not this evil monster. I'm not a drug abuser. I'm not an alcoholic. I'm not a pothead. I'm just a loving, caring mother. I'm not perfect--not by any means--but there's nothing I wouldn't do for my kids or anybody else's children."

Source:
http://www.livedaily.com/news/15250.html