Music to Be Murdered By

Music to Be Murdered By (stylized as MUSIC TO BE MURDERƎD BY) is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on January 17, 2020, by Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope Records and Shady Records. It was released with no prior announcement, in a similar fashion to his previous studio album Kamikaze (2018). The album was produced by Eminem and Dr. Dre, amongst other producers. It features guest appearances from Young M.A, Royce da 5'9", White Gold, Ed Sheeran, the late Juice Wrld, Skylar Grey, Black Thought, Q-Tip, Denaun, Anderson .Paak, Don Toliver, Kxng Crooked and Joell Ortiz.

Music to Be Murdered By
Standard cover. The physical CD cover features Eminem, hatless, posing with his hands behind his back.
Studio album by Eminem
Released	January 17, 2020 (2020-01-17)
Recorded	2019
Genre	Hip hop[1]
Length	64:22
Label	Shady Aftermath Interscope
Producer	Dr. Dre (also exec.) Eminem (also exec.) Alchemist Andre "Briss" Brissett D. A. Doman Dawaun Parker Dem Jointz Erik "Blu2th" Griggs Fred Luis Resto Mark Batson Mr. Porter Ricky Racks Royce da 5'9" Skylar Grey Tim Suby Trevor Lawrence Jr.
Eminem chronology
Kamikaze (2018) Music to Be Murdered By (2020)
Alternative cover art
The alternative cover features Eminem posing with a gun and axe pointed to his head.[2] The above file's purpose is being discussed and/or is being considered for deletion. See files for discussion to help reach a consensus on what to do.
Singles from MUSIC TO BE MURDERED BY
"Darkness" Released: January 17, 2020[3][4] "Godzilla" Released: January 31, 2020[5]

The album is dedicated to the late Juice Wrld and Eminem's late bodyguard CeeAaqil Barnes. The album's title, cover art and concept are inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and Jeff Alexander's 1958 spoken word album Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By. The album was supported by two singles: "Darkness" and "Godzilla". Alongside the album's surprise release, Eminem also released the music video for "Darkness", which revolves around the 2017 Las Vegas shooting from the point of view of the perpetrator Stephen Paddock alternating with Eminem's own.

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 279,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. Subsequently, Eminem became the first artist to have ten consecutive albums debut at number one in the US and one of six artists to have released at least ten US number-one albums.[6] Music critics praised Eminem's lyrical abilities and the improved production after Kamikaze, while criticism directed towards the album's formulaic song structure, lack of innovation and shock value.[7]

The Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, responded to Eminem making light of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, saying, "This is unnecessarily hurtful and deeply disrespectful to the families and all those affected." The criticism of the album's subject matter led to Eminem responding in an open letter, saying that Music to Be Murdered By is "not for the squeamish" and is "designed to shock the conscience."[7]

Recording and production

In 2019, A&R representative Mike "Heron" Herard of Shady Records pursued production contributions for a new album by Eminem. This was a departure from his usual process at his company BeatleHustle, which manages sample composers who send their beats to high-profile producers. Eventually, a group of producers had been enlisted for the project, including Eminem's longtime creative partners Royce da 5'9" and Dr. Dre, as well as the latter's colleagues – Dawaun Parker, Lawrence Jr., Dem Jointz, and Erik Griggs – and young, burgeoning producers – D.A. Doman (producer of Tyga's "Taste") and Ricky Racks (producer of Future's "Crushed Up").[8]

According to a January 2020 Rolling Stone feature on the album's making, "Lawrence Jr. has been working sporadically with Dr. Dre since the rapper-producer left Death Row Records in the Nineties; starting in the summer, the drummer went into the studio with the rest of Dr. Dre's team to create a suite of tracks that ended up on the back half of Music to Be Murdered By." Lawrence Jr. told the magazine, "Dem Jointz is a producer, Eric Griggs plays keys, bass, and guitar, Dawaun Parker is a keyboard player and producer, myself, I'm a drummer. We know Dre’s instincts, and he’s the coach, the orchestrator."[8]

