Who is Nate to Eminem? Rapper mentions his half-brother in a touching collab with Jelly Roll on his new album 

Rap icon Eminem dropped his 12th studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace), on July 12. The album has 19 singles, with the final one being Somebody Save Me, featuring Tennessee-based singer, songwriter, and rapper Jelly Roll.

In the final track, Eminem mentions his younger half-brother Nathan “Nate” Mathers in its second verse, rapping:

"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."

Somebody Save Me is a tribute to many of Eminem’s family members, including his brother Nate and his children Alaina, Hailie, and Stevie, all of whom are mentioned by name.

Produced by Emile Haynie, Benny Blanco, Luis Resto, and David Ray, the song reflects on the rapper's near-fatal overdose in 2007 due to his addiction to prescription medications. Through it, Eminem apologizes to his loved ones for not being there for them and for making them go through a tough time.

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All you need to know about Eminem’s younger half-brother Nate

Nathan “Nate” Mathers is a rapper, actor, DJ, and music producer who is Eminem’s lookalike half-brother, 13 years his junior. They share the same mother, Debbie Mathers, but have different fathers. While Eminem was born to Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., Nate was fathered by his mother’s boyfriend, Fred Samra.

When Nate was 8 years old, he was placed in foster care due to the family’s financial struggles. However, after a lot of effort, Eminem got full custody of his younger half-brother and became his legal guardian when the latter was 16. Since then, he has been a father figure to him.

In a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, the Houdini rapper talked about visiting Nate in foster homes.

"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 day he was taken away, I was the only one allowed to see him. They had come and got him out of school. He didn’t know what the f*ck was going on. The same thing that had happened in my life was happening in his," the rapper said.

He explained that this was when he decided to “get in position” and end the distance. Eminem, who first mentioned his brother in his 2002 song Cleanin’ Out My Closet, also recalled the foster experience in his 2014 hit song Headlights.

Now, Nathan Mathers releases music under the pseudonym Nate Kane, with tracks such as the 2009 single Slide On Over. Besides his music career, he is also an actor, appearing in projects like the crime thriller Devil’s Night: Dawn of the Nain Rouge (2020).

Additionally, he has been featured in Eminem’s music videos, such as The Way I Am, Without Me, and Sing for the Moment, and in Swifty McVay’s music video for Scariest Thing. He has collaborated with artists such as Birdman and DJ Salaam Wreck.

Nathan considers Em a positive influence on his life and career. During his February 2023 appearance on his niece Hailie’s podcast Just a Little Shady, he described the Renaissance rapper as his “best role model.”

"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… I started looking around for beats… and 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," he shared.

In the same podcast, Hailie introduced him as a “bruncle,” noting that Nate was more like a brother to her than an uncle, to which he quipped he was more of a “funcle.”

Nate further shared that Eminem was such a big influence in his life that during his younger days, all he wanted was to emulate the rapper’s style, from attire and hairstyle to even the way he walked.

Nathan Mathers tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend, Ashley Mae Withey, in May 2018. The couple has three kids: daughter Audrianna and sons Liam and Carter, who were also mentioned in Em’s latest single, Somebody Save Me.

Nate and Slim Shady are often seen together in public and attended the NFC Championship together earlier this year.