The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) by Eminem: Review
Eminem returns to form (for perhaps the last time in his career) as he grapples with the morality of being controversial to become popular
Quick note—two major changes from my early reviews that you’ll probably notice:
I’ll be handing out high scores a lot more sparingly (I handed out 10/10s like candy on my first two reviews, but what I saw as a 10 song before will now be counted as around a 9)
I’ll be taking a more broad approach to the album instead of breaking it down song by song—this will allow me to release reviews a lot more quickly
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Intro
Two decades ago, Eminem was Slim Shady. He introduced himself as this character in The Slim Shady LP. He announced himself as the real—and only—Slim Shady in The Marshall Mathers LP. On The Eminem Show, he declared: “Shady’s back.” But in 2024, after 20+ years (and two albums) of emotional introspection, Em is ready to kill the Slim Shady persona for good.
Em does so through a self-proclaimed “concept album” that’s plausible in its ideals but unstable in its execution. There are several powerful gems of songs mixed into a sea of out-of-touch lines and filler tracks that are necessary but unsatisfying inclusions in an album that had far stronger potential than its ultimate result. The overarching narrative keeps the project compelling, but the lyrical contents of each song are its biggest shortcomings.
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Recap and Thoughts
Though it’s not nearly as obvious as on his previous project, the pop-rap influence is still undeniable, best seen through the traditional verse/chorus format present in the majority of the album’s songs. This repeats what bothered me about his last LP, Music to be Murdered By, where the pop-style choruses felt weak and repetitive, overshadowing strong Em verses in what would otherwise be solid songs.
This is most obvious on the second track “Habits,” which has a seamless transition from the album’s opener on top of an amazing second half. Em’s flow especially shines on this song, but the White Gold-sung chorus is unmoving, reducing the track’s much deeper lyrical content into an elementary form. This pattern is repeated on “Head Honcho,” “Road Rage,” and especially the album’s popular lead single “Houdini” (where the chorus just rhymes “bruh” with itself several times).
Abra-abracadabra
(And for my last trick) I'm 'bout to reach in my bag, bruh
Abra-abracadabra
(And for my last trick, poof) Just like that and I'm back, bruh
Another flaw of this record is its inconsistent storyline. Yes, I know I just did a piece defending Eminem’s usage of questionable lyricism to further said story, but that was taking the album’s narrative most optimistically. A side effect of this album’s longer length is that its second half (following “Guilty Conscience 2”) doesn’t have an obvious role in its artistry. Even after Slim Shady was already supposedly killed, we still see glimpses of his egotistical character on “Head Honcho” and “Tobey”—two songs that immediately precede very deep the confessional tracks “Temporary” and “Somebody Save Me”—ruining the payoff for Em’s revelations in the first half.
But ignoring the album’s underdeveloped latter songs, the storytelling is some of Em’s strongest. We haven’t seen an Eminem album with a narrative as cohesive as this one since the horror-influenced Relapse back in 2009. He now returns with a tracklist that has a clear, albeit prolonged setup for its payoff in “Guilty Conscience 2”. Speaking of that song, it’s easily the best on the album, showing the point when Eminem finally realizes the necessity of abandoning the Shady character. But before he does so (by giving Shady the titular “Coup De Grâce”), he’s also forced to reckon with the fact that Shady is the character he created himself and backpacked off of to get successful.
I gave you power to use me as an excuse to be evil (I know)
You created me to say everything you didn't have the balls to say (Yep)
What you were thinking but in a more diabolic way
You fed me pills and a bottle of alcohol a day (Okay)
Made me too strong for you and lost control of me (You're right)
I took over you totally
I would honestly be a lot happier with this album if it was rearranged, some of the filler was shaved off, and this “Guilty Conscience” track was placed closer to the end. In my eyes, “Houdini” should have been the opener where Slim Shady returns, then we’d see tracks like “Brand New Dance” and “Tobey,” where Em is still his old, controversial, battle-rapping self, then close out with “Guilty Conscience 2” and emotional songs like “Temporary.” This record’s first ten songs are great at establishing stakes and conflict, but the rest of the album diminishes its appeal.
But honestly, unlike most takes I’ve seen on this LP, my gripes stop there. I think this record has been immensely undervalued by every review and opinion I’ve read on it. It’s a beautiful callback to Em’s earlier styles and records, has some of the best flows and passion I’ve heard from any artist this year, and ties it all together with enough humor to keep me entertained through its 15-track run.
The highest point of this whole album is that it contains some of the funniest, most out-of-pocket lines of recent years, all over fittingly goofy production.
“Brand New Dance” is a very Encore-esque beat (and Em later teases that this track may have originally been on Encore but was later removed. On top of that, the entire track is a mockery of the late Christopher Reeve—who Eminem has quite literally zero reason to be beefing with. Its offensive content is cleverly played for laughs and perfectly shows the return of the Slim Shady alter-ego.
The next unserious song comes in the form of “Antichrist,” where Em (in Slim Shady form, obviously) says so much random, funny stuff that you have to listen to firsthand:
Rather see me do like Kim Kardashian, they say (Yeah)
Yeah, and find a way to get rid of all of this rage, ayy (a reference to Ray J)
'Cause I can spit a bar like it's a
Cross between Nas and GZA, Biggie Smalls, and RZA
So hard, Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj'll scissor (enunciated like SZA)
Then you have an unexpected beat switch, and Bizarre spits this jumpscare of a bar:
Where Bruce Jenner at? I wanna fuck that ho (Where she is?)
