Eminem announces new album via minute-long true crime skit, but no actual music

It’s been four years since Eminem put out a new album, Music To Be Murdered By—the most successful album ever to be directly named after a 1958 Alfred Hitchcock novelty record. (That sounds like we’re making fun, but it’s genuinely true; Eminem acknowledged the reference himself, shortly before the album shot to number one on the Billboard 200 after being surprise-released in 2020.) Now, the rapper’s back with the announcement of his new album… which is also heavy on murder themes, this time in the form of a parody of true crime TV, as Eminem asks: Who murdered Slim Shady?

In fact, there is, as far as we can tell, no actual music in the trailer for The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace), which is instead a minute-long comedy video featuring a pixelated Eminem and a deadpan 50 Cent, talking about the titular fictional murder. It’s cute enough, in an “Eminem comedy” kind of way, with the rapper expressing his gratitude to whoever killed his more violent, blond-haired alter ego. But as a way to get people to be actually hyped about new Eminem music that probably doesn’t even have Venom in it, well…

But, hey: We aren’t the ones who’ve released what is now something like 10 consecutive number one albums, so maybe we’re talking out of our asses here. Maybe what rap audiences love is a little comedy sketch based off of Unsolved Murders to get them ready for what will, we’re guessing, be some very technically proficient, extremely quick, maybe less musically-inspired rap music (and probably a lot of it, if Murdered—which eventually ran to more than 30 songs, if you count the B-sides—is anything to go by).

The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) is set to arrive this summer.