Eminem’s “Face-Off” With Slim Shady Comes With Subtle Drake Jab
Complex released the full, nearly 12-minute video of The Face-Off: Slim Shady Vs. Marshall Mathers on Tuesday (July 30) in an effort to plug their latest cover story.
The clip finds Eminem portraying himself, Marshall Mathers, and having a frank discussion with his devilish alter-ego, Slim Shady. With the help of artificial intelligence, Shady looks exactly like he did in the early 2000s, when Eminem was in his prime and consistently offending as many people as possible.
But throughout their talk, it becomes increasingly clear how much growing Mathers has done over the last 16 years since getting sober. Much like the concept of his latest album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), Mathers is forced to confront his reckless past while illustrating how much the world has changed since Slim Shady first emerged.
By the end of the clip, Shady comes to a new understanding as it morphs into nothing more than a glorified therapy session. As Mathers tells him, “We’re in this together, baby. Let the therapy flow through you.”
Shady replies, “My bad, dawg. I sometimes get triggered. I’m obviously just racked with imposter syndrome overcompensating with misplaced aggression. I needed this trauma bonding s### to f#####’ protect my peace. No one understands how f#####’ toxic it is to always be the bad guy.”
Mathers assures him he’s not the “bad guy” and Shady soon vanishes, bringing the clip to a close.
Elsewhere during The Face-Off, the duo referenced Drake’s “Family Matters” when the conversation of weight arose. “We cured fatness,” Mathers tells Shady. “There’s literally a shot for it. It’s very popular,” in reference to the Type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic. Shady replies, “I hear it’s got side effects of jealousy,” mocking Drake’s “Family Matters” lyric.
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) sold more than 281,000 equivalent album units in its first week, including 164,500 streaming equivalent units (about 220 million streams), 114,000 pure album sales (all digital) and 2,500 track equivalent album units.
The project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, marking Eminem’s 11th straight number one album. It also momentarily stole the crown from Taylor Swift, whose Tortured Poets Department album had spent the past 12 weeks at the top. It will return to No. 1 next week for its 13 non-consecutive week.
Watch the full clip above.