Eminem announces his 12th studio album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) with a true-crime inspired trailer

Just before Detroit legend Eminem took the stage in Motor City to kick off the NFL Draft, the rapper announced his 12th studio album.

The teaser aired just before the draft coverage on ESPN, with the 51-year-old rapper (born Marshall Mathers) sharing the teaser on social media on Thursday night.

The new album will be entitled The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace), which he only said would be released this summer without giving a concrete release date.

The announcement came in the form of a true-crime style of promo – much in the same vein of the popular 80s and 90s crime series Unsolved Mysteries.

The ‘show’ was called Detroit Murder Files, with a trench-coat wearing announcer stating, ‘Through his complex and oft-criticized tongue-twisting rhymes, the blonde anti-hero named Slim Shady has had no shortage of enemies.’

The promo cuts to an interview with 50 Cent, who Eminem discovered more than 20 years ago and signed him to his Shady Records label.

‘He’s not a friend. He’s a psychopath,’ the rapper says in the promo, before taking a deep breath to calm himself.

The announcer returns and says, ‘The same rude lyrics and controversial antics may have ultimately lead to his demise.’

A person whose face and voice are disguised is being interviewed as he asks, ‘Who killed Slim Shady?’

The announcer adds, ‘So join us as we re-create the events that lead to the murder of Slim Shady as they show some gruesome crime scene images of Slim laying prone on top of a car with a knife sticking out of his chest.

The person whose face and voice are disguised returns and says, ‘I knew it was only a matter of time for Slim,’ though he moves his face, revealing it’s Eminem himself.

While it remains to be seen when the album will actually drop, the rapper’s website Shop.Eminem.com has links to pre-save the album on Spotify or pre add on to Apple Music.

This will be his first album since Music to be Murdered By, an album he released by surprise in January 2020, just months before the COVID-19 lockdown.

The confirmation of a new album comes just over a month after the rapper who discovered him – Dr. Dre – hinted at a new album dropping this year.

Dre (born Andre Young), 59, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live in March, where he teased a new album from Eminem.

‘Let me explain something to you right now. Eminem is working on his own album which is coming out this year and I actually talked to him and he said it was okay for me to make that announcement right here on this show,’ Dre explained.

Dre added: ‘I’ve got songs on it and it’s fire. I’m actually going to hear the entire album for the first time tomorrow.

‘He holds his music close to his chest so I haven’t heard complete [that he has produced on the album] but I’m going to hear and he’s putting out an album this year’.