Other collaborators for the album included Black Thought, Q-Tip, Juice Wrld, Ed Sheeran, Young M.A, Skylar Grey, Don Toliver, Anderson .Paak, Kxng Crooked and Joell Ortiz.[9] On the track "Godzilla", Eminem recorded a third verse that broke the record for the fastest verse on a charted track, rapping 10.65 syllables per second. [10] Eminem surpassed his own records held by his featured verse on Nicki Minaj's 2018 song "Majesty", where he rapped 10.3 syllables per second, and his 2013 single "Rap God", where he rapped 9.6 syllables per second.[10]

Title and packaging

Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By, which inspired this album's alternate cover

The album's title and alternative cover art share the same concept as the 1958 album Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By, which interspersed audio of the director Alfred Hitchcock's wry, dark humor into easy listening instrumentals arranged by Jeff Alexander.[2] Eminem tweeted an image of the 1958 album cover featuring Hitchcock holding an axe and a gun to his head and stated that his album's alternative cover was "inspired by the master, Uncle Alfred!"[11] Audio of Hitchcock's voice from the 1958 album is sampled in the interludes "Alfred" and "Alfred (Outro)" and the beginning of the track "Little Engine".[2] Both the 1958 and 2020 albums end with Hitchcock stating, "If you haven’t been murdered, I can only say better luck next time. If you have been, goodnight, wherever you are."[2] Mark Beech of Forbes magazine connected the alternate cover to this album's concept of murder and violence.[12]

In the packaging, Eminem dedicates the album to Juice Wrld,[13] who died from an accidental drug overdose on December 8, 2019,[14] and Eminem's former bodyguard CeeAaqil Allah Barnes who also died.[13] Juice Wrld's feature on "Godzilla" marked his first posthumous release.[15]

Marketing and sales

The album was released on January 17, 2020, by Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope Records and Shady Records. It was released as a surprise with no prior announcement, similarly to his previous and tenth studio album Kamikaze (2018).[16] Alongside the album's release, Eminem also released a music video for "Darkness",[17] directed by James Larese.[11] The video, which revolves around the 2017 Las Vegas shooting from the point of view of the perpetrator Stephen Paddock alternating with Eminem's own, garnered appraisal but controversy too.[18] On January 31, 2020, "Godzilla" was released as a single,[5] with a music video directed by Cole Bennett later being released on March 6.[19]

In the United States, Music to Be Murdered By opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 279,000 album-equivalent units, consisting of 117,000 traditional album sales, 217.6 million streams and 8,000 track equivalent albums. Eminem became the first artist to have ten consecutive albums debut at number one in the US and one of six artists to have released at least ten number-one albums.[6] It also debuted at the top of the Canadian Albums Chart, becoming Eminem's 11th number-one album in Canada with 33,000 album-equivalent units.[20] The album remained at the top spot in Canada for four straight weeks, the longest for an Eminem album since Recovery.[21][22]

The album also entered atop the UK Albums Chart with first week sales of 36,000 album equivalent units, making Eminem the first artist to release 10 consecutive number one albums in the UK. He also achieved a chart double with Godzilla debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart.[23] Music to Be Murdered By was also the top album in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.8/10[24]
Metacritic	64/100[25]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[26]
And It Don't Stop	A–[27]
Clash	7/10[28]
The Daily Telegraph	[29]
Entertainment Weekly	B[30]
The Guardian	[31]
The Independent	[32]
NME	[33]
Pitchfork	5.5/10[34]
Rolling Stone	[35]

Music to Be Murdered By was met with mixed reviews.[36] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 64, based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25] The aggregator AnyDecentMusic? has the critical consensus of the album at a 5.8 out of 10.[24]

