Eminem defends Kendrick Lamar and Lil Wayne on “Death Of Slim”

Eminem’s twelfth studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)is here. However, anyone preparing to clutch their pearl necklace for his latest round of raunchy, offensive humor might be in for a surprise. Rather than insult, Em begins the album by defending other lyrical mainstays like Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Kanye West and his protégé Joyner Lucas.

In the album intro “Renaissance,” Eminem opts for a rather ironic dig at the haters of his lyrical rhyming brothers – a move that some would describe as a departure from his usual provocation.

Now just travel into the mind of a hater
Because I don’t see any fans, I just see a bunch of complainers
“Kendrick’s album was cool, but it didn’t have any hits”
“Wayne’s album or Yes, I couldn’t say which was lamer”
“Joyner’s album was cheesy, Shady’s new shit is much worse”
“Either everything is too lame or there is too much anger”
“I didn’t like the beef, that’s why I hated it. Can delete later”
You nerdy assholes would find fault with 36 Chambers

Eminem first started teasing The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) on April 1st (although some fans would argue that he started much earlier, in February), with a fake post about releasing a new album on streaming, which turned out to be his first album, InfiniteAfter publishing an obituary for his troll alter ego in a real newspaper, he released the first single “Houdini” at the end of May.

Once the ball got rolling, Em focused his attention on promoting the new album, even going so far as to kill Slim in the video for “Tobey,” the second single featuring Big Sean and BabyTron. He launched a limited-edition merch collection with White Castle, put Shady in a body bag on the album cover, and even referenced the now-inevitable “Hawk Tuah” girl meme in a promo video where he spits on Slim Shady’s grave.

The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) is out now via Shady Records/Aftermath/Interscope. For more information, click here.