Eminem’s New Album: The Showdown With Slim Shady

Many rap-specialized websites and magazines have published the tracklist of “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)”, the new highly anticipated album by Eminem, out on July 12. Apple Music, in fact, has reportedly revealed the complete tracklist of the project which, if confirmed, would feature many high-profile guests including 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, J. Cole, JID, Big Sean, BabyTron, Billie Eilish, Skylar Grey, Royce da 5’9”, Black Thought and Ez Mil. We’ll see if it will be official or not, one thing is certain: the wait for this new chapter, four years after the previous “Music to Be Murdered By”it’s very high.

The horror teaser

Fans have several questions: Is Slim Shady, Eminem’s historic alter-ego, really dead? Or will the voice of Detroit kill him as Rap Boy? Or is Slim back in a new guise and should be fought for? Eminem is doing things in a big way, as hasn’t happened in a long time and in a structured way: raises the hype by scattering clues, promises sharp rhymes and plays with an imagery that makes nostalgic people jump on their seats, and not only them. Just look at the album’s launch teaser, a horror clip in which a very bad guy is born Slim Shady with a forked tongue. A scene that recalls a passage from the single “Houdini”: “little baby devil with the forked tongue and it’s stickin’ out”.

The two launch singles

“Tobey”, in collaboration with Big Sean and BabyTronwas the second single from the new project: the cover of the song has as an adapted image a famous meme that has to do with Spider-Man. The title pays homage to the American actor Tobey Maguire, who played Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man film trilogy and later in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His character serves as a mentor to two generations of superheroes. But of course the song is highly ironic: according to the rapper, in fact, the superhero does not become a champion of justice because of the bite of a spider, but rather because of that of a goat. “Houdini” was instead the lead single from Eminem’s twelfth studio album“The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)”. The song is named after Harry Houdini, a famous magician known for his deadly stunts such as the Chinese Water Torture Cell, which Eminem attempted to replicate in the intro to the video for his 1999 song, “Role Model”. Featuring the return of longtime collaborator Jeff Bass of the Bass Brothers and production from Luis Resto, Eminem revisits his catchy, morbid sound from the early 2000s on this track.. This song, in fact, sees the rapper recall his old slogans such as the iconic “Guess who’s back?” from the 2002 song “Without Me”.

A return to the origins

The single samples the Steve Miller Band’s 1982 chart-topping hit “Abracadabra” and is introduced by a skit by manager Paul Rosenberg, a technique he has used in the past, in which he tells him: “I listened to the album, good luck, you’re alone”. In the accompanying music video, Eminem plays superhero Rap Boy who battles an evil Slim Shady, his alter ego, with cameos from Dr. Dre and 50 Cent with several other nods to “Without Me.”specifically the historic clip. But it is the text, evidently, that brings out a corrosive, ironic, battle-hardened Eminem: he makes fun of people in an irreverent and incorrect way Megan Thee Stallionrapper who accused Tory Lanez of shooting his feet while shouting “Dance, bitch, dance,” Eminem also talks about his past and drug use, mocks his cat’s gender identityplaying with current events, “my transgender cat is Siamese, identifies as black, but acts like a Chinese cat”, and says she still feels targeted by censorship.

Making your career disappear

On October 24, 1926, Houdini tragically died in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 52. Interestingly, Detroit is also Eminem’s hometown and that he will turn 52 in October 2024. “For my last trick, I will make my career disappear,” wrote the artist. And he did it at the end of a journey of the first story of this new effort. After having announced the release of the new album in the summer with some obituaries that appeared in the newspapers where the death of the alter ego Slim Shady was mournedeven if this first single has clear references to that character, Eminem posted on Instagram a short FaceTime call with the illusionist Blaine accompanied by the caption: “Please don’t try this at home. Or anywhere else.”. “I was wondering: how far can we take this magic? Can we come up with some gimmicks?” the rapper asks the magician. Blaine replies, “Do you mean something like that?” while drinking and gulping down a glass. “My latest trick, making my career disappear,” Eminem closes his speech.