Eminem‘s announcement of his new album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) took many fans by surprise — except for one particular Shady fan who predicted it two-and-a-half years ago.
On Thursday (April 25), X (formerly Twitter) user @thoughtfulbae re-upped a post they’d made back in October 2021 where they laid out “an idea that I think will be great for Eminem’s next project” called The Death of Slim Shady — the exact title that the real-life Em had just announced for his own project coming out this summer.
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The fan responded to their correct guess with a string of seemingly dumbfounded question marks.
The fan’s original concept involved Eminem bidding “farewell to a legendary persona,” reflecting on his “controversies” and the way his outrageous persona “impacted his life (both positively and negatively).”
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“It won’t be a retirement project,” the post said. “[I]nstead it will shock fans by introducing a more laidback lyricist that’s more focused on what he says instead of how he’s saying it.”
The fan also suggested that the album’s sound would differ from Em’s previous efforts, featuring production not from Dr. Dre but from The Alchemist, DJ Premier, Q-Tip, 9th Wonder, Madlib and Daringer.
Killing off his alter ego is something Eminem has done before, most notably in his 2005 track “When I’m Gone.” In his book The Way I Am, he wrote of that track: “I liked having Slim Shady around, but he’d become so famous that it had damn near destroyed [me]. SO I KILLED OFF SLIM SHADY.”
The 2021 version of the The Death of Slim Shady seems to differ from its IRL counterpart in at least one important respect: unlike @thoughtfulbae’s concept, Em’s upcoming record does seem like it will have music from Dr. Dre. At least, that’s what Dre told Jimmy Kimmel back in March.
“Let me tell you something, let me explain something to you right now: Eminem is working on his own album which is coming out this year,” he told the late night TV host while sat next to Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent.
“And I actually talked to him and he told me 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. I’m actually gonna hear the entire album for the first time for tomorrow.
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“And he holds his music close to his chest so I haven’t heard everything. I haven’t even heard everything complete that I’ve done, but I’m gonna hear it, and he’s putting out an album this year.”
There is also speculation that 50 Cent will appear on The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) after the G-Unit boss appeared in the true crime-inspired teaser trailer for the album.
