Eminem put on a social media and content masterclass with the release of his new album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace)”.

It was his first album in four years and he didn’t hold back with a full scale marketing rollout.

Here’s a deep dive on what he did:

This newsletter highlights:

• Eminem’s “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace)” rollout

Let’s dive in ⬇️

The initial announcement

On April 25th, Eminem teased that his new album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace)” would be dropping Summer 2024 with a promo video on Instagram - the creative was inspired by the crime show Unsolved Mysteries and spoofed a fake show called Detroit Murder Files.

eminem

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In another recent album rollout breakdown of Charli xcx, I wrote about the interesting trend of superstar pop artists announcing their albums months in advance to build up hype. Eminem followed a similiar formula here by announcing the new album almost 3 months in advance.

In June, approximately one month before the album, Eminem announced the official release date with another promo video on his socials.

The Pre-order

On May 31, the same day as the lead single “Houdini” dropped, an exclusive pre-order launched on Eminem’s website. Available for just 1 week, fans could pre-order the digital version of the album and receive an exclusive bonus track.

The campaign came with its own announcement video and reminder promo video that went up a few days later.

Physical products

The physical offerings to support the new album include multi colored vinyl (Crayon + Blood Stained), cassettes, CDs, a lithograph, an iPhone case, and custom tees and hoodies.

Out of home marketing

Out of home marketing for the new album included a flash mob in Union Square, NYC with a group of fake Slim Shadys dancing together to promote the project.

The stunt was an ode and throwback to Eminem’s famous VMA’s performance.

Press

On brand with his mysterious mystique, there appears to be no press from Eminem himself at this time.

Collaborations

NFL

Eminem announced his new album the same night as the NFL Draft, which took place in Detroit and saw a performance from him as well as a custom Eminem NFL Draft t-shirt. As part of the campaign, the NFL also helped promote the forthcoming album.

David Blaine

To announce the release of his lead single “Houdini”, on May 28th Eminem partnered with magician David Blaine for a promo video that was a FaceTime between the two of them.

Fortnite

In late June, Em announced a new Houdini emote as part of his outfit in Fortnite.

COMPLEX

From July 12th-14th, Eminem partnered with COMPLEX for a pop-up on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles as well as one in London from July 17-18.

These partnerships saw Em’s reach span across gaming, media, and sports.

Live performances

Eminem performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Michigan Central Station’s re-opening as well as the London pop-up with Dr. Dre.

Key takeaways - social media engagement

One of my biggest take aways from this album rollout was the exceptional job Eminem did at keeping the world’s attention with an aggressive content output, all while world building.

With his last album coming 4 years ago, it was clear he wanted to roll out this new project with a bang and that he understood the current market we’re in - the volume of content he created and posted shows an understanding of the current oversaturated landscape and how much content you need to remain top of mind.

The aggressive output also helped highlight the art he must have spent so much time creating. From the time he announced that the album was coming this summer in late April, Em has posted +45 times on Instagram.

45! This is from one of the most legendary artists of all time with tens of millions of followers across social media. Even he went to great lengths to ensure his music was being heard and that there was maximum awareness.

While the album announcement came months before the project, Em kept people’s attention with a flurry of moments during the campaign and consolidated the rollout of individual singles. For example, here’s the rollout timeline on lead single “Houdini”:

• Tues 5/28 - announce single with David Blaine promo video

• Wed 5/29 - post Houdini single artwork

• Fri 5/31 - Houdini audio + video releases

The rollout window was a concise 3 days to ensure he had people’s attention for the entire week.

Em announced the album release date on July 1, approximately 2 weeks before it dropped. It helped keep the rollout window tight so he wouldn’t lose people’s attention in the ensuing days.

Em also went super hard promoting his singles and squeezing as much as he can with content out of these releases. Houdini promotion included:

• Multiple teasers

• An Instagram caraousel slider of stills from the music video

• An Instagram caraousel of BTS stills from the music video

• A spoof BTS video showing how Em did his own stuns for the video

Overall

The in depth rollout helped the new album become the highest selling rap album first week of 2024 with 281,000 album equivalents. It was another #1 Billboard album for Eminem and more importantly, a cultural topic of conversation amongst fans everywhere.

Rough timeline (there may be things missing)

This is a timeline of posts pulled from his Instagram:

4/25 - announce album coming this summer

4/25 - NFL Draft

4/26 - NFL x Eminem draft t-shirt available

5/28 - announce release date with David Blaine video

5/29 - post Houdini single artwork

5/31 - Houdini audio + music video release

5/31 - announce limited edition digital album w/ bonus track

6/1 - Houdini music video snippet (repromote video)

6/4 - limited edition digital album post reminder

6/4 - Instagram caraousel slider of screenshots from Houdini music video

6/5 - launch limited edition Rap Boy zip hoodie

6/10 - post BTS bloopers of stunts

6/14 - post BTS caraousel of making of Houdini

6/25 - Fortnite teaser (with Houdini as audio)

Tobey

6/28 - announce song with promo video ft. Big Sean & Babytron

7/1 - announce official album release date

7/2 - Tobey single artwork

7/3 - reminder of exclusive digital album with bonus track

7/5 - Tobey song teaser announcing release date 7/8

7/6 - reminder of exclusive digital album with bonus track

7/8 - Tobey audio + music video release

7/8 - White Castle Rapper tees on sale

7/8 - caraousel of stills from music video

7/9 - announce album artwork

7/9 - announce COMPLEX pop-up in LA

7/10 - album promo video

7/10 - White Castle Rapper t-shirt promo video

7/10 - Tobey video BTS caraousel

7/11 - album promo video

7/12 - post about album being concept album

7/12 - vinyl caraousel post

7/12 - crayon vinyl caraousel post

7/12 - album animated artwork post

7/14 - Union Square flash mob recap

7/12 - 7/14 - COMPLEX pop-up in LA

7/17-7/18 - COMPLEX pop-up in London

Thanks for reading, until next time.