The rapper unleashes more provocative lyrics on his 12th album, and new generations are defending him — rather than rushing to criticise him — online. Twenty-two years separated Without Me, Eminem’s cocky, impish and defiantly tasteless 2002 smash, from Houdini , the lead single from the rapper’s latest studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) . But the new track, with its sneering tone and catalogue of quips that make punchlines out of both Megan Thee Stallion’s 2020 shooting and contemporary identity politics, transmits a resounding message: In the world of Eminem, nothing much has changed.
Since the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017, reckonings around sexual harassment, toxic workplaces, body positivity and gender identity have changed cultural expectations for language and behaviour. Young people, surprised at what the generations that preceded them endured and accepted, have largely led the charge, helping “cancel” offending figures in campaigns that ignite on social media. Yet Eminem — an artist who has made a career of thumbing his nose at social mores, rapping lyrics that can be seen as glorifying violence against women, mocking the infirm and normalising homophobic slurs — has persisted.
All nine of his albums released this century so far, including three since 2017, have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Houdini , which came out in June, opened at No.
2 on the Hot 100 singles chart, his best solo showing since 2010. The Death of .
