Grammy-winning artist Eminem released his 12th album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace), on Friday.
The album is in the spotlight as the God of Rap has reignited a long-standing feud with Sean “Diddy” Combs and seemingly referenced the tragic on-set shooting involving Alec Baldwin in the new song Fuel.
In the ninth track, Fuel, Eminem and fellow rapper J.I.D address major cultural stories, including the sexual assault allegations against Combs and the accidental death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust, involving Baldwin.
Eminem employs wordplay to target Combs. The lyrics “I’m like a R-A-P-E-R (Yeah) / Got so many S-As (S-As), S-As (Huh) / Wait, he didn’t just spell the word, ‘Rapper’ and leave out a P, did he? (Yep)” appear to be a clear jab at Combs, who previously went by the moniker “P. Diddy.”
He then pays tribute to Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, connecting Tupac’s death to Combs with the lyrics: “R.I.P., rest in peace, Biggie/And Pac, both of y’all should be living (Yep)/But I ain’t tryna beef with him (Nope)/’Cause he might put a hit on me like Keefe D did him.”
The song also appears to address the recent on-set shooting that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin’s film Rust in 2021.
At the end of the same verse, Eminem raps, “Fu** around and get popped like Halyna Hutchins / Like I’m Alec Baldwin, what I mean is buckin’ you down, coup de grâce then.”
In another song on The Death of Slim Shady, Antichrist, the rap god also references the disturbing video released earlier this year of Combs assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, specifically highlighting the part of the video where the music mogul kicked her several times.
The lyrics read, “Next idiot ask me is gettin’ his ass beat worse than Diddy did / But on the real, though / She prolly ran out the room with his fu**in’ dildo / He tried to field goal punt her, she said to chill / Now put it back in my ass and get the steel toe.”
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) was released on July 12th.
Eminem has called his 12th studio album a “conceptual album” and also issued a warning to fans on X/Twitter.
“Listening to songs out of order might lead to confusion.”
