Eminem's 'The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace)' debuts at no. 1 globally

KATHMANDU: "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace)", the twelfth studio album by American rapper Eminem, was released on July 12, 2024, and gained immediate recognition. The United States and the United Kingdom were among the more than 16 nations where the album debuted at number one. With 281,000 album-equivalent units, 114,000 downloads, and 164,500 stream-equivalent units, it shot to the top of the Billboard 200 list in the United States. With this accomplishment, Eminem tied Bruce Springsteen, Kanye West, and Barbra Streisand for the fifth-most number-one albums. It was also his eleventh number-one album. While Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" continued to be the year's best-selling album overall, it also became the best-selling rap album of the year.

In the United Kingdom, "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace)" similarly topped the UK Albums Chart, securing the number one spot with 45,000 chart units. It held this position for two weeks and reached the top spot in fourteen other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. This marked Eminem's eleventh album to achieve the number one position in the UK.

Despite its commercial success, the album received mixed reviews from critics, holding an average score of 46 on Metacritic. This indicates that while it was well-received commercially, it was deemed average by mainstream reviewers. Billboard highlighted "Somebody Save Me" as the standout track, describing it as a "teary-eyed end to Slim Shady's journey."

On July 11, 2024, a day before the album's release, Eminem used X (formerly Twitter) to post a "public service announcement," urging fans to listen to the album sequentially as it is 'conceptual.' A week later, on July 19, 2024, the single "Somebody Save Me," featuring American singer Jelly Roll, was released on streaming platforms. This marked Eminem's third single of the year.