Eminem- The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)
Label: Interscope
Producers: Eminem, Dr. Dre, Cole Bennett, Benny Blanco, Callus, Car!ton, Don Cannon, Cubeatz, Daniyel, Dem Jointz, Emile, Fredwreck, DJ Premier, Marvy Ayy, Carlton McDowell, Jon Nocito, D.A. Got That Dope, Mr. Porter, Luis Resto, and White Gold
Eminem’s twelfth studio album seems to find the iconic rapper at an intriguing crossroads from an artistic, philosophical, and ultimately personal standpoint. The resulting LP leads to a listening experience that frequently ricochets from entertaining and undeniably fascinating, to uncomfortable and flat-out offensive. Which is to say that The Death of Slim Shady holds plenty in common with the artist’s overall body of work, and that of many across the Hip-Hop spectrum. To assess it from a mere musical perspective, the record finds Eminem continually capable of crafting buzzy hooks, eye-popping lyrics, and physically rapping with as impressive dexterity as anyone who’s ever been in the genre. As far as assessing this album artistically and conceptually, it’s important to have a least a minimal working knowledge of the artist’s well-known musical characters/alters that have helped define his artistic identity for nearly thirty years: the more level-headed Marshall Mathers and the notoriously controversial Slim Shady, for which this album is seemingly and ultimately intended to eulogize. For the first half of the record, we’re left alternating between feelings of entertainment, confusion, and outright appall by the infamous Slim Shady persona, whose worst tendencies are put on full-display. Moments of racism, misogyny, and transphobia abound via repetitively trite references to things ranging from Kaitlin Jenner’s gender transition, Christopher Reeves’ paralysis and a fetish with Megan Thee Stallion’s feet, all while the character longs for pre-cancel culture, 2003-era social standards. Just as these moments will have many of us prepared to turn the record off, the narrative arc begins to unveil the final demise of Shady. This is done through a murderous dream sequence experienced by Mathers, which has been confirmed by Eminem and his loyal base as symbolic of the artist “self-cancelling” the most problematic attributes of his persona. This doesn’t make the preceding content of the specific album or the most controversial aspects of Eminem’s overall canon any less problematic, especially through a 2024 lens. But this is where the record, at least minimally, transforms into a fascinating piece of Hip-Hop cinema, and a pivotal artistic statement to consider regardless of whether we’ll enjoyably revisit the music itself. Was everything that preceded during the initial act merely an exercise in ironic satire of the most extreme qualities of cancel culture? Is it truly meant as a self-assessment of his more youthful identity, or yet another opportunity to shamelessly indulge in all of that dated raunch and immaturity? Will this truly represent a new path forward for Eminem as he evolves further into his twilight years as an artist? The superstar finds himself at a complicated crossroads, after all. He’s entered his fifties in an industry where most are faced with accepting a legacy space outside the mainstream, in lieu of disappearing altogether. His quandary is further exasperated by his genre of choice; Hip Hop is essentially as old as he is, and its ultra-rebellious nature will likely make it even more difficult to age gracefully within than even the traditional rock landscape itself. That’s not to mention the scrutiny its content boundaries, much like the comedy industry, continue to rightfully face amongst the social progress of the last twenty years. Moments like “Temporary”, the striking Skylar Grey feature written for his daughter, remind us of the emotional depth that he’s always possessed, and will be capable of should this alleged change in perspective come to pass on future material. Blasphemous as it may sound, one deep moral we can take from this story is the reminder that Eminem, as well as the rest of us, are not defined by just one thing. This is the most pivotal, and perhaps not-so-unintentional consideration for us to take from Slim Shady’s death, made all the more relevant by the endlessly polarized culture we continue to occupy.
Track Listing:
- “Renaissance” (Marshall Mathers III, Luis Resto)
- “Habits” (featuring White Gold) (Mathers, Resto, Bobby Yewah, L. Krakm)
- “Trouble” (Mathers, Farid Nassar, Dwayne Abernathy Jr.)
- “Brand New Dance” (Mathers, Resto)
- “Evil” (Mathers, Resto, Donald Cannon, Tim Gomringer, Kevin Gomringer)
- “All You Got (Skit)” (Mathers, Resto)
- “Lucifer” featuring Sly Pyper (Mathers, Andre Young, Thomas Cheval, Resto, Sly Jordan, Andres Holten, Hans Van Hemert)
- “Antichrist” featuring Bizarre (Masters, Resto, Shane Webb, Rufus Johnson)
- “Fuel” featuring JID (Mathers, Resto, Denaun Porter, Harrison LeMon Bay, Thomas Forbes, Destin Route)
- “Road Rage” featuring Dem Jointz and Sly Pyper (Mathers, Resto, Young, Abernathy, S. Jordan, Byron Thomas, Terius Gray)
- “Houdini” (Mathers, Resto, Steve Miller, Jeff Bass, Kevin Bell, Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, Malcom McLaren)
- “Breaking News (Skit)” (Mathers, Resto)
- “Guilty Conscience 2” (Mathers, Resto, Nassar, Abernathy)
- “Head Honcho” featuring EZ Mil (Mathers, Resto, Ezekiel Miller, Jamiel Aossey)
- “Temporary” featuring Skylar Grey (Mathers, Resto, Holly Hafermann)
- “Bad One” featuring White Gold (Mathers, Resto, Yewah)
- “Tobey” featuring BabyTron and Big Sean (Mathers, Resto, Sean Anderson, James Johnson IV, Cole Bennett, Daniyel Weissmann, John Nocito, Carlton McDowell, Marvin Jordan, Julian Harris, Tom Kahre)
- “Guess Who’s Back (Skit)” (Mathers)
- “Somebody Save Me” featuring Jelly Roll (Mathers, Resto, Emile Haynie, Benjamin Levin, David Ray Stevens, Jason DeFord)
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