Eminem Reveals 'Death of Slim Shady' Is a Concept Album: 'If You Listen to Songs Out of Order They Might Not Make Sense'
Em urged fans to listen to his new project in the order of the tracklisting.
You may want to forgo the shuffle function when playing Eminem’s new project.
On Thursday afternoon, the Grammy-winning rapper took to social media to shed more light on his 12th studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). Em revealed that the record is a conceptual effort that tells a larger story through strategic track placement. Skipping or playing the songs out of order will likely result in confusion and prevent fans from fully grasping Em’s vision.
“Public service announcement: the ‘death of slim shady’ is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense. Enjoy,” the 51-year-old wrote on X.
While there’s some debate on what qualifies as a concept album, there are several generally agreed-upon requirements: a central theme, high- or low-form narrative structures, and a degree of character study. These include RZA’s debut album Bobby Digital in Stereo (1998), Prince Paul’s rock opera A Prince Among Thieves (1999), Sticky Fingaz’s Black Trash: The Autobiography of Kirk Jones (2001), Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool (2007), and Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012).
Although Eminem has had thematically cohesive projects, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) may count as the first all-out concept album in his discography. The record spans 19 tracks, including the previously released cuts “Houdini” and “Tobey,” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron. Other titles include opener “Renaissance,” “Brand New Dance,” “Lucifer,” “Guilty Conscience 2,” and the closer, “Somebody Save Me.”
As its title suggests, the album will center around the demise of Slim Shady, Eminem’s controversial alter-ego who was introduced in 1997. The concept was teased in an April promo video that parodied retro crime series like Unsolved Mysteries.
“Through his complex and oft-criticized, tongue-twisting rhymes, the anti-hero known as Slim Shady has had no shortage of enemies,” the fictional TV host tells viewers. “The same rude lyrics and controversial antics may have ultimately led to his demise. Join me as we recreate the events that led to the murder of Slim Shady.”
Since his 1997 Slim Shady EP, Eminem used the titular antihero to rap about taboo and explicit topics, including rape, murder, and drugs. He explained Shady’s origins in an annotation on the song “Just Don’t Give a Fuck,” saying he got the idea from D12 member Proof.
“Coming out with an alias was part of Proof’s whole idea,” Em wrote on Genius. “He said, ‘Let’s be in a group called D12, and there will be six of us, and we’ll each have an alias. We’ll each be two different people.’ When I started rapping as Shady, as that character, it was a way for me to vent all my frustrations and just blame it on him. If anybody got mad about it, it was him that said it, you know what I’m saying? It was a way for me to be myself and say what I felt. I never wanted to go back to just rapping regular again.”
