Eminem’s twelfth studio album, The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), has arrived. However, anyone preparing to clutch their pearls at his latest round of raunchy, offensive humor might end up surprised. Rather than offending, Em opens the album defending fellow lyrical stalwarts like Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and his protege Joyner Lucas.
On album intro “Renaissance,” Eminem opts for more of a tongue-in-cheek jab at haters of his lyrical brothers-in-rhyme — a move some might call a bit of a departure from his usual provocation.
Now just travel inside the mind of a hater
‘Cause I don’t see no fans, all I see’s a bunch of complainers
“Kendrick’s album was cool but it didn’t have any bangers”
“Wayne’s album or Ye’s, couldn’t tell you which one was lamer”
“Joyner’s album was corny, Shady’s new shit is way worse”
“Everything is either too tame or there’s too much anger”
“I didn’t like the beef so I hated Might Delete Later”
You nerdy pricks would find somethin’ wrong with 36 Chambers
“Eminem dissed Kendrick Lamar on his new album!”
Were yall even listening bro pic.twitter.com/9Pv6XQ5AVZ
— Wost
(@mosthiphop) July 12, 2024
Eminem first began teasing The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) on April Fools’ Day (although some fans would argue that he started much before that, in February), with a phony post about dropping a new album on streaming that turned out to just be his first album, Infinite. After putting an obituary for his trollish alter ego in a real newspaper, he dropped the first single, “Houdini,” at the end of May.
Once the ball was rolling, Em was all-in on promoting the new album, going as far as offing Slim in the video for “Tobey,” the second single featuring Big Sean and BabyTron, setting up a limited-run merch collection with White Castle, zipping Shady into a body bag on the album’s cover art, and even referencing the now inescapable “Hawk Tuah” girl meme in a promotional video in which he spits on Slim Shady’s grave.
The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) is out now via Shady Records/Aftermath/Interscope. You can find more info here.