The Death of Slim Shady - Yes, is it still 2000? Eminem's new album sounds that way
Slim Shady finds it hard. He thought he could retire. On a private island, where it's approximately around the year 2000 forever. There in peace, watching MTV and Discovery Channel, enjoying his golden years. Maybe occasionally insulting a turtle or a seagull. On Sundays, a little vandalizing. In a church perhaps. Relaxing.
But instead, he is summoned back to reality by his alter ego Eminem for his new album. He climbs through a portal, looks left and right, sees selfie sticks and a guy with a Virtual Reality Headset, and his entire hard-earned peace of mind is gone. He's pissed off.
Eminem returns to early strengths
"The Death of Slim Shady" (Coup de Grâce) is Eminem's 12th studio album, and his core fanbase will be very happy with it: it's a return to Eminem's early strengths. Of course, the sound has evolved, but the essence is vintage. The album sounds more like a direct evolution from "The Eminem Show" than a continuation of the albums from the decades in between. Technically, Marshall isn't rusty. When you first listen to the album on "Brand New Dance," you might think it's a track from the early 2000s albums. (Apparently, he wrote it for "Encore," but took it out after Christopher Reeves' death.)
In the video for "Houdini," the Eminem of the present tries to stop Slim Shady from being "cancelled," but instead, they merge into an Over-Eminem-Shady, ready to chaos the world. Unfortunately, he catches the Chapelle Disease in the process.
"Jesus is gay" is no longer provocative
Dave Chappelle is considered one of the greatest comedians of his generation by many. His jokes, like Shady's lyrics, are geared towards provocation. Now, the target audience for provocation has changed over the last 24 years. No one finds it provocative anymore to shout "JESUS IS GAY," but Chappelle wants to provoke, so he makes jokes about what people get most worked up about: the LGBTQ+ community (or what Chappelle imagines as such). This creates an endless loop.
Chappelle makes a joke about trans people, everyone gets upset, Chappelle gets upset that everyone is upset, and makes even more jokes about trans people, and repeats the process. This leads to his shows now being more like a private war: between him and what he perceives as the LGBTQ+ community. For everyone else, it's a bit dull. There's a limited number of jokes you can make about the same topic before everyone gets bored to death. And that's the biggest weakness of "The Death of Slim Shady."
When Slim Shady, be it as a satirical character or not, mentions Caitlyn Jenner and her genitals roughly a hundred times, it's a bit tiring. The album is more of a reminder of a provocation than an actual provocation. Just like Slim Shady doesn't really die, but only merges with his creator like a delicious cheese cake with another. A nearly Buddhist ending. Enjoy your meal.
Eminem, in his new album, references his early collaborations with MTV, mentioning a track he originally wrote for his album "Encore" but later removed after Christopher Reeves' death.
In a parallel universe, Discovery Channel features a documentary about Dave Chappelle, exploring his influential comedy career and controversial stand-up acts, notably his interactions with MTV during his early career.
