Billboard has accidently revealed the release date of Eminem ‘s upcoming 12th solo studio album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) while covering Slim Shady’s electrifying performance at Michigan Central Station on June 6, 2024.
“Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central” brought out the hometown hero likes of Eminem (who co-executive produced the concert with his manager, Paul Rosenberg), and who made the crowd go nuts when he hopped on stage for a surprise four-song mini-set that included the live debut of his new single, “Houdini” and a collaboration with Jelly Roll.
Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean, Slum Village and gospel greats the Clark Sisters and Kierra Sheard were also on hand to celebrate the refurbished Michigan Central. The former railroad station in the city’s southwest side had been shuttered since 1988 and became what Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan called “a symbol of our decline” as it fell into disrepair. The Ford Motor Co. purchased the building in 2018, spending a reported $940 million to turn it into a center for advanced technological development in transportation and other fields.
The show itself — which was streamed on Peacock and will be edited into a one-hour NBC special at 7 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday (June 9) — was a nearly two-hour party celebrating the city and its musical heritage, but with a global perspective. “We’ve been invested in trying to rebrand the image of the city and how people see it for a long time,” Rosenberg, who worked in conjunction with Jesse Collins Entertainment, explained to Billboard prior to the show. “The challenge was, ‘What kind of picture can we paint here that’s going to be interesting not just locally but nationally?’ We wanted to make a compelling program that’s going to interest people across the country, not just people who are familiar with Detroit.
Rosenberg added that he and Eminem used the adage “as goes Detroit, so goes the nation” — from a 1942 Arthur Pond essay in The Atlantic — “as a framework… all these ideas about how the city is viewed not just locally but nationally to help frame the program.”
While Billboard covered all these up, they accidently (or mistakenly) revealed the release date of Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace). In one of the paragraphs, we read: “And while Eminem — who filmed parts of the video for his 2009 single “Beautiful” in the then-abandoned Michigan Central — was not billed as a performer when the show was announced, it surprised few that he closed the evening. Joined by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra the hoodied rapper presented the live debut of “Houdini,” the just-released first single from his upcoming The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) album (July 5), then “Sing For the Moment” with Jelly Roll, “Welcome 2 Detroit” with Trick Trick and a bombastic “Not Afraid,” which was followed by a short show-ending fireworks display. But later, the biggest music industry magazine removed the date from their article, but fans kept the screenshot, which you can check below and read the full article on Billboard here.
A @Billboard article from June 7, covering #Eminem‘s performance at Michigan Central, may have just dropped a bombshell. It seems they’ve let slip the release date for “The Death of Slim Shady.” If the whispers are true, mark your calendars for July 5th. #thedeathofslimshady pic.twitter.com/B4IT6EpjTk
— SHADYVERSE / Eminem Brasil (@EminemBrasil) June 8, 2024