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Eminem: The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) review – guess who’s back, with less bite than ever

The return of the rapper’s nihilistic alter ego makes his 12th album feel like a confused, conflicted attempt to recreate his 00s success – his flow is perfect as ever, but he can no longer provoke true outrage

He’s still reliably chalking up incredible sales figures – every album he’s released has gone platinum in the US; his 2020 single Godzilla shifted something close to 10m worldwide – while apparently struggling to find a place for himself in a musical landscape that’s altered dramatically since his early 00s heyday. But its driving purpose is a kind of historical re-enactment of an Eminem album from 20 plus years ago, bound up in a slightly convoluted storyline about the reformed, mature Marshall Mathers being once more possessed by his nihilistic alter ego Slim Shady, who’s intent on turning him back into the person he once was. Some people online made a half-hearted attempt to summon up outrage over its line mocking the incident in which Tory Lanez shot Megan Thee Stallion, but nobody really bit, perhaps because there were more diverting things happening in hip-hop.

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