Veteran critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A-minus,[27] while Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph rated it a perfect five-stars, and stated, "Eminem's 11th album offers over an hour of the world's greatest rapper blasting away on all cylinders. It is the first great album of 2020, so lethally brilliant [that] it should be a crime".[29] Scott Glaysher of HipHopDX was also positive, and compared the album to Eminem's previous bodies of work, stating in his review that "Music To Be Murdered By is far from the star-studded, commercially sustainable album Recovery was, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. On this album, despite its handful of flaws, Em shows strong signs of adapting to the times through modern musical choices and smarter songwriting."[37] Consequence of Sound's Dan Weiss was generally positive, and, about the album's themes, he said that "If he's figuring out from scratch how to be a compelling artist again, Eminem's improved the caliber of his beats and guests, taking stands against the right day-to-day injustices, toning down the tasteless (with the exception of the already-infamous Ariana line, of course), and rapping with the manic precision of someone who just snorted a whole sandcastle of cocaine and Vyvanse. If only a single minute of it was as hilarious or bracing as Chris D'Elia's impression of him."[38] Similarly, Fred Thomas of AllMusic opined, "Music to Be Murdered By sees Eminem pulling himself out of Kamikaze's wreckage somewhat, though he still falls victim to moments of willful dumbness and a tedious self-obsession that's become par for the course. On the album's best tracks, there are still hints of the fire that made Eminem a rap legend."[26]

Entertainment Weekly's Christopher R. Weingarten was more critical, stating that, "As a whole, Music to Be Murdered By is as hit-and-miss as anything Eminem has released this side of the millennium. But remove the skits, the relationship songs, the family songs, the morose gun control song, and the quirky Ed Sheeran club goof and you still have 36 solid minutes of the daffy, one-of-a-kind rap genius that keeps captivating true-school heads and longtime fans. Or, if you'd like, keep it all and you still have the most solid work he's done in a few years."[30] NME's Jordan Basset was ambivalent towards the album's lyrical themes and stated, "He splits the difference on Music To Be Murdered By, indulging his immature ego (griping at bad reviews, stirring controversy for the sake of it) even as he offers salient social criticism and admits his missteps. He's ready to pass on hard-earned wisdom before running his mouth like he hasn't learned his own lessons. And he offers casual fans a hook or two before embarking on another lyrical work-out."[33] Paul A. Thompson of Pitchfork said that the album "is not, strictly speaking, a good record—Eminem hasn't made one of those in a decade—but his latest boasts enough technical command and generates just enough arresting ideas to hold your attention."[34]

The song "Darkness", about the 2017 Las Vegas shooting and told from the point of view of the shooter Stephen Paddock alternating with Eminem's own, has garnered particular attention and critical acclaim.[18]

Controversy

The lyrics of "Unaccomodating", in which Eminem referenced the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, drew significant criticism, with many critics finding the lyrics objectionable. The mayor of Manchester denounced the song's lyrics, describing them as "unnecessarily hurtful and deeply disrespectful." The lyrics also drew widespread criticism from victims' relatives and others involved in the attack.[39]

