Some jokes write themselves; others materialize in unexpected ways because they are forgotten.
Eminem has struggled to stay in the spotlight for half a century, and his insecurities about his place in hip-hop have resurfaced after a succession of albums with little cultural impact. In an effort to draw attention to the same wavelength as The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013), he once again produced a project that alluded to his younger self. Yet reaching back further into glory only illustrates how little the Detroit rap legend had to offer, as he claimed.
A so-called concept album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) is actually a jumble of disjointed, incoherent non-sequiturs loosely held together by infantile puns, forced provocations, and desperate attempts to Together for one last hurray to celebrate the past.
While the 19-episode montage is centered around the widely accepted MC’s alter ego, it’s worth noting that the lines between Slim Shady, Eminem and Marshall Mathers have always been blurry, no matter what Reddit might otherwise point out. This is proven by the fact that he released “The Real Slim Shady” as Eminem on The Marshall Mathers LP (2000).
Considering he was an involuntary rap pioneer long before Childish Gambino decided to use the internet to his advantage, the distinction between his real-life self and his platinum album immortality in the prologue to his latest full-length album is What is in his best interest. He downplayed sexual assault, violence against women and resentment against queer people.
Eminem, 51, is back as far as his fingers will allow him to embark on what is arguably one of the most hackneyed and unoriginal explorations in contemporary entertainment: millionaires trying to prove they can’t be “canceled,” even though they Never come close to being tied down.
At this point, he seems hell-bent on rocking the boat while doing his best to emulate Dave Chappelle and South Park rather than enact seductive art. There’s really not much else to said “concept”, it’s essentially an excuse for him to vent his frustrations with responsibility and mask it as the end of a bygone era.
From early on in the tracklist, Em began poking fun at (and complaining about) political correctness, feminists, pronouns, and Generation Z, while forcing it all onto Slim Shady’s insane antics. His obsession with the late Christopher Reeve’s disability and Caitlyn Jenner’s gender transition adds to a long list of celebrity references in bad taste throughout the record, such as the watered-down “Woody Megan The Stallion, who was shot by Tory Lanez in “Needles,” or promising to hurt his critics like Diddy did to Cassie in “Antichrist.”
Despite his outward defiance, it’s interesting to note that the self-proclaimed rap god lacks the courage to stand up for what he believes in, as the words he spits out belie the outlandish persona he strives to play. When it comes to what others think of him, he’s clearly as sensitive as the marginalized groups he disparages in the project. That’s been evident ever since Taylor, the Creator, and Earl Sweatshirt simply stated that they didn’t like the second phase of his career.
In this spirit, Eminem repeatedly feels the need to spoon-feed the meaning of his lyrics in order to clarify his sources. Interspersed among the numerous provocations are explanations designed to make the dull feel smart and the dull feel witty, as he seems to think his childish bars might fly over the heads of his listeners.
For example, in “Wicked” he refers to “good gays” as “two men making love to each other” in an attempt to inspire the age-old defense that using the word “gay” negatively doesn’t necessarily mean something negative about gay people . A few songs later, on “Fuel,” he displays his decades-long urge to downplay rape while literally articulating how smart he thinks he is: “I’m like a RAPER, got so many SA [sexual assaults]/ Wait, he didn’t just spell “rapper” and miss out on the P, did he? [P. Diddy]? Likewise, in the “Breaking News” skit, a reporter said: “Eminem is releasing an album, which is a shocking move, and he’s essentially trying to cancel himself.”
These not-so-subtle tactics establish a certain stipulation that allows him to detail why he takes issue with fat and trans people in “Road Rage” while still being a bit tongue-in-cheek. However, lines like “Please call me transphobic because I can’t handle it” and “Do I have to participate in order to coexist?” Considering the turmoil of political discourse in today’s society, this rings too sincere. To this point, his self-fragility is most evident on “Lucifer,” in which he raps: “When you hit these heights, free speech disappears/Every line I recite, they The computer police are trying to throw me into jail without bail.
In crossing the line over and over again, Eminem has made it clear that he remains mindful of the endless controversy surrounding his name, as he uses words, terms and sentiments that could lead to him being blacklisted. Although boldness is at the core of the album, he only incorporates it into his songs according to the convenience of his own brand. If he were to be honest about the banned words he’s used before in his relentless pursuit of bold humor, he would surely at least mention the first letter of every slur he’s used in his 20-plus-year musical career, not just the R and F.
It turns out that Slim Shady was trained in PR in a non-PC way.
Eminem’s 12th studio album features some of his best beats since the long slump that began with 2017’s Revival. Affection.
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) suffers from a severe lack of lyrical skill as the person responsible seems to have a twisted idea of authoritarianism. Instead of mocking those at the top of the social structure, he chose to target those at the bottom. Eminem is the musical equivalent of the comedian doing a Donald Trump impression, with a profound lack of self-awareness that allows him to take pride in picking low-hanging fruit without realizing that since he stopped growing all those years ago, That’s all he can achieve.
Unfortunately, this red fest only encouraged the likes of Tom McDonald and Ben Shapiro to keep rapping while the larger hip-hop community moved on to bigger and better things.
Release date: July 12, 2024
Record label: Shady/Aftermath/Interscope
Listen to “The Death of Slim Shady” (Coup de Grâce) below:
