Outside of music, Em’s true fans know that fatherhood is his biggest priority. As Eminem is about to turn 30, he says he is trying his best to raise his daughter. “I really believe I’m doing the right thing and I’m doing it well,” he told MTV. “I’m a dad first. I’m a dad before I’m on the mic. I’m a dad before I’m Eminem. Of course I’m not the perfect parent. Maybe there are things I’m doing.” do it wrong and I’ll find out in 10, 15 years, but right now I’m doing the best job I can and that’s all I can do.”

Twice divorced from Kimberly Scott, Eminem has one biological child, Hailie Jade. But he also had three more children — Alaina Marie, a niece from his ex-wife’s side of the family; Whitney Laine, his ex-wife’s child from another relationship; and younger half-brother Nathan.

Eminem has discussed the kids in numerous songs. Hailie, in particular, has been referenced in nearly a dozen tracks, including the eponymous “Hailie’s Song” and “My Dad’s Gone Crazy.” At the age of 6, she actually co-wrote and performed the chorus for the latter.

Em credits his kids with helping him overcome his bout with drugs and even a suicide attempt. On “You’re Never Over,” a letter to his late best friend Proof, Em thanks the D12 member for discouraging him from taking his own life. Em raps, “You gave me a reason to fight, I was on my way to see you. You told me, ‘Nah, Doodi you’re not layin’ on that table.’ I knew I was gonna make it. Soon as you said, ‘Think of Hailie.’ I knew there wasn’t no way that I was gonna ever leave them babies.”

Arguably, the most surprising revelation about Eminem’s parenting style was revealed during a 2010 interview on . Despite his excessive use of explicit language in his music, he said his home is a curse-free zone. “I’m a parent. I have daughters,” he told Anderson Cooper. “How would I really sound as a person walking around my house, ‘B-tch pick this up’? Profanity around my house? No. I’m not saying that there’s not glimpses of me in the music. I’m not saying there’s not truth in what I say, but this is music. This is my art. This is what I do.”