News : Eminem Readies "The Death Of Slim Shady" Album: Artists We Want On The Album

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Eminem has not released a solo album since 2020's Music To Be Murdered By: Side B. However, Dr. Dre shocked the hip hop world weeks ago when he announced that his musical protege would be releasing an album later this year, remarking, "I've got songs on it, and it's fire." Now that fans have seen the first promotional materials for the new project, revealed to be titled The Death Of Slim Shady, a wave of excitement has already begun. This is also the first time Eminem has announced a project with advanced notice since his critically panned 2017 effort Revival. Subsequent Eminem drops have all been surprise releases.

Eminem's recent efforts, such as his inclusion in the Lyrical Lemonade album All Is Yellow, have been praised as a return to form by many fans, leading some to believe The Death Of Slim Shady will be his strongest body of work in a long time. While we don't have a tracklist or album art just yet, now is as good a time as any to speculate what hip-hop legends will appear on the project, or at least, which ones the fans would be most happy to see.

5. Jay-Z

Eminem and Jay-Z haven't traded bars since 2001's "Renegade," though they have always shown each other love. The pair also co-headlined the Home & Home tour together in 2010, sharing the stage for some of their greatest solo hits. While Jay-Z hasn't been rapping much lately, it would surely be a monumental moment to get these two hip-hop icons back on a track together on The Death Of Slim Shady. Jay-Z was instrumental in bringing Eminem to the Super Bowl halftime show in 2022, so the pair definitely know how to get in touch with each other.

4. Westside Gunn

Despite having been once signed to a distribution deal with Shady Records, Westside Gunn has never properly shared a track with the Death Of Slim Shady rapper. Gunn and Benny The Butcher hopped on a remix of the Conway The Machine track "Bang" which featured Eminem back in 2019, though that is the closest we've ever been to getting an Eminem track with the core Griselda trio.

These days, it's likely kind of a long shot to get Westside Gunn on any Shady Records release, as the rapper has alluded to the imprint offering a general lack of support since concluding his deal. Still, the very notion of Eminem spitting dense, wordplay-heavy lyrics over an Alchemist beat, ad-libbed by Westside Gunn shouting gun onomatopoeias is enough to give any hip-hop head the stank face.

3. Nas

Nas has offered Eminem something of a career blueprint in recent years, with his illustrious six-album run from 2020 through 2023 serving as some of the best music to be produced by a hip-hop elder in the history of the genre. Eminem popped up for a feature on the King's Disease 2 track "EPMD 2," prompting a flurry of questions from fans as to why these two legends don't collaborate more often. Nas is currently gearing up for a full studio album with DJ Premiere, so there's still plenty of time for Marshall to meet him in the studio if he hasn't already.

2. 50 Cent

Whether you love Eminem, hate him, or feel largely indifferent to his musical legacy, we can likely all agree that his work with 50 Cent is some of his best. 50 already appeared in the first promotional video for The Death Of Slim Shady, humorously confessing, "I thought we were friends. He's not a friend, he's a psychopath." Like Jay-Z, 50 doesn't come outside to rap quite as often as he used to, but if there's one MC who could make him dust off his pen and spit a career-defining verse, it's Eminem.

Em and 50 also recently appeared in a comedy skit for Jimmy Kimmel Live, which saw them operating on Kimmel alongside hip-hop legends Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. Given the evidence, it's clear that Eminem and 50 Cent have been hanging out lately, so it would come as no surprise if it turns out that they've been in the booth together.

1. Royce Da 5'9"

In the latter half of Eminem's career, many albums have featured unnecessary collaborations with pop singers instead of respected hip-hop legends. This has been a key critique from Eminem fans and haters alike. Of all the hardcore rhymers Em has ever stood beside, Royce da 5'9" has pushed him the hardest, getting incredible performances out of the Detroit MC on tracks such as "You Gon' Learn," "Fast Lane," "Vegas," and even the original version of "Renegade," before Jay-Z jumped on it. Eminem launched his official studio career with the album The Slim Shady LP in 1999, prominently featuring Royce on the track "Bad Meets Evil." If The Death Of Slim Shady truly is the closing of a chapter, there's no other way for Eminem to do it than with at least one or two verses from his long-time Detroit cohort.