Antichrist

Album: The Death of Slim Shady (2024)
Charted: 39
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Eminem's 12th album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), released on July 12, 2024, tackles the demise of his iconic shock rap persona, Slim Shady.

    We first met Slim Shady in the video for "My Name Is," the debut single from Eminem's major-label breakthrough, The Slim Shady LP. This foul-mouthed alter ego of Marshall Mathers III propelled him to superstardom with a potent mix of dark humor and a penchant for pushing boundaries.

    But hip-hop has grown up, and folks aren't feeling Slim's offensive lyrics any more. Now he's in his 50s and Em's finally saying goodbye to that side.

    The Death of Slim Shady switches between two versions of Marshall Mathers: Eminem, the regular, albeit foul-mouthed, dude; and Slim, the obnoxious troublemaker. Shady kidnaps Em at the start, and Shady pulls out all the stops to be as offensive as possible, resorting to the same tired jokes about women, the disabled, members of the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups. But then two-thirds of the way through the album on "Guilty Conscience 2," Eminem shoots Shady dead - the Coup de Grâce of the title.

    But before we get to that track, we find "Antichrist," with Slim Shady still at large. Continuing the dark theme of preceding tracks like "Evil" and "Lucifer," he doubles down on his role as a music industry troublemaker.
  • On "Antichrist," Shady goes full nuclear on this whole "woke" business. He unleashes his classic super-dirty rhymes and throws major diss at such fallen celebs as Kanye, Diddy and Jeffrey Epstein. He brings back his old beefs and keeps spitting fire at anyone who tries to control him.
  • "Antichrist" must have been one of the last tracks Eminem recorded for The Death of Slim Shady because he references the video of Diddy assaulting R&B singer and ex Cassie Ventura. The surveillance footage was released in May 2024.
  • Eminem teams up with Bizarre from his old crew D12. Bizarre is known for his slow, hard-hitting flow and vulgar lyrics. He closes out "Antichrist" with a verse as twisted and disturbing as his bars on "Amityville" from The Marshall Mathers LP.
  • Behind the beat, it's all Em with some extra help from Resto and Foulmouth, keeping the sound raw and uncut.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The Remasters

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The RemastersSong Writing

Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.