Eminem added to the rollout of The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) with a fake obituary that he ran in his hometown Detroit Free Press on Monday (May 13).
As part of the morbid support of the rapper’s upcoming 12th studio album, the obit shrewdly has quote marks around the subhead that had fans thinking Slim Shady was dropping a hint about the project’s possible lead single.
“Fans ‘Will Never Forget’ Controversial Rapper,” the piece eulogized of Slim Shady in the subhead.
Theories began to fly across social media platforms such as X and Reddit, with some hypothesizing that the subtle hint of “Will Never Forget” may serve as the title of a single off The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce).
“I bet ‘Will Never Forget’ it’s a single (or sth related to the album, maybe the real name),” one fan wrote to X, while another added, “New Eminem single “Will Never Forget” coming real soon…”
An Eminem Brazil fan account speculated, “Let the theories begin. Will ‘Will Never Forget’ be the first single off TDOSS?”
One more fan on X found it funny Em stylized it like that as well. “I don’t want to reach or get anyone’s hopes up, but isn’t it weird they’d have quotation marks on ‘Will Never Forget’?” they wrote. “Could be a song title or single? Eminem is known to have some weird song titles so I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Billboard has reached out to Eminem’s reps for comment.
The ad/obituary features a photo of Eminem in a white Jason Voorhees hockey mask and revisited how Slim Shady became a household name thanks to “My Name Is,” before concluding that the “complex and tortured existence” of the rapper’s alter ego had ended. “May he truly find the peace in an afterlife that he could not find on Earth.”
Eminem has yet to release any new music in 2024. His most recent verse came as part of Juice WRLD and Benny Blanco’s “Lace It” in December.
The Death of Slim Shady — which does not yet have a release date but is expected this summer — will follow Music to Be Murdered By, which arrived in 2020. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 to give Em a 10th consecutive leader.
In April, Em made an appearance at the 2024 NFL Draft in his hometown of Detroit. Shortly after, the rapper officially announced The Death of Slim Shady (Coupe De Grâce). Em unveiled plans for the project through an Unsolved Mysteries episode, which finds him meeting his demise in search of “who killed Slim Shady?”
Read some of the fan theories on Reddit about Em’s possible first single from his upcoming album below:
In the Detroit Obituary (found on Twitter)
byu/l8te2dapartee inEminem
