The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)

The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) is the twelfth studio album by the American rapper Eminem. It was released on July 12, 2024, through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. The album was produced by Eminem, alongside Dem Jointz, Fredwreck, Cubeatz, Cole Bennett, DJ Premier, and frequent collaborators Dr. Dre and Luis Resto, among others. It features collaborations with White Gold, Sly Pyper, Bizarre, JID, Dem Jointz, Ez Mil, Skylar Grey, Big Sean, Moe Men-E, BabyTron, and Jelly Roll. The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) has charted at number one in Australia, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Three singles spawned from the album, with "Houdini" and "Tobey" being released prior to the album on May 31 and July 2 of 2024 respectively. "Somebody Save Me" was later released as the third single on July 19, 2024.

Background
Eminem referenced his alter ego, Slim Shady, in songs like "My Name Is" (1999) and "The Real Slim Shady" (2000). The image of Slim Shady is synonymous with how Eminem appeared as a young man on stage and in videos, including his bleached blonde hair. The provocative persona was described by Time in 2002 as a "nightmare projection" and "raging fantasy id".

On March 19, 2024, long-time producer and collaborator Dr. Dre revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that Eminem was working on his next studio album and that it would be releasing in 2024. On April 26, during the 2024 NFL draft event in his hometown Detroit, he shared a video in the style of real crime show Unsolved Mysteries that poses the question "who killed Slim Shady?". A reporter dressed in a trenchcoat lists the enemies Shady has made over the years, with rapper 50 Cent commenting on the persona. The teaser also incorporated clips of "My Name Is", "The Real Slim Shady", and "Without Me" (2002). The album and tentative release date were announced at the end of the 56-second long video, along with the opportunity to pre-save the record.

A fake obituary for Slim Shady appeared in the May 13 issue of the Detroit Free Press newspaper as promotion for the album. Eminem is pictured in overalls and a hockey mask as his Slim Shady persona, while the obituary reads, "Ultimately, the very things that seemed to be the tools he used became calling cards that defined an existence that could only come to a sudden and horrific end. 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."

On May 21, 2024, Eminem made a cryptic post to his social media, containing a video with an iMessage chat addressed to "All Contacts" with the message "...and for my last trick!" Eminem changed his social media profile pictures to match the rabbit-in-a-top-hat emoji used in the post. Following the post, fans took to social media to express their concerns and theories about Eminem's potential retirement.

On July 9, 2024, Eminem revealed the album cover on his social media pages before releasing the album three days later.

Singles
On May 28, 2024, Eminem posted a joint video with magician David Blaine. The video shows a FaceTime between Eminem and Blaine, with the former asking for help and a magic trick to which the latter responds by eating a glass of wine. He then previews the track "Houdini" by playing a short instrumental snippet. At the end of the clip, the song title and release date are revealed. It was released on May 31, 2024, as the lead single, along with an accompanying music video. The single was a commercial success, reaching the number one spot in twelve countries and on the Global 200.

On June 28, 2024, Eminem posted a teaser for the album's second single, titled "Tobey", a collaboration with fellow American rappers Big Sean and BabyTron. The short black-and-white clip depicted Eminem wearing a Jason mask and wielding a chainsaw while standing next to the featured artists, with an instrumental snippet playing in the background. The song was released on July 2. A Lyrical Lemonade music video for the track was released on July 8, following a 3-day delay due to unfinished production. On July 11, 2024, Eminem posted a "public service announcement" on Twitter that the album is "conceptual", and advised fans to listen to the songs in order.

On July 19, 2024, a week after the album was released, "Somebody Save Me" featuring Jelly Roll was released on streaming services as the third single.

Critical reception
Detroit Free Press gave the album a positive review by saying "The production is tight, the wordplay dependably clever, the vocal flow confident and versatile." At the same time adding that the album is in the same league as his previous albums, The Eminem Show, and Encore the latter being literally as the track "Brand New Dance" was largely recorded in 2004. Complex stated that the album was "just vintage Slim Shady shit". Billboard stated that the best track on the album was "Somebody Save Me", calling it a "teary-eyed end to the Slim Shady journey".

