Promotion for the rapper’s upcoming album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)” is officially in full swing.
Eminem’s alter ego will apparently get the ax on wax this summer.
The decorated rapper teased his upcoming project “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)” with a viral video last month and, according to fake obituaries printed Monday in the Detroit Free Press, will chronicle the violent end to his bleach-blonde rap persona on it.
“His complex and tortured existence has come to a close, and the legacy he leaves behind is no closer to resolution than the manner in which this character departed this world,” read the obituary. “May he truly find the peace in an afterlife that he could not find on Earth.”
The fake death notice has taken social media platforms like X, formerly Twitter, and forums like the r/Eminem subreddit by storm. Loyal fans of the Detroit rapper, who also spotted the ad in Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, are already looking for clues.
“We’re witnessing Eminem’s ‘The Death of Slim Shady’ album in real time before it even drops… This album rollout is hella creative,” wrote one user on X, with another commenting: “Something tells me this is about to be Eminem’s best album in years and I am so ready.”
The promotional stunt certainly teases a return to horrorcore for Eminem, whose 2009 effort “Relapse” explored the demented mind of a drug-addled serial killer, though the original announcement in April suggested more of a true-crime framework this time.
The obituary declares “Slim Shady Made Lasting Impressions” in its headline and notes fans “will never forget” the spitfire rapper, whose “playfully deranged” 1999 single “My Name Is” introduced fans to his unfiltered persona.
“That audience was soon exposed to the extreme darkness of the muse/rapper, as he led millions of music fans down a road that glorified a demonstrably nihilistic worldview,” it added, noting that “the very things” that spurred his rise led to a “sudden and horrific end.”
Those aforementioned things might well refer to the rampant substance, physical and emotional abuse Eminem extolled on his debut album “The Slim Shady LP,” which would make the rapper — whose real name is Marshall Mathers — into a widely-protested poster boy.
However, he apparently turned a new leaf a long time ago.
While he’s been sober for 16 years, chronicled that journey in an inspiring, diamond-selling anthem in 2010, and recently watched his daughter get married, it appears Eminem isn’t quite ready to drop the Shady persona for good — at least not without one final hurrah.
The album, which doesn’t have an official release date, is set to drop this summer.
