On The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), Eminem has a lot to say about trans people. (Getty)
Almost half of the tracks on Eminem’s new album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), feature lyrics aimed at trans people or pronouns.
As the title suggests, the album supposedly indicates the death of Eminem’s long-time alter ego. Shady is best known for being a vessel for the rapper to rage against the world and air some of his darkest thoughts.
And the lyrics to a number of tracks seem to show that Eminem – real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III – has spent a lot of time recently thinking about trans people.
Across the album, the “Stan” rapper gets in several digs at pronouns, an entire verse about his thoughts on whether he’d sleep with a trans person, and – wait for it – seven songs name-dropping trans Donald Trump fan, Caitlyn Jenner.
He knows you’re wondering whether he’ll get “cancelled” for it, too. He addresses the idea a dozen times in 60 minutes.
That is, of course, the whole point of the album, and the point of Slim Shady as an entity: offend, upset, aggravate. He’s said that The Death of Slim Shady is a concept album, with his alter ego forcing him to write the provocative bars. It’s his longest-running gag.
Whether or not the new album maintains that gag successfully, or comes across rather as “man yelling at cloud”, we’ll leave you to decide. But here are the most incendiary lyrics about the trans community from the Missouri-born performer’s new album.
Eminem – or is it Slim Shady?. (Kevin Winter/Getty)
Habits
After a brief introduction, track two “Habits” launches straight into it with this little zinger in the first verse, setting the tone for the whole album: “Whoever gets offended, suck a d**k and f**k a critic.”
Verse two comes with the deadnaming and misgendering of former Olympian Jenner, with Shady spitting: “I’m ’bout as much of a boy as Bruce Jenner is, ’cause I’m not a boy, I’m a man, b*tch, man-b*tch. My speech is free as his choice to choose gender is (man).”
Plus, there’s his first takedown of people who use pronouns (everyone), as he raps: “All these pronouns, I can’t remember (damn). They or them, theirs? (Whose?) His or him, hers?”
Unsurprisingly, these are far from the only inflammatory bars on “Habits”, but it would essentially be a copy-and-paste of the whole song if we were to put them all here.
Brand New Dance
Track four, and the number of Jenner mentions currently stands at two: “I’ma have everybody jumpin’ to this, Caitlyn Jenner in the front row pumpin’ her fists, with a simple little twist and a flick of the wrist,” he spits in verse three.
We can hear Jenner asking: “Now why am I in it?”, from her Malibu mansion.
The whole song is essentially about creating a dance that could severely injure those who attempt it, in reference to Superman star Christopher Reeve, who was paralysed following a horse-riding accident in 1995. It forms part of a running joke in which Eminem repeatedly comes for the actor, who died in 2004 following a cardiac arrest.
Evil
Caitlyn Jenner count: three. Yep, five tracks in, and Eminem has mentioned Caitlyn three times. At least this time, he makes a joke of the fact he can’t leave her alone – even if that reference is wrapped up in a transphobic quip.
“Holy s**t, Cait’ Jenner just flipped. Told me knock this s**t off and quit, and get off her d**k,” goes verse three.
And we’re sorry to report that the Caitlyn line isn’t even the oddest in “Evil”. That comes a few bars later, where the rapper demands: “Do not tell me what I can’t say (why?), that’s gay (what’s wrong with that?) And not the good kind of gay either, where two men f**k each other and hate beaver.”
Lucifer
The whole point of the album, Eminem has explained numerous times by this point, is about getting himself (or Slim Shady) cancelled. “With every line that I recite, them PC police try to throw me in jail with no bail like a peace prize,” he says in verse three.
Antichrist
A few seconds into “Antichrist”, the rapper growls “F**kin’ PC police,” as though he’s being chased by a rabble of Gen Zers. Moments later, he just says the word “pronouns”. Then there’s a jab at people who don’t identify as LGBTQ+, but still state their pronouns: “Got heterosexuals crammin’ ’em down our throats now (he, she, they, them).”
It’s all tied up with another nod to how much Slim despises “woke” culture.
“But f**k it though, somebody needs to come and hit the reset button. Back to 2003 ’cause how did we get stuck in this woke BS? I’m tryna make it regress, f**k ’em.”
Rounding the song off, we get Caitlyn mention number four – that’s half of the track list featuring her name at this point – from guest rapper Bizarre. “Where Bruce Jenner at? I wanna f**k that ho,” he says, before chucking in a slur for good measure.
Road Rage
Track 10. Caitlyn Jenner count: six. Yep, there are two mentions in this one.
Eminem isn’t taking aim at Caitlyn personally the first time around, rather using her as a way to explain the oxymoron of a trans person being part of the notoriously racist, anti-LGBTQ+ far-right group, the Klu Klux Klan.
“I walk around more confused than my aunt Linda’s man-friend, a Black transgender Klan member, who’s a Caitlyn Jenner fan and a member of Grindr and Tinder,” he spits on the first verse.
But the real nugget of “Road Rage” comes later when Eminem dedicates a whole verse to his stance on trans rights. Brace yourselves.
“So transgender rights, where do I stand? I’m all for ’em, I really am pro. But intercourse with you (what?), would I have? No (nope). I’m just bein’ honest (yeah), now I’m an a**hole,” he barks.
“Call me a transphobe (really? Yeah) ’cause I just can’t go (what?) And try and pretend you was never a man though (sorry). I mean, damn, bro (yeah), it’s just the way I feel (uh). But if I say it will (mm), get me cancelled (yup, s**t).”
Then: “And this ain’t even a diss, trans people, my d**k just won’t expand. Them t**s won’t make it stand. But Caitlyn, big fan.”
By this point, Jenner deserves royalties.
Houdini, Breaking News, Guilty Conscience 2
Just a string of tracks referring to trans people and being cancelled in one way or another. Oh, and Caitlyn Jenner count… seven.
As Slim Shady bites the dust, perhaps it’s time to plan for the next pop alter ego with a headline-making dark side: perhaps Beyoncé could resurrect Sasha Fierce as a Flat-Earther, or Marina Diamandis could bring Electra Heart back as a xenophobe? The possibilities are endless.