Clash stated that "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) doesn't quite feel like an ending, but neither does it feel like a continuation", and later stated that it features some of Eminem's best rapping in decades. Meanwhile, The Independent gave the album two out of five stars, stating that "if [it] was conceived to let Mathers have his cake and eat it – to indulge his earlier, purposefully offensive wordplay under the guise of struggling against the Shady persona within – the reality is the worst of both worlds." Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick described the album as "funny, shocking, contradictory, utterly outrageous, offensive, sentimental, clever, dumb and occasionally even (whisper it) wise".

Rolling Stone concluded "He's still young—barely into his fifties—but he takes a bizarre amount of pride in clinging to opinions he formed in his teens, and making those his whole point. Still blaming his problems on women, scared of trans folks, enraged by the idea of weird people doing weird shit, still moaning about his mom? He begs to get canceled by audiences who don't think about him and have no idea he thinks about them."

Commercial performance
In the United States, the album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, accumulating 281,000 album equivalent units which consisted of 114,000 downloads and 164,500 streaming-equivalent units. This gave Eminem his 11th album to top the chart, tying him with Barbra Streisand, Kanye "Ye" West and Bruce Springsteen. The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) also opened atop the UK Albums Chart with 45,000 chart units and became his 11th album to reach the summit there.

Elsewhere, the album also entered at number 1 in a further six countries, including Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Track listing
Notes Sample credits
 * $undefined$ signifies a co-producer
 * $undefined$ signifies an additional producer
 * "Habits" contains excerpts from the South Park episode "Safe Space".
 * "Lucifer" contains a sample from "Land of Milk and Honey", written by Andres Holten and Hans van Hemert and performed by Mouth and MacNeal.
 * "Road Rage" contains interpolations from "Ha" written by Terius Gray and Byron Thomas and performed by Juvenile.
 * "Houdini" contains a sample from "Abracadabra", written by Steve Miller, as performed by the Steve Miller Band, and an interpolation from "Without Me", written by Jeff Bass, Kevin Bell, Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, Marshall Mathers, and Malcolm McLaren and performed by Eminem.
 * "Somebody Save Me" contains a sample from "Save Me", written by David Ray Stevens and Jason DeFord and performed by Jelly Roll.
 * "Kyrie & Luka" contains a sample from "Move the Crowd", written and performed by Eric B. & Rakim.

Personnel
Musicians
 * Eminem – vocals
 * Luis Resto – keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 4–13, 15–17, 19)
 * Sly Pyper – additional vocals (track 2)
 * Dem Jointz – guitar, keyboards (track 3)
 * Steve King – guitar (track 4)
 * Curt Chambers – bass, guitar (track 7)
 * R Palmer – spoken word (track 7)
 * Bizarre – additional vocals (track 8)
 * Traci Nelson – additional vocals (track 8)
 * Teeba – bass (track 9)
 * JRGotTheHits – drums (track 9)
 * Cocoa Sarai – additional vocals (track 10)
 * David "Preach" Balfour – keyboards (track 10)
 * Steve Miller – additional vocals (track 11)
 * Devin Scillian – newsreader (12)
 * Kimberly Gill – newsreader (12)

Technical
 * Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering (tracks 1–)
 * Mike Strange – mixing (1–6, 8, 9, 12–17), engineering (all tracks)
 * Steve King – mixing (track 4)
 * Dr. Dre – mixing (tracks 7, 10, 11)
 * DJ Premier - engineering (track 20)
 * Tony Campana – engineering
 * Dem Jointz – engineering (track 3)
 * Don Cannon – engineering (track 5)
 * Quentin "Q" Gilkey – engineering (tracks 7, 11)
 * Fredwreck – engineering (tracks 7, 11)
 * Lola Romero – engineering (tracks 7, 11)
 * James Johnson – engineering (track 17)
 * Milan Becker – engineering (track 17)
 * Tom Kahre – engineering (track 17)
 * Jeffery "Champ" Massey – engineering assistance (tracks 7, 11)
 * Jeremy Zumo Kollie – engineering assistance (tracks 7, 11)
 * Vic Luevanos – engineering assistance (tracks 7, 11)