Eminem couldn’t bury Slim Shady without eulogizing him in some way. The track list for the rapper’s twelfth studio album, The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), out July 12, features a few early-career callbacks that nod to his infamous alter ego.
The record features a skit titled “Guess Who’s Back,” one of three interlude-like entries on the 19-song track list. It also includes “Guilty Conscience 2,” the long-awaited follow-up to his Dr. Dre-assisted single “Guilty Conscious” from 1999’s The Slim Shady LP.
Eminem hasn’t listed any additional features across The Death of Slim Shady beyond “Tobey,” one of the album’s lead singles which on which fellow Detroit rappers Big Sean and BabyTron make appearances.
Based on the song titles, the rapper is building a complete narrative arc across the album. It opens with “Renaissance,” “Habits,” “Trouble,” “Brand New Dance,” and “Evil” before it hits its first skit, titled “All You Got.” In the middle section, before the “Breaking News” skit, he lists “Lucifer,” “Antichrist,” “Fuel,” “Road Rage,” and the lead single “Houdini.”
If the gruesome music video for “Tobey” — in which Eminem dismembers Slim Shady with a chainsaw — is any indication, the final third act of the record will tap into the horror-film territory. It begins with “Guilty Conscience 2” followed by “Head Honcho,” “Temporary,” “Bad One,” and “Tobey.” The “Guess Who’s Back” skit is the second the last entry on the track list, followed only by a song with a title that reads as a cry for help: “Somebody Save Me.”
The album artwork for The Death of Slim Shady, revealed earlier this week, depicts Slim Shady with his face poking out of a body bag. Eminem has leaned fully into his murderous bit during his promotional run for the record. In May, he published a faux obituary in the Detroit Free Press that read: “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.”
The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) Track List:
“Renaissance”
“Habits”
“Trouble”
“Brand New Dance”
“Evil”
“All You Got” (skit)
“Lucifer”
“Antichrist”
“Fuel”
“Road Rage”
“Houdini”
“Breaking News” (skit)
“Guilty Conscience 2”
“Head Honcho”
“Temporary”
“Bad One”
“Tobey” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron
“Guess Who’s Back” (skit)
“Somebody Save Me”
From Rolling Stone US
