Eminem Calls ‘The Death of Slim Shady’ a ‘Conceptual Album,’ Implores Fans to Listen in Order
Eminem has revealed that his The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) is a “conceptual album,” which appears to be the first of his Hall of Fame career.
With his 12th studio album set to arrive on Friday (July 12), the “Without Me” rapper gave fans a warning and some insight into his project that’s mere hours away.
Slim Shady took to X on Thursday (July 11), where he explained that he’s delivering a concept album, so the tracklist’s sequencing is intentional, meaning listeners should press play it listen to TDOSS in the order he decided to fully understand Em’s vision, and not skip around.
“Public service announcement: the ‘death of slim shady’ is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense,” he wrote. “Enjoy.”
While streaming can lead to listeners playing whichever songs they choose, fans flooded his replies, willing to oblige: “We will listen in order boss!”
There was also plenty of debate about Eminem’s last concept album or if he has one at all. The consensus seemed to be that he doesn’t have a true “conceptual album” all the way through, but 2009’s Relapse would qualify as the closest thing to it.
However, There’s been numerous occasions where his tracks have been connected conceptually in the past, like on Revival with “Castle” and “Arose.”
The Death of Slim Shady appears to revolve around killing off his signature alter ego. The project boasts 19 tracks, but features remain unknown.
Em kicked off the rollout of TDOSS with “Houdini,” which landed at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for his highest charting entry of the decade. He followed-up with “Tobey” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron, which debuted at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Find Eminem’s tweet below and look for the album on Friday.
Michael Saponara
Billboard
