His highly anticipated album The Death of Slim Shady will be released tomorrow (12 July)

Eminem has issued a warning to his fans ahead of the release of his highly anticipated album, The Death of Slim Shady.

The legendary rapper, real name Marshall Mathers, is set to release his 12th studio album tomorrow (12 July) and has given his followers a set of very clear instructions on how they should listen to the album once it drops.

Ever since confirming The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) earlier this year, fans of the rapper have been left wondering whether this will be the final curtain call for the 51-year-old’s most notorious alter-ego.

Lead single ‘Houdini’ only inflamed speculation as well, with the track receiving backlash for a controversial lyric featuring Megan Thee Stallion.

Eminem album announcement
Credit: Eminem/X

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Now that the wait is finally over, Eminem has taken to social media on the eve of the album release to reveal that The Death of Slim Shady will be a concept album and will be best enjoyed if fans listen to it from start to finish.

Making the announcement on X, he wrote: “Public service announcement: the “death of slim shady” is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense. Enjoy.”

Fans, of course, were quick to share their opinions on how an album is best listened to, with one writing: “Anybody that listens to an album for the first time on shuffle deserves to go to prison.”

“The idea of Eminem having to explain what a concept album is is kinda funny,” a second person added.

Of course, there was also a bunch of contrarians who declared they would be doing the exact opposite of his advice and playing the album on shuffle, but what can you expect.

Eminem will release The Death of Slim Shady tomorrow. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
Eminem will release The Death of Slim Shady tomorrow. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

The fatalistic title of the album has also got fans talking, with many people theorising about what exactly the ‘death’ of Eminem’s alter-ego Slim Shady could mean.

A teaser for the album promised fans that it would ‘recreate the events that led to the murder of Slim Shady’.

But could the rapper really go as far as killing off his most popular persona?

The internet is, of course, rife with ideas of what this album could have in store for Slim, with several fans coming up with a very interesting theory on social media.

Writing on X, fan account @EminemDetroit88 wrote that they believed the album would be a litmus test for whether the bleach blonde anti-hero would survive in today’s climate.

“Now I see why the album is called The Death of Slim Shady. The concept of the album is to bring Slim back and see if he can survive in today’s climate. Genius,” they wrote.

Very interesting indeed.