Where is Megan Thee Stallion at? I wanna suck that toe (Mwah)
But the best line of the album comes on “Fuel” with JID. For the rest of this song, Em and JID are going as hard as they usually do, with flows that bounce beautifully off each other and maintain an incredible sound across the many verses:
The bar I’d like to highlight, though, comes following several lines of clever build-up:
I'm like an R-A-P-E-R (Yeah)
Got so many S-As (S-As), S-As (Huh)
Wait, he didn't just spell the word "rapper"
And leave out a P, did he? (enunciated like P. Diddy)
And it immediately precedes more shots at the Puff Daddy:
R.I.P., rest in peace, Biggie
And Pac, both of y'all should be living (Yep)
But I ain't tryna beef with him (Nope)
'Cause he might put a hit on me like, "Keefe D, get him"
This record also has value in that it mirrors the music style of many of Em’s older albums: it’s his Eras Tour, if you will. “Houdini” interpolates “Without Me.” “Brand New Dance,” as mentioned earlier, is very Encore. “Somebody Save Me” is reminiscent of Recovery, and the battle-rap style of “Tobey” makes the song seem like it belongs on Kamikaze. Both “Temporary” and “Somebody Save Me” express the same message as Recovery very effectively, in fact, in the only highlights of the album’s second half.
“Temporary” fulfills his Skylar Grey feature quota, and it’s incredibly soulful, just like Skylar Grey’s appearances on other Em albums.
Yeah, and if there's days where you wanna just lock yourself in your room and cry
Just think about how when you were little, how you and I
Back and forth to the studio, we used to drive
You strapped in the backseat 'cause you were my
Little sidekick, yeah, sweetie, I know this hurts
Bean, I'm wishing your pain away
Remember this, Hailie Jade
There's gonna be rainy days
I promise you'll get through 'em and make it regardless
Fuck it, Jade, I'll be honest
I knew that you was gonna take this the hardest
“Somebody Save Me” is Eminem’s “SORRY NOT SORRY,” where he apologizes to everyone he thinks he’s wronged in the past as a result of his substance abuse and absenteeism, namely his children and half-brother.
Sorry that I chose drugs and put 'em above you
Sorry that I didn't love you enough to
Give 'em up, how the fuck do
I not love you more than a pill?
Lookin' up to the ceilin' from this floor, wonder will
I already covered this next part extensively in my previous post (which you should read if you want to know why it’s so brilliant), but the whole message of the album is a combination of fan-service and fan-mockery. The unhinged things Slim Shady says about modern politics through the album’s first act is meant to explain to fans asking for “the old Eminem back” why that’s just not plausible. That’s especially obvious on “Trouble,” when Slim just says so many indefensible things (the text outside of parentheses is Slim Shady and the text in parentheses is Eminem):
Fuck blind people (What?), and deaf people suck (Stop, yeah)
So do cripples (No), dumb quadriplegic fucks
With Christopher Reeve's luck (Woah, woah-woah-woah-woah)
Shady, Jesus, what the fuck?
Oh, here comes Marshall to try to clean this up (Shut up)
What's the matter, Marshall? Your penis tucked?
Aw, the big bad wapper just get his feewings hurt?
Let me go, you bitch, huh, or what, genius, huh?
You gonna cancel me, yeah? Gen-Z me, bruh?
The final great element of this album is Eminem channeling the aggressive, hyper-competitive persona from his last two releases. Two of my favorite tracks on the album—“Fuel” and “Tobey”—are filled with some sort of rage, which leads to Em dropping some of the hardest bars in his recent releases.
But this, to me, is a mystery
How rappers I've already ripped could be (What?)
Higher up on a list than me (Ha)
Yet, here I sit on your list though at five (Hm), which though is fine
But just know inside, to me, that shit's hilarious, so when I (Haha)
Get dissed though and by a pioneer
Who was one of the reasons why I am here
They tell me I should just let that shit go and slide (Why?)
"Melle Mel shouldn't get no reply" (Why?)
"That man is a legend," bitch, so am I (Haha, yeah)
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Summary
The Death of Slim Shady is a turning point in Em’s career. It represents the decision to let go of his old, controversial persona for good in a generation that no longer tolerates insensitivity. The concept remains incredibly strong, but the many kinks in its execution, unfortunately, knock down the quality of the album.
But despite its many flaws, this project is still a welcome trip through Eminem’s many styles and earlier works. It’s a great way to show the gradual evolution of his music and messaging, culminating in the death of his early self for the sake of his career. This is an album that somehow manages to please and poke fun at his biggest fans, and he’s able to effectively amalgamate the many diverse approaches from his past into one coherent message that is as entertaining as it is poetic.
OVERALL SCORE: 6.9/10
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Song-by-Song Breakdown
Renaissance: 8/10
Habits: 6/10
Brand New Dance: 8/10
Evil: 5/10
Lucifer: 7/10
Antichrist: 7/10
Fuel: 9/10
Road Rage: 3/10
Houdini: 6/10
Guilty Conscience 2: 9/10
Head Honcho: 4/10
Temporary: 7/10
Bad One: 5/10
Tobey: 7/10
Somebody Save Me: 8/10
Best:
Guilty Conscience 2
Fuel
Somebody Save Me
Worst: Road Rage
Best Lyricism: Guilty Conscience 2
Best Production: Brand New Dance
Best Performance: Fuel
Best Feature: JID, Fuel
Most Overrated: Houdini
Most Underrated: Antichrist