Eminem surprised fans late Thursday night/early Friday morning with the unannounced release of his 11th studio album, Music To Be Murdered By. The album marks the first release by the Detroit-native rapper since 2018’s Kamikaze.
It’s your funeral…#MusicToBeMurderedBy Out Now – https://t.co/q4TAFJUVGV pic.twitter.com/6PqnTjCKgu
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) January 17, 2020
The 20-track album features guest appearances by a slew of high-profile artists including Ed Sheeran, Black Thought, Q-Tip, Anderson .Paak, and Young M.A. and a posthumous appearance by Juice WRLD on “Godzilla”. Music To Be Murdered By also features a collaboration with three-quarters of the hip-hop supergroup, Slaughterhouse, on the album’s penultimate track, “I Will” (Royce Da 5′ 9″, Joell Ortiz, Kxng Crooked).
Eminem also noted that the album’s ominous themes and stylized album cover were inspired by revered thriller filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock.
Inspired by the master, Uncle Alfred! #MusicToBeMurderedBy pic.twitter.com/ilXAjJtqzV
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) January 17, 2020
Along with the release of the album, Eminem shared the gloomy music video for Music To Be Murdered By single “Darkness”, a darkly reflective anti-gun violence protest track that channels visuals of the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival. Over sparsely sampled notes of Simon & Garfunkel‘s “The Sound of Silence”, “Darkness” places Eminem—a.k.a. Marshall Mathers III—in the hotel room from which the attacker carried out his heinous deed. You can watch the haunting video below:
Eminem – “Darkness” – Official Video
[Video: EminemMusic]
You can listen to Eminem’s Music To Be Murdered By in its entirety below via Spotify:
Eminem – Music To Be Murdered By – Full Album