May I have your attention, please? May I have your attention, please?
Twenty-five years after Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem) “first became a household name” with his “playfully deranged” single “My Name Is …,” the Detroit rapper is laying the song’s narrator to rest in the most Eminem way.
On Monday, May 13, The Detroit Free Press published an ad designed to look like a fake obituary for Slim Shady, the name Eminem used in his Grammy-winning 1999 song as a sort-of introduction to rap and pop fans.
Whodunnit?
The “obit” supports Em’s upcoming 12th studio album, aptly titled “The Death of Slim Shady (Coupe De Grâce),” which is slated for release this summer. The rapper announced the new LP on April 25 with a viral video that mimicked the legendary true-crime show Unsolved Mysteries. The video dropped shortly after Eminem’s appearance at the 2024 NFL Draft, which took place in his hometown of Detroit.
In the video, a trenchcoat-wearing host (sadly, not the late Robert Stack, the original Unsolved Mysteries frontman) invites viewers to join him as he “recreates the events that led to the murder of Slim Shady.” He hints that the death of the antics of the “blond anti-hero” led to him having “no shortage of enemies.”
While the clever clip, obituary, and accompanying murder hype are sure to build the anticipation of “The Death of Slim Shady (Coupe De Grâce)” among Eminem’s fans, he probably didn’t have to go to all the effort. Em’s 11 studio albums, two compilation albums, and one extended play have all been hits. Eminem is the best-selling rapper of all time, the best-selling artist of the 2000s (with US album sales at over 32.25 million during the decade), and with sales of over 220 million records worldwide, he is among the best-selling music artists of all time. The rapper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
So who killed Slim Shady? We’ll have to buy the album to find out.