Roisin O'Connor of The Independent gave the album a negative review, and criticized the album by saying, "Eminem belittles the trauma of a then 26-year-old Ariana Grande for kicks on "Unaccommodating" by comparing himself to the Manchester Arena bomber. The sour taste of this track lingers well beyond the album's centrepiece, "Darkness", which is intended as a searing critique of America's toxic gun culture. Instead, his use of gunfire and explosion samples feels grossly exploitative."[32]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[40]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Premonition" (Intro)	Marshall Mathers Andre Young Mark Batson Dawaun Parker Nikki Grier Jeff Alexander Luis Resto	Eminem Dr. Dre Batson Parker^[b] Resto^[b]	2:53
2.	"Unaccommodating" (featuring Young M.A)	Mathers Katorah Marrero Tim Suby Resto	Eminem Suby^[b]	3:36
3.	"You Gon' Learn" (featuring Royce da 5'9" and White Gold)	Mathers Ryan Montgomery Bobby Yewah Resto Carol Connors David Shire	Eminem^[a] Resto^[b] Royce da 5'9"	3:54
4.	"Alfred" (interlude)	Young Parker Andre Brissett Alexander	Dr. Dre Parker Andre "Briss" Brissett	0:30
5.	"Those Kinda Nights" (featuring Ed Sheeran)	Mathers Ed Sheeran Fred Gibson Resto David Doman Adrienne Byrne	Eminem^[a] D. A. Doman Fred Again^[b]	2:57
6.	"In Too Deep"	Mathers Suby Oliver Chanin Resto Sylvester Jordan	Eminem^[a] Suby	3:14
7.	"Godzilla" (featuring Juice Wrld)	Mathers Jarad Higgins Resto Doman Alejandro Villasana	Eminem^[b] Doman	3:30
8.	"Darkness"	Mathers Montgomery Resto Paul Simon	Eminem Royce da 5'9" Resto^[b]	5:37
9.	"Leaving Heaven" (featuring Skylar Grey)	Mathers Holly Hafermann Elliott Taylor	Eminem^[a] Skylar Grey	4:25
10.	"Yah Yah" (featuring Royce da 5'9", Black Thought, Q-Tip and Denaun)	Mathers Montgomery Tariq Trotter Denaun Porter Trevor Smith Rashad Smith Galt MacDermot James Brown Charles Bobbit Fred Wesley William Hines Andre Weston	Mr. Porter	4:46
11.	"Stepdad" (intro)	Young	Dr. Dre	0:15
12.	"Stepdad"	Mathers Daniel Maman Resto Luis Alberto Spinetta Black Amaya Carlos Cutaia	Eminem The Alchemist Resto^[b]	3:33
13.	"Marsh"	Mathers Resto	Eminem Resto^[b]	3:20
14.	"Never Love Again"	Mathers Young Resto Dwayne Abernathy, Jr. Trevor Lawrence Jr. Parker	Eminem^[b] Dr. Dre Dem Jointz Trevor Lawrence Jr. Parker	2:57
15.	"Little Engine"	Mathers Young Erik Griggs Lawrence Parker Alexander	Dr. Dre Erik "Blu2th" Griggs Lawrence Parker	2:57
16.	"Lock It Up" (featuring Anderson .Paak)	Mathers Brandon Anderson Young Parker Griggs Lawrence Abernathy	Dr. Dre Parker Griggs Lawrence Dem Jointz	2:50
17.	"Farewell"	Mathers Resto Ricky Harrell Jr. Dave Kelly Craig Marsh	Eminem^[b] Ricky Racks	4:07
18.	"No Regrets" (featuring Don Toliver)	Mathers Caleb Toliver Doman Daniel Kostov Justin Thomas Anders Olofsson	Eminem^[b] D.A. Doman	3:20
19.	"I Will" (featuring Kxng Crooked, Royce da 5'9" and Joell Ortiz)	Mathers Dominick Wickliffe Montgomery Joell Ortiz Resto	Eminem Resto^[b]	5:02
20.	"Alfred" (Outro)	Young Parker Brissett Alexander	Dr. Dre Parker Brissett	0:39
Total length:				64:22

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer

Sample credits

• "Premonition (Intro)" and "Alfred (Interlude)" contain samples of "Music to be Murdered By", written by Jeff Alexander, as performed by Alfred Hitchcock.
• "Little Engine" contains a sample of "Do Not Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You", written by Jeff Alexander, as performed by Alfred Hitchcock.
• "Alfred (Outro)" contains a sample of "The Hour of Parting", written by Jeff Alexander, as performed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[40]

• Eminem – vocals, producer (tracks 1.2, 8, 12, 13, 19), co-producer (tracks 3, 5, 6, 9), additional production (tracks 2, 7, 14.1, 17, 18), executive producer

