Eminem is expanding his new albumThe Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)by teaming up with two legends on the project’s bonus edition: DJ Premier and 2 Chainz.
Em and 2 Chainz each rap a long verse on the Preem-produced song “Kyrie & Luka.”
The track, named after Dallas Mavericks stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, is produced by Premier, who uses elements of Eric B. & Rakim’s 1987 classic “Move the Crowd” in the new song’s beat.
The so-called “Steve Berman Edition” of Eminem’s new project, which is on sale until Friday (July 19), comes with a skit featuring the Interscope Records vice chairman, who originally appeared on Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP and its follow-up, The Eminem Show.
In addition, it contains two bonus songs, the aforementioned “Kyrie & Luka” and “Like My Shit.”
Keeping with the NBA theme of “Kyrie & Luka,” 2 Chainz makes two basketball references on the song. In one, he raps, “Things are going left like Julius Randle,” the Knicks player who has been criticized for his “inability to drive right.”
Chainz remains on topic by closing his verse with a reference to Kyrie Irving, one of the players mentioned in the song’s title: “Just like Kyrie, I got this shit handled.”
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) is set to make a big splash on the Billboard charts, judging by its first-week sales projections.
HITS Daily Double reported on Monday (July 15) that the project is expected to earn between 270,000 and 290,000 album-equivalent units in its opening week.
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This would secure Em a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, dethroning Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department after a dominant 12 consecutive weeks atop the chart.
It would also mark the Detroit rap legend’s 11th No. 1 album, putting him level with Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand. Only Drake (13), Swift (14), JAY-Z (also 14) and The Beatles (19) have more.
While the 270-290K ballpark sits at the lower end of the spectrum for Eminem, whose 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP opened with a staggering 1.78 million units, The Death of Slim Shady could still outsell more recent efforts like Revival (267,000) and Music to be Murdered By (279,000).
