Eminem Announces Release Date for New Album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)

Eminem has announced the release date for his first new album since 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By and its companion, Music to Be Murdered By – Side B (Deluxe Edition). The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) is out Friday, July 12. Below, find a trailer for the album.

Eminem recently returned with the single “Houdini.” He released another new song, “Tobey,” today.

In May, Eminem teased his album with an obituary for his alter ego, Slim Shady, in a print edition of the Detroit Free Press. “A product of Detroit who began his career there as 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,” the eulogy read. “That audience was soon exposed to the extreme darkness of the muse/rapper, as he led millions of fans down a road that glorified a demonstrably nihilistic worldview.”

The obituary, titled “Slim Shady Made Lasting Impressions,” continued:

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. 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 released his first, and heretofore only, EP, Slim Shady EP, in December 1997. A little more than a year later, in February 1999, he released The Slim Shady LP, featuring some tracks from the EP (most notably “Just Don’t Give a Fuck”) and the breakout single “My Name Is.” Much of the album, as the title suggests, is delivered from the perspective of Slim Shady. In 2019, to celebrate the LP’s 20th anniversary, Eminem issued an expanded edition of The Slim Shady LP. And, the next year, the rapper joined forces with Kid Cudi for “The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady.”

Music to Be Murdered By, Eminem’s surprise 2020 album, debuted atop the Billboard 200. The original album featured collaborations with Young M.A, Ed Sheeran, Anderson .Paak, Skylar Grey, the late Juice WRLD, and others. The deluxe version featured additional tracks with Dr. Dre, Ty Dolla $ign, DJ Premier, and more.

Shortly after releasing Music to Be Murdered By, Eminem made a surprise appearance at the Academy Awards to perform “Lose Yourself.” The next year, the Detroit rapper performed “Rock the Bells” with LL Cool J at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. And, in 2022, he took part in the star-studded Super Bowl LVI halftime show in Inglewood, California. Later that year, he did the song “From the D 2 the LBC,” with Snoop Dogg, at the MTV Video Music Awards, and returned to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony to perform “Stan” with Ed Sheeran.

Revisit Pitchfork’s review of Eminem’s August 2022 greatest-hits compilation, Curtain Call 2.