Eminem is still going strong: In 2020, his album Music To Be Murdered By went No. 1 and spawned the hit single “Godzilla.” Now, he’s a day away from releasing his 12th album, The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce). Before fans get their hands on it, though, Em has a message for them, about how he thinks the project should be heard.
On X (formerly Twitter) today (July 11), Eminem explained, “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.”
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.
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) July 11, 2024
This isn’t Eminem’s first go in the conceptual space, as 2009’s Relapse is often considered a concept album, about drug rehabilitation and falling short.
So far, we’ve heard “Houdini” and “Tobey” from the new album. On the latter, some thought Eminem was dissing Jay-Z with the lines, “Ain’t feelin’ your top five favorite rappers / So I know they ’bout to be pissed at me / But this, to me, is a mystery / How rappers I’ve already ripped could be / Higher up on a list than me.” However, Eminem associate Royce Da 5’9″ shut that idea down, saying “of course not” to the diss speculation.