Eminem - The Death of Slim Shady(Coup De Grace)

Well, well, well… guess who’s back? Eminem has treated his fans with a new album as of last Friday. While continuing his growth as an artist and experimental lyricist, this album had the promise to his older fans of bringing back his Slim Shady alter ego – and killing him off. What we’ve been presented here is a concept album that plays out like one hour-long story of him fighting with his controversial demon.

Eminem first released the single “Houdini” back in May, which displayed a playful yet controversial tone that many fans had been demanding he return to. His next single, “Tobey”, which featured Detroit rappers Big Sean and Babytron, was released only a few weeks ago and showed that the Detroit scene continues to thrive in the hip hop world. Eminem’s witty lyrics, catchy patterns, and “just don’t give a fuck” attitude really seemed to show promise for his upcoming album – and he has fulfilled that promise upon delivery.

“The Death of Slim Shady” sounds like how his 4th album “Encore” was supposed to sound back in the mid 00’s. ((Stan rant for context – while writing the follow up to his award-winning “The Eminem Show” album, three of the hardest and angriest songs had been leaked by his brother, so in response Eminem went into the studio and trolled his fans by making the majority of the album as it is known today, which includes fan-disowned tracks such as “Big Weenie” and “Ass Like That”, instead.)) So – with that said, this album has him returning to his true form. He’s mean, he’s funny, he’s serious, and he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. In fact, the whole premise of the album is that Slim Shady is so controversial and perverse, that he is trying to get Eminem cancelled. So in response, Eminem must defeat him once and for all.

The album is amazing – to be quite frank. It has everything you could want from the artist, including some of his older sounding beats and vocal tones, and a beautiful mix of collaborations with pop singers and rappers alike. From the angry songs such as “Antichrist”, “Guilty Conscience 2”, & “Evil” to his sentimental and beautiful songs like “Temporary” – which is another goodbye letter to his daughter Hailie –, and his playful songs like “Houdini” and “Head Honcho”, the album has quite a range for what sounds simplistic on the surface.

As a lifelong Eminem fan, there isn’t a single track on here I’m not happy with. It’s the album I was literally praying for. My personal favorite tracks are probably “Guilty Conscience 2”, “Habits”, “Fuel”, and “Lucifer”, but each time I listen something else continues to blow my mind, so that list is constantly changing.

If you’re a fan of Eminem, I truly think you’ll be stoked with this offering from the platinum-selling emcee.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra