By: Hailie Arroyo
Eminem's new album, "The Death of Slim Shady," dives deep into his evolution, blending intense introspection with his iconic bravado. This groundbreaking release reinvents his legacy and challenges the norm.
Eminem, or Marshall Bruce Mathers III, is one of the most controversial and best-selling artists of the early 21st century. He rose to fame in 1999 with his first studio album, "The Slim Shady LP," which features songs like "My Name Is," "I'm Shady," and "Guilty Conscience." His discography includes 12 studio albums, two compilation albums and one extended play. Eminem has received numerous awards, including 15 Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, 17 Billboard Music Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and an MTV Europe Music Global Icon Award.
“The Death of Slim Shady” includes three singles: "Houdini," "Tobey (feat. Big Sean & BabyTron)" and "Somebody Save Me (feat. Jelly Roll)." Eminem's "The Death of Slim Shady" is actually a reference to a 2005 mixtape by DJ Whoo Kid, featuring Eminem's music, rather than an official studio album. The mixtape includes a collection of unreleased tracks, freestyles and rare material. "The Death of Slim Shady" serves as a reflection of Eminem's struggles with his public persona, fame and personal issues, all while maintaining his signature style of provocative content.
In this album, Marshall goes to spit on the grave of Shady, but Shady rises again to try and get him cancelled and end his career. There’s an interpersonal battle between Marshall and Shady. Shady then kidnaps Marshall, puts him in his basement and makes him watch the news to see that he is actually getting cancelled. Marshall ends up killing Shady. He starts to show his maturity by talking about how he’s grown not only from this persona but to this part of his life where he is much happier and healthier. He wants to leave a message for his kids so when he passes they’ll have some good memories.
“Houdini” did the best with the general audience and still holds the number 10 spot on the Billboard 100 chart. In "Houdini," Eminem delves into themes of personal struggle and confrontation. The title "Houdini" refers to the famous magician Harry Houdini, symbolizing Eminem's desire to escape from the pressures and challenges he faces. The track features Eminem's signature rapid-fire delivery and complex rhyme schemes. The production is characterized by its gritty and aggressive tone, consistent with the overall vibe of "The Death of Slim Shady" mixtape. The "Houdini" music video currently has over 150,000,000 views on YouTube. Houdini was definitely the song that had everyone wondering if Slim Shady was really dead, if he will ever return and if we will finally find out the full story of the iconic Slim Shady. This song had me at the edge of my seat, waiting to hear more from Eminem as he hasn't released an album in years.
"Somebody Save Me (feat. Jelly Roll)" was probably the most emotional song on Eminem's new album. He touches on the topic of his children and apologizes to them for not being the best father. In this song, Eminem gets vulnerable with us and tells us that he wishes he was there more and could've given them everything he ever wanted to give them. His music video, which is even more emotional, has gained 12 million views on YouTube. This song definitely hits close to home for me. It is almost equivalent to "Mockingbird" in its message, just way deeper and more vulnerable.
"Fuel (feat. JID)" is probably one of the most controversial songs on the album as he disses Diddy and pays homage to The Notorious B.I.G and 2Pac. In this song Eminem blames the death of these two legends on Diddy and insinuates that he's the reason they died, or at least had some part in their deaths. This song was also a pretty good one. The lyrics were probably the best and it is definitely a hype song. I would recommend everyone put this on their gym playlist because it goes hard.
This album is really worth giving a listen. I highly recommend listening in order of the tracklist as there is a story being these songs. The story is of Slim Shady's childhood and all that he experienced and how it shaped him to be who he is today. Overall, I would say this album takes our iconic Eminem and brings his anger and deep feelings to another level. He did nothing less than cook in the studio and deserves all the love he's getting for this album.
Tracklist:
Renaissance
Habits (feat. White Gold)
Trouble
Brand New Dance
Evil
All You Got (skit)
Lucifer (feat. Sly Pyper)
Antichrist
Fuel (feat. JID)
Road Rage (feat. Dem Jointz and Sly Pyper)
Houdini
Breaking News (skit)
Guilty Conscience 2
Head Honcho (feat. Ez Mil)
Temporary (feat. Skylar Grey)
Bad One (feat. White Gold)
Tobey (feat. BabyTron and Big Sean)
Guess Who’s Back (skit)
Somebody Save Me (feat. Jelly Roll)
Steve Berman (skit)
Fuel (Shady Edition) (feat. Westside Boogie and GRIP)
Kyrie & Luka (feat. 2 Chainz)
Like My Shit (feat. FIFTEENAFTER)