The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) by Eminem | Album Review
The Slim Shady has returned, but the Eminem has not
LISTEN TO The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce):
It’s been a while since we heard a full project from Eminem, 4 years, actually. His latest project Music To Be Murdered By has had great financial success, as by the end of 2020 it had accumulated over 1,053,000 equivalent units, but what about now? Given the drastic transformation of the music industry since 2020, where does Marshall Mathers fit in?
As time goes by, sobriety emerges and maturity develops, the formerly amusing and relatable Eminem has transformed into a fallen idol. Previous records have not been the highest note for Marshall. Despite good producers and expert direction of the albums, he was not sure what direction he, as an already established artist, should go.
With 4 years since his last album, Eminem is ready to deliver the last act of the absurd and intriguing “Guess Who’s Back” with his upcoming release.
In my prior predictions to the record, I saw the namedrop of Slim Shady as nothing more than a marketing strategy for the upcoming album. Emphasizing nostalgia, Marshall has brought plenty of attention with his lead singles, attracting older and newer generations of fans.
And based on my predictions, I was wrong.
Eminem took this concept close to his heart, and I haven’t enjoyed the album concept like that in a long time. Everything starting from the skits to the full tracks on the 1st part of the record, has given me not just a nostalgic feeling, but grabbed my attention completely.
His rapping stood out, especially here. We can hear the battle between Slim Shady and Marshall on the tracks, with them going back and forth and competing with each other.
Building on the previous pros of the record, the production is quite nice.
It is a potent mix of the epic trap from Music To Be Murdered By and boom-bap with some deviations to the more laid-back structure. You won’t find a moment where you think the sonic accompaniment is terrible or emotionless. Eminem assures you that you’re listening to a high-quality blockbuster album, and he mostly succeeds.
If you wondered what the Coup de grâce means, the album gives you a pretty definite description of that.
Coup de grâce is the final shot. Right Between the Eyes. Also known as the kill shot.
As we reach the final segments of the album, we come across the moment where Eminem kills Slim Shady on “Guilty Conscience 2” which has some issues, which I will delve into a bit later.
Would I say that this is one of his best records in a long time?
Yes, and there is no doubt about that. Yet, the downsides of this record are pretty noticeable too.
In his current state in the music industry, it seems like this was likely the best Eminem could have done. It was refreshing to hear the leftovers from that hungry, vicious blonde dude, and even though some of the controversy might sound a bit forced, this is certainly not the worst on this record.
I would say this record is quite likable, but some moments like Eminem’s cool rapping, and the concept cannot hide the downsides of the record, so let’s talk about each of them point by point.
1. Features:
The selection of the features for this record has been nothing but terrible. Do not get me wrong, there are exceptions with JID on “Fuel”, and the dynamic appearance of the BabyTron on “Tobey”, but in other cases, silence could have been a better decision.
The addition of White Gold on “Habits” and “Bad One” kills off the tempo and everything Eminem has included in the track before, and simply transforms it from a great track to cringe one in seconds.
I would love also to give some attention to tracks like “Temporary” and “Somebody Save Me” where Eminem goes into the personal doubts about himself as a father and tackles the problem of him as a parent figure. It is such a pity, that the features fail to compliment Marshall’s raw rapping and instead produce a basic melodic song.
I don’t understand the selection of features on this album. Either they bring nothing, which in this case is the best scenario, or they simply kill the energy of the track and everything that Em has accumulated to that point of the song.
2. Some songs are unnecessarily long:
Yeah, it is a significant turning point on that album.
Sometimes, if I even enjoy the song, and it is dazzling and fresh, Em doesn’t have enough fuel to do it for longer than 4 minutes. I usually enjoy extensive tracks, as I believe they allow you to enjoy production more, and build a personal connection faster, but here this is not the case.
As the song on this record lingers, it becomes increasingly fatiguing, and the song’s lack of change conveys this.
3. What is going on after track 13?
After the 13th track, Eminem is getting rid of the Slim Shady completely, as he hypothetically kills him off, but the question is, what is the reason for another 5 tracks, and 1 skit?
On those tracks, I felt like this was another part of Music To Be Murdered By, as the nostalgic production vanished, some reminiscence of controversy and feuds disappeared too, and we don’t really get a lot of tracks that make the album progress further.
If he just left “Temporary” and “Somebody Save Me”, as the last moments of the album, it would make more sense. As Slim Shady is dead, the focus switches up to mature fatherhood, where Eminem recognizes the mistakes of his past, and asks for forgiveness, but in reality, we just get a few more songs that are on the weaker side of the project, and just kind of ruin the whole listening experience.
After the critique, and weighing the pros and cons of the record, I believe it is the right moment to wrap it up.
This album is cool, it is fun; it is corny; it is tacky, but it is here. I cannot say that this even touches on some of the good works by Eminem, even though you might feel that way sometimes.
As the whole record, it is just a great effort. If it could have been shorter, and had a better direction, in terms of features and track placement, it certainly would have been higher in my books.
As of now, I give it a 7
FINAL RATING: 7/10
FAVORITE TRACKS: “Fuel”, “Renaissance”, “Evil”, “Guilty Conscience 2”
LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS: “Tobey”, “Road Rage”
Scores guideline:
0–2 (dramatically bad)
2.1–4.5 (bad)
4.6–6 (mediocre/mid)
6.1–6.9 (Ok)
7–7.5 (good)
7.6–8.6 (great)
8.7–9.9 (amazing)
10 (perfect)
