Spin Magazine just dropped their list of 2024’s biggest comebacks, and while Eminem fans might confidently argue he never left, the world seems to think otherwise. Ranked second on the list, right behind names like Linkin Park and ahead of LL Cool J, Eminem seemingly impressed the magazine team with his summer release, “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce).” Spin noted:
“Is it a comeback just because you haven’t been around for a while and then put out an excellent, sharp-tongued album with all the vigor of your previous work and the usual poundage of dynamite of controversy? Do you have to want to come back—at least show some excitement about it? And what if, hypothetically, your comeback is all about retiring yourself?
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) went straight to number one on the charts when released this summer, his 11th number one album. So the fans liked and wanted it. But most critics hated it. They may or may not have liked the music; they didn’t really say, but they hated the sentiments! They were shocked, shocked, that the artist previously known as Slim Shady wasn’t impressed with Gen Z and wasn’t buying into designer pronouns.”.
Well, they are right in the sense that Eminem did not go anywhere before. But also, with “The Death of Slim Shady,” Marshall evidently received more attention this year than before. For instance, fans catapulted “Houdini” to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 — Eminem’s best solo chart position since 2002’s “Without Me.” By the way, it was the same 2002 in which Spin published Eminem’s cover story.
While Spin calls it a comeback, Eminem’s approach feels more like a mic drop. Whether the world sees it as a return or a swan song (we do not!), nobody can deny that 2024 was Eminem’s year.
