Music to Be Murdered By
Eminem's surprise album inspired by Alfred Hitchcock.
Music to Be Murdered By is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Eminem, released on January 17, 2020, through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making Eminem the first artist with ten consecutive US number-one albums. The album's title and concept draw from Alfred Hitchcock and Jeff Alexander's 1958 spoken word album of the same name.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Eminem
- Released
- 17 January 2020
- Recorded
- 2019
- Studio
- Record One (Los Angeles)
- Effigy (Detroit)
- Heaven (Detroit)
- The ICU (Brentwood, California)
- Genre
- Hip-hop; trap
- Length
- 64:23
- Label
- Shady
- Goliath
- Aftermath
- Interscope
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
Disc one
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Premonition (Intro) | Marshall Mathers, Nikki Grier, Andre Young, Mark Batson, Dawaun Parker, Luis Resto, Jeff Alexander | 2:53 |
| 2 | Unaccommodating (featuring Young M.A) | Mathers, Katorah Marrero, Resto, Tim Suby | 3:36 |
| 3 | You Gon' Learn (featuring Royce da 5'9" and White Gold) | Mathers, Ryan Montgomery, Bobby Yewah, Resto, Carol Connors, David Shire | 3:54 |
| 4 | Alfred (Interlude) | Young, Parker, Andre Brissett, Alexander | 0:30 |
| 5 | Those Kinda Nights (featuring Ed Sheeran) | Mathers, Ed Sheeran, Fred Gibson, Resto, David Doman, Adrienne Byrne | 2:57 |
| 6 | In Too Deep | Mathers, Suby, Oliver Chanin, Resto, Sylvester Jordan | 3:14 |
| 7 | Godzilla (featuring Juice Wrld) | Mathers, Jarad Higgins, Resto, Doman, Alejandro Villasana | 3:30 |
| 8 | Darkness | Mathers, Montgomery, Resto, Paul Simon | 5:37 |
| 9 | Leaving Heaven (featuring Skylar Grey) | Mathers, Holly Hafermann, Elliott Taylor | 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 | 4:46 |
| 11 | Stepdad (Intro) | Young | 0:15 |
| 12 | Stepdad | Mathers, Daniel Maman, Resto, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Black Amaya, Carlos Cutaia | 3:33 |
| 13 | Marsh | Mathers, Resto | 3:20 |
| 14 | Never Love Again | Mathers, Young, Resto, Dwayne Abernathy Jr., Trevor Lawrence Jr., Parker | 2:57 |
| 15 | Little Engine | Mathers, Young, Erik Griggs, Lawrence, Parker, Alexander | 2:57 |
| 16 | Lock It Up (featuring Anderson .Paak) | Mathers, Brandon Anderson, Young, Parker, Griggs, Lawrence, Abernathy | 2:50 |
| 17 | Farewell | Mathers, Resto, Ricky Harrell Jr., Dave Kelly, Craