The Death of Slim Shady?

Who Are We?

I was listening to the new Eminem album The Death of Slim Shady the day it dropped. As my friend Aaron Simmons has mentioned, “Eminem is perhaps one of the first rappers who turned the critical eye of his lyrical pen on his own flaws and failures.” In addition, Eminem is a generational talent as a poet and rhyme master. His bars typically have layers of meanings, including the possibility of triple meanings. The newest album is no different and even the title is a tongue-in-cheek invitation to find out what is going on.

For those unfamiliar, Eminem’s given name is Marshall Mathers, but his early success began with his second album, The Slim Shady LP in which Eminem raps through the character he created named Slim Shady. His anger at the lack of success for his debut album drove the anger, satire, and sarcasm present in the character of Slim Shady. Throughout the years since, Eminem has taken his ideas and music in a direction of growth while still holding on to that early anger and angst. This latest albums is one that reaches back with nostalgia, but also deep introspection. There are varying discussions of what happens in the album, but most agree that Slim Shady the character never dies and that interpretation is important for my treatment 

The Death of Slim Shady is fascinating from a musical and technical standpoint. Throughout we have Eminem having dialogue with himself, Marshall Mathers, and Slim Shady. The production has processed the Slim Shady parts through a processor to make Shady sound like Eminem’s voice of twenty years ago, so it is almost easy to pick out the differences between the voices. But we also have hints that the entire story thread is happening in Eminem’s head. As I listened to the album, I followed a rather twisted story of Slim Shady coming through a portal into 2024 and finding the world a very strange place. Shady is also disappointed in Eminem for his maturation. But there is a secret throughout as well. At least in my head. 

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As the last track began, I was listening to the opening skit of Eminem struggling and high while his daughter tries to get him to wake up when I heard the unmistakable voice of Jelly Roll. Jelly Roll’s lines sounded off in the distance, singing the chorus from his song Save Me. 

Somebody save me,

Me from myself

I’ve spent so long livin’ in hell

Then Eminem’s bars begin and we hear a sorrowful and regretful story of a person who allowed addiction to take control. The story continues about his regret at having chosen pills over his children so that he misses their growing up because he dies early on. The call and response of Eminem and Jelly Roll continues throughout as we get the full chorus.

Somebody save me,

Me from myself

I’ve spent so long livin’ in hell

They say my lifestyle

Is bad for my health

It’s the only thing 

that seems to help

Jelly Roll’s Save Me is a song about the power of addiction and how hard it is to get clean and find a steady place. Eminem is echoing that in his story of what might have been had he made different decisions. This is when I realized how I saw the entire album. This is a dialogue between the various parts of Eminem. The dorky and bullied kid he describes as young Marshall Mathers, the angry and vindictive Slim Shady feature heavily, but they are not the only voice on the album. What I interpret is Eminem has realized that he is a sum of his identities. He cannot fully sever Marshall or Shady, and he has integrated them into a more mature version of that young rapper who burst onto the scene as Slim Shady. 

Eminem realizes we can never fully kill those parts of us we dislike or that we have grown past. They will always be there, but they do not need to control us. Instead, we can incorporate the good parts that helped in our growth. Here is where I connect it to my Wesleyan-Holiness context. I can hear the “wha?s” hitting now. Bu trust me.

The language of Wesleyan-Holiness folk talks about things like new creation and transformation in ways that imply our core identity must change. But that does not seem to be the case considering scripture. Yes, we grow and change, but who we are does not change. What does change is the decisions and points of view that who we are making and see. The Apostle Paul may have grown and quit persecuting Christians, but his zealous love of God and confidence did not change when we went from being Saul to being called Paul. What we do change is that we see ourselves primarily, but not only, in light of who Jesus is.

Too often, we tell people they must completely sever things that make them who they are because they are part of the old person. But holiness is a change in attitude and understanding in which the various identities within are integrated into a more mature version in discipleship and the reflection of the image of God. We never cease being ourselves, but those selves become pointed toward the beauty of the Gospel. The Gospel itself calls broken and flawed human beings into relationship with a God who gave Godself over in solidarity to break the curse of sin and death. 

Like Eminem redeemed those parts of him he tried to kill, the work of the Holy Spirit redeems us so that we grow in grace and maturity. The joke of The Death of Slim Shady is that no one dies. Instead, Eminem discovers he is who he is because of those parts he wanted to kill. The worst things we have done do not define us, but we are also not defined by rejecting the person who did those things. 

Check out Dr. J. Aaron Simmons’ discussion of this album on Philosophy in the Wild.