Inside The Life Of Eminem's Look-Alike Half-Brother Nate Mathers

Look-alike brothers Eminem (born Marshall Mathers III) and Nathan Mathers had tongues wagging when they attended the January NFC Championship together. They still seem pretty close even though it's been more than two decades since the rapper first dropped Nathan's name in "Cleaning Out My Closet". Although Nathan did not have an easy childhood, Eminem was actively involved in his life. A family friend told Salon in 2000, "He was always there for Nathan." Eminem rapped about Nathan's heartbreaking childhood in "Headlights," saying, "Then Nate got taken away by the state at eight years old." Eminem told Rolling Stone in 2004, "When he was taken away I always said if I ever get in a position to take him, I would take him ... I tried to apply for full custody when I was 20, but I didn't have the means." 

Eminem eventually did get legal custody of his brother, and he became emotional remembering that turbulent period in their lives. As he told Rolling Stone, "I watched him when he was in the foster home. He was so confused. I mean, I cried just going to see him at the foster home." The rapper also recalled the day Nathan was placed into the system, noting that he was the only person allowed to see him. "They had come and got him out of school. He didn't know what the f*** was going on," he said. Now, two decades after that Rolling Stone interview, Nathan has made a life for himself. 

With a big brother like Eminem, Nathan "Nate Kane" Mathers was always going to release at least a song or two. His efforts on that front included the radio single "Slide On Over." Even if the song didn't top the charts, Alaina Scott, Eminem's eldest daughter, liked it so much that her uncle performed it at her wedding in 2023. She told People that it was a "really fun" moment. Mathers also opened for Bird Man, appeared at various festivals, and performed alongside DJ Salaam Wreck. However, his hip-hop career was short-lived and did not take off, with the artist releasing his last track in 2010. 

Mathers appeared on his niece Hailie Jade Scott's "Just a Little Shady" and explained how the "Zeus" rapper had influenced his music, saying, "I had learned from your dad, my brother, how to do music and how to write formulas, compound syllables, whatnot, and tested it out in the beginning ... got comfortable enough with my voice and writing skills that I started recording and getting a feel for songs, how I would deliver them and how that would formulate to where people would enjoy it."

Mathers has also tried acting, starring in the 2020 flick "Devil's Night: Dawn of the Nain Rogue." He told Hailie about the process of getting comfortable in front of the camera, saying, "It just comes like a second nature."

Slim Shady doled out advice to his brother in the 2008 hit "Arose," widely believed to have been penned after his near-fatal overdose. "And, little bro, keep making me proud / You better marry that girl 'cause she's faithfully down ... And should you ever see parenthood, I know you'll be good at it." Nathan Mathers took his big bro's advice and married Ashley Mathers in 2018. There's also a strong possibility that Ashley's the "faithfully down" woman Eminem was dishing about since she has indicated that they have been together for a long time. In 2022, she captioned an Instagram post of herself and her bae, writing, "4 years married to you. It sounds so minimal compared to the 20 years you've been my best friend." No wonder Eminem was urging his brother to put a ring on it.

Nathan and Ashley also have three children together — Audrianna, Liam, and Carter — and he clearly enjoys fatherhood. In one Instagram selfie of himself and his son Carter, he wrote, "Me and my BestFriend #LoveBeingaDad." Nathan also told Hailie Jade Scott on her podcast "Just a Little Shady" that he credits her father for showing him what being a dad was all about. In the "Growing Up With Uncle Nate" episode, Nathan stated, "He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today." Not even an Oscar and several Grammys can compare to such high praise.