Musicians Black Thought – featured artist (track 10) Adrienne "Aeb" Byrne – additional programming (track 5) Kxng Crooked – featured artist (track 19) Dem Jointz – additional drums (track 15) Focus… – additional drums and keyboards (track 16) FredWreck – additional drum programming (track 14.1), additional keyboards (track 14.2) Nikki Grier – additional vocals (track 1.1) Erik "Blu2th" Griggs – bass (track 14.1), additional drums (track 14.2) Skylar Grey – featured artist (track 9) Juice Wrld – featured artist (track 7) Daniel Kostov – additional programming (track 18) Anders Olofsson – additional programming (track 18) Joell Ortiz – featured artist (track 19) Anderson .Paak – featured artist (track 16) Dawaun Parker – additional drums (track 14.2) Denaun Porter – featured artist (track 10) Sly Pyper – background vocals (track 6) Q-Tip – featured artist (track 10) Luis Resto – additional keyboards (tracks 2-10, 12, 13, 14.1, 17-19) Royce da 5'9" – featured artist (tracks 3, 10, 19) Ed Sheeran – featured artist (track 5) Justin Thomas – additional programming (track 18) Don Toliver – featured artist (track 18) White Gold – featured artist (track 3) Alejandro Villasana – additional programming (track 7) Young M.A – featured artist (track 2)

Technical personnel The Alchemist – producer (track 12) Mark Batson – producer (track 1.1) Andre "Briss" Brissett – producer (tracks 4, 20) Tony Campana – assistant engineer (tracks 1.2, 2-10, 12-20) D.A. Doman – producer (tracks 5, 7, 18) Dem Jointz – producer (tracks 14, 16) Dr. Dre – producer (tracks 1.1, 4, 11, 14-16, 20), mixing (tracks 1.1, 11, 14-16), executive producer IV Duncan – engineer (tracks 3, 10) Fred – additional production (track 5) Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering Quentin "Q" Gilkey – engineer (tracks 4, 11, 14-16, 20) Skylar Grey – producer (track 9) Erik "Blu2th" Griggs – producer (tracks 15, 16) Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri – engineer (track 1.1) Brian "B-Jones" Jones – engineer (tracks 3, 8, 10) Trevor Lawrence Jr. – producer (tracks 14-16) Victor Luevanos – engineer (track 7), assistant engineer (tracks 4, 6, 14-16, 20) Dawaun Parker – producer (track 4, 14.1, 15, 16, 20), additional production (track 1.1) Denaun Porter – producer (track 10) Ricky Racks – producer (track 17) Luis Resto – additional production (tracks 1.2, 3, 8, 12, 13, 19) Robert Reyes – assistant engineer (track 1.1) Royce da 5'9" – producer (tracks 3, 8) Joe Strange – assistant engineer (tracks 1.2, 2-10, 12-20) Mike Strange – engineer (tracks 1.2, 2-10, 12-20), mixing (tracks 1.2, 2, 3, 5-10, 12, 13, 17-19) Tim Suby – producer (tracks 2, 6) Julio Ulloa – assistant engineer (track 7)

Charts

Chart (2020)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[41]	1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[42]	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[43]	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[44]	5
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[45]	1
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[46]	1
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[47]	1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[48]	1
Estonian Albums (Eesti Tipp-40)[49]	1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[50]	1
French Albums (SNEP)[51]	4
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[52]	2
Greek Albums (IFPI)[53]	1
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[54]	15
Irish Albums (OCC)[55]	1
Italian Albums (FIMI)[56]	4
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[57]	38
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[58]	42
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[59]	1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[60]	1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[61]	1
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[62]	5
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[63]	2
Scottish Albums (OCC)[64]	2
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[65]	52
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[66]	14
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[67]	2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[68]	1
UK Albums (OCC)[69]	1
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[70]	1
US Billboard 200[71]	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[72]	1

Certifications and Sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[73]	Platinum	80,000
China	—	301,790[74]
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[75]	Gold	10,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[76]	Gold	7,500
United Kingdom (BPI)[77]	Gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)[78]	Gold	500,000
^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

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External links

• Music to Be Murdered By at Discogs
• Music to Be Murdered By at MusicBrainz (list of releases)