Eminem is competing with himself in a new retrospective video.
The 51-year-old rapper, born Marshall Mathers, engages in a “lively conversation” with his musical alter ego, Slim Shady, for his new Complex magazine cover story. In interviewtitled “Slim Shady vs. Marshall Mathers: THE SHOWDOWN”, Em comes to terms with his past and makes peace with some of his more controversial career choices.
The clip begins with a bearded, modern Mathers sitting in a chair as a holographic version of his bleach-blonde Shady persona arrives to criticize him for his new album. The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)which fell earlier this month.
“I was sent from the past to save our careers,” Shady declares.
“My 25-year career? Where I’ve sold like a billion albums?” Mathers retorts. “I think I’m doing pretty well.”
Shady is quick to take credit for all of Eminem’s subsequent hits, which included 2002’s “Lose Yourself” and 2010’s “Love the Way You Lie,” with Rihanna.
“We sold all this shit off my back, bitch, don’t get me wrong,” Shady says. “You don’t give a f**k Taylor Swift. You had an era that mattered: mine.”
Mathers counters, explaining that some of his most innovative content from the ’90s and early 2000s wouldn’t hold water today.
“I’ve grown up, bro. My fan base has grown,” he says. “The world has changed. People are a lot more sensitive now. Every two weeks on TikTok, Gen Z discovers you on Monday and cancels me on Tuesday.”
But old habits die hard, Mathers suggests.
“You’re just doing the same old s**t,” he tells Shady. “Make the fake controversial single without actually offending anyone and then put all the s**t on the deep cuts so people will talk about the album after it comes out. Then when they get offended, you get all ‘Poor me’ victim s**t and act all hypocritical.”
To this end, In recently faced a backlash on social media about a reference to Alec Baldwin‘s Rust filming on his latest album. On a track titled “Fuel,” the artist includes insensitive lyrics about the victim: “F**k around and get popped like Halyna Hutchins.”
“Grippin’ on the nine millimeter, puttin’ on the heat / Got the toaster like an English muffin / No, I mean, ‘Toast to’ like you drinkin’ for somethin’ But it’s in a holster, I proceed to break it,” Eminem raps. “Fuck around and get popped like Halyna Hutchins / Like I’m Alec Baldwin, what I mean is push you down, coup de grace then / Right in the middle of the motherfuckin’ / I’ll shoot ’em all if you think you fuckin’ with me.”
The 66-year-old actor was already on trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting in Rust Cinematographic Hutchins on the set of his film in October 2021. Rust director Joel Souza was also injured. Earlier this month, Baldwin’s trial was dismissed with prejudice.
Eminem also includes songs that feature verses about Megan Thee Stallion, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Candace Owens, Kanye West, Jeffrey Epstein, and many others. The album also features collaborations with Jelly Roll, White Gold, Sly Pyper, JID, Dem Jointz, Ez Mil, Skylar Grey, Big Sean, and BabyTron.
On your trail with Jelly roll“Somebody Save Me,” Eminem apologizes to his children for his history of substance abuse. The rapper has three children with his ex-wife, Kim Scott: Hailie Jade Scott, 28, Alaina Scott, 31, and Stevie Laine Scott, 22.
“You’re the reason I had to self-medicate,” Mathers tells Shady in Complex video. “Because of you I almost lost my career, my family, my life.”
In the end, the two personalities come to an agreement.
“Calm down, Slim. We both made Eminem. He’s the best of the two of us,” Mathers concludes. “And really, it’s not about me or you. It’s about him and the fans.”
He adds, “Don’t stress, man. I worked on myself a lot while you were gone. We’re in this together, baby. Let the therapy flow through you.”
Shady agrees: “I needed that trauma bond shit to help me protect my peace.”
The artist “Rap God” suffered a near-fatal drug overdose in 2007 after years of battling addiction to Vicodin and Valium. Today, he’s been sober for 16 years.
Eminem had a lot to celebrate in 2024. In addition to his new album, he also walked his daughter, Hailie, down the aisle for her wedding.
Hailie Jade got married with Evan McClintock in May. A year earlier, in June 2023, Em’s other daughter, Alaina, married Matt Moeller.
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