For 25 years now Slim Shady has been trying to offend us, and Eminem‘s loudest alter ego has kept partying like it’s 1999 even while his audience waited for the man Marshall Mathers to grow up. The title of Em’s new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), offered hope that he might finally bury Slim Shady and move on.
That’s not quite what happens — though Eminem half-heartedly tries — and along the way Death of Slim Shady turns into a boring slog of weak puns, dated references, and desperate attempts to get ‘canceled’ by somebody, anybody, please.
Here are seven observations on Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).
The concept of The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) is told in a series of sketches in which Eminem plays two characters, Marshall Mathers and Slim Shady, both unlikable to varying degrees. Early on, Slim kidnaps Marshall, and over the first two-thirds of the album, this Shady character tries to stir up the same old controversies that Eminem has been baiting since his debut, with plenty of crude jokes about women, the disabled, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Throughout, Eminem keeps up a meta commentary on how Slim’s controversies made Marshall rich. “I gave you everything,” he has Slim Shady say on “All You Got (skit).” And “Guilty Conscience 2” dramatizes a battle between the two, ending with Mathers shooting Shady point blank — the Coup de Grâce of the title.
But by this time, the character of Slim Shady has already dominated the album. He’s trying to have his cake and eat it, too; to kill off his worst character only after Slim Shady could make him a profit. It might work, too, but it’s artistic cowardice.
Dr. Dre is credited as a producer on two songs here, “Lucifer,” and “Road Rage.” For the rest, Eminem and longtime collaborator Luis Resto lean on the same looping minor-key synth-lines that Dre established as his brand way back in the nineties. “Brand New Dance,” “Evil,” “Bad One,” all could have slotted into pretty much any other Eminem album.
Adding to the familiarity, Skyler Grey returns for another piano pop collaboration, and there are two songs about his daughter, Hailey. Lead single “Houdini” is even more cynical, sampling “Without Me” before closely copying the formula. All this sameness is numbing; call it deja poo, the sense that you’ve heard this shit before.
Eminem can still explode into a syllabic rockslide, and at 51, he’s at his best in a battle with someone he actually dislikes. Opening song “Renaissance” sets high expectations (soon disappointed), reflecting on the difficulty of making art. Em smacks down internet haters who rip on J Cole and Kendrick Lamar (though he doesn’t mention Drake). The album’s centerpiece, “Guilty Conscience 2,” pits him at war with himself, to mixed, though enlightening results. But the 51-year-old’s attempts to get a rise out of Gen Z mostly fall flat, and his many, many references to the late actor Christopher Reeve (not “Reeves,” Em, Reeve) are not exactly timely.
“Renaissance,” with its brief references to J. Cole and Kendrick (but not Drake), offers a hint at a different kind of album. It’s interesting to imagine Eminem wading into that recent Big 3 feud, or engaging with contemporary music in any other way. In fact, it’s much more interesting to imagine that than to listen to any of the real songs.
Eminem has never hidden his strategy. “Though I’m not the first king of controversy/ I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley/ To do Black music so selfishly/ And use it to get myself wealthy,” he rapped on “Without Me,” one of the biggest hits in the history of rap. But The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) pushes that strategy to cynical new extremes. “The fuck are you trying to do?” the character of Marshall Mathers asks on “Trouble.” Slim Shady replies, “Get us canceled,” almost begging. Cracks about pop star’s weight, transphobic puns, and anything else that Eminem thinks might offend someone follow, all in the vain hopes that he can get #CancelEminem trending.
Like a lot of artists, Eminem is perhaps more influential than great, and many artists who benefitted from his influence can be heard on The Death of Slim Shady. Philippine rapper Ez Mill becomes the latest young rapper to get exposure on an Em record, and you can hear Eminem in J.I.D.’s complex, nested flows, and in Big Sean’s unquestioning faith that all puns are good puns.
Slim Shady allows Marshall the final third of the album. Sonically, it’s not different (it’s never different), though it is more interesting on a personal level. But in a baffling decision, the section starts with “Head Honcho” and a verse from Ez Mil. It’s fun, technical like Em with the added layer of two languages, but the verse is straightforward stunting, making for an awkward segue into Em’s thoughts on watching his uncle get stabbed. This feels like lazy construction, burying the thematic thread from “Guilty Conscience 2” in order to promote a recent addition to the Shady Records roster.
Eminem follows “Head Honcho” with “Temporary” featuring Skyler Grey. It’s a rehash of “When I’m Gone,” another love letter to Hailie that imagines his absence. And these personal reflections give way to two more upbeat Marshall Mathers-themed songs, “Bad One” and “Tobey.” The former is a nice but unremarkable rap brawler, and the latter is a pun fest led by Big Sean. After, a skit reintroduces the character of Ken (Remember, “Ken is back/ Tell some men?”), and the album ends on “Somebody Save Me,” yet another pop ballad to his daughter, only this time with Jelly Roll instead of Skyler Grey.
Taken together, this section proves what Eminem has been hinting at throughout: That Marshall Mathers keeps turning to Slim Shady because he’s out of new ideas and can’t sell records without controversy.
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) has a runtime of over 64 minutes. It would be more fun to pick one good song and listen to it on repeat. It would be more fun to clean every bathroom in your house. It would be more fun to softly bang your head against a wall once a minute for 64 minutes. Pick pretty much anything that isn’t a crime except for listening to this album — you really can’t go wrong.
