Eminem Continues ‘The Death Of Slim Shady’ Rollout With Obituary In Detroit Newspaper

Armon Sadler
·3 min read
98
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Although Eminem is 30 years into his career, he’s now looking to reintroduce himself to the world. The 51-year-old rapper mourned the “death” of his “Slim Shady” character in a unique way this week.

An obituary for his popular moniker appeared in the Detroit Free Press newspaper as part of the rollout of his forthcoming album The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace). The section was titled “Slim Shady Made Lasting Impressions,” the subheadline read “Fans Will ‘Never Forget’ Controversial Rapper” and featured a photo of the Detroit rapper wearing a Jason Voorhees mask. This all was accompanied by a longer write-up.

“A product of Detroit who began his career there was a rogue splinter in the flourishing underground rap scene of the mid to late 1990’s, 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,” it read. “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,” the obituary continued. “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.”

Eminem first announced The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) at the end of April with a trailer featuring his best friend 50 Cent. The visual was set up to be a news segment announcing Slim Shady’s death. “Through his complex and criticized, tongue-twisting rhymes, the anti-hero known as Slim Shady has had no shortage of enemies,” the reporter said in the clip. “The same rude lyrics and controversial antics may have ultimately led to his demise […] Join me as we recreate the events that led to the murder of Slim Shady.”

The G-Unit leader added, “He’s not a friend, he’s a psychopath.” Finally, the 8 Mile actor appeared and said, “I knew it was only a matter of time for Slim.” Watch below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marshall Mathers (@eminem)

Eminem’s forthcoming LP, set to release this summer, will be his first set of new music since 2020’s Music To Be Murdered By. In the interim, he shared The Eminem Show (Expanded Edition) and Curtain Call 2 in 2022. Last year, he released The Marshall Mathers LP2 (Expanded Edition) to celebrate the original album’s 10-year anniversary.

The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee’s long-running feud with Benzino got reignited this year. This past January, he appeared on “Doomsday Pt. 2” from Lyrical Lemonade’s All Is Yellow compilation and took shots at the former The Source owner.

“Go at his neck, how the f**k is that?/ How can I go at something he doesn’t have/ Arms so short he can’t even touch his hands/ When they’re above his head doing jumping jacks/ Sorry, I don’t mean to upset you Ben/ When I talk about all the debt you in/ I hear that you been creeping on the low/ In them cheap hotels that they catch you in,” he rapped. This led to Benzino releasing several diss tracks in return, showing that, unlike the Slim Shady character, the smoke will never die between the two.

More from VIBE.com