Eminem ran a fake Slim Shady obituary in a Detroit Newspaper following the announcement of ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)’.
Photos of the obituary in the print issue of the Detroit Free Press began circling social media. The piece featured “Slim Shady Made Lasting Impressions” as the headline with its subhead reading “Fans Will ‘Never Forget’ Controversial Rapper”. It also featured a photo of Eminem wearing a pair of dungarees and a white hockey mask.
The obituary for the iconic rapper’s eccentric alter ego began by paying tribute to Eminem’s early career in the “underground rap scene of the mid to late 1990s.”
It continued: “Shady first became a household name in 1999 with the debut of his playfully deranged single ‘My Name Is,’ which — along with its uniquely eye catching video — exposed the young artist and his lyrics to a wider audience,” the obituary reads. “That audience was soon exposed to the extreme darkness of the muse/rapper, as he led millions of music fans down a road that glorified a demonstrably nihilistic worldview.
“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. May he truly find the peace in an afterlife that he could not find on Earth.”
The obituary comes a few weeks after the Detroit rapper announced his forthcoming 12th LP ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace)’ which is set for release later this summer. You can pre-save the album here.
The announcement came in the form of a trailer in which a reporter ponders the death of Eminem’s alter-ego, Slim Shady and launches into an investigation.
Emimen’s alter ego made his debut in 1997 with the ‘Slim Shady’ EP. In 1999, he returned with ‘The Slim Shady’ LP. Shady’s lyrics and tracks often discussed matters of the media at the time, especially Eminem’s feuds and controversies with his fellow celebrity colleagues.
Little else is known of the upcoming album besides that several tracks on the record have been produced by Dr. Dre. Dre revealed earlier this year that Eminem had been working on an album and that he was producing a number of tracks.
“Eminem is working on his own album, which is coming out this year. I actually talked to him and he said it was okay for me to make that announcement right here on this show. So he has an album coming out, I’ve got songs on it and it’s fire.”
Eminem’s last album, ‘Music To Be Murdered By’, received mixed reviews upon its release in early 2020. In a three-star review of the LP, NME shared: “Eminem’s discography once looked lopsided, youthful iconoclasm dissipating into creative exhaustion. But now it comes across as a little more interesting. These curious newer records may age well, offering up the sound of a rapper working out his place in middle-age… The bigger question is this: should Eminem continue to grow old disgracefully, or cut the stately figure he adopts on the moving and impactful pro-gun control track ‘Darkness’?”