this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2024
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In the album context this reads like Shady narrative, not "Eminem/Marshall", but yeah, it was kinda weird to listen to before "Guilty Conscience" kind of put this in some artistic "alter-ego" context. The aftertaste remained, though. Reminded me how South Park re-branded Cartman for a while. I guess this is what a lot of 90s/2000s art & humor that leaned on ignorant shock humor has gone through to adapt. That wave died a natural death (or got killed (?) like Slim Shady by Eminem on this album, supposedly). Limp Bizkit comes to mind as well.
this album has a feature that deadnames caitlyn jenner, an "artistic alter ego" is the same artist and what the songs platform is clear. its not parody, its not punching out equally, its hateful and intentionally ignorant for the sake of it. the album is obsessed with pronouns and trans people, not just the slim portions
"ive just gotta get these slurs out of my system, then i will apologize and retire them"
That statement doesn’t absolve him from critique.
no shit
Yeah, it felt like that to me, too, despite the context. Also it's painfully obvious insecurity was (again) a major player in authoring this project with the dated "cancel me!!!" theme throughout the album, this was what stood out the most for me. Didn't feel like having fun was a huge part of making this record.
Imagine if the Bloodhound Gang made an album today....
John Wayne wouldn't use a smart plug!
This is just my theory, but I think this order is also meant to communicate a message, a kinda "anybody you look up to can turn out to be like this", what makes it cool, I think, is that it works whether you believe he is a hateful fuck or not after the alter ego "reveal". (Altho it is called "the death of slim shady" so the idea is kinda of there from the beginning.
I also think not everyone listens to the full album in order (which one could say is the intended experience by the artist, there is a narrative after all), so without the extra context, it is understandably much harder to believe that this is not Marshall rapping, but Slim Shady