Eminem Does It All for His Daughter

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/21/2001 at 01:00 PM EDT

Eminem is a good dad, after all. He claims he's socking it away for his 5-year-old daughter's education fund. The rapper, whose lyrics include violent references to his child's mother, has told the British publication Q, "Everything that I am doing right now is for Hailie . . . the money -- it's for her college." Eminem, 31, who is about to serenade England in a string of concerts and is currently hammering out a divorce settlement with his estranged wife Kim, told Q that his daughter "knows at the end of the day Daddy is not what he says in his songs . . . When I say I'll murder my baby's mother, maybe I wanted to do it but I didn't do it. Anybody who takes it literally is a bigger idiot and 10 times sicker than I am." The musician has been properly warned by London authorities that his chainsaw-wielding act, set for this Thursday, must meet safety regulations or else risk being halted in mid-concert. But he appears to be on guard. "You know," he said, "I think my little girl was the real wake-up call for me. She made me get my ass in gear -- to make something of my life and try 10 quadrillion times harder than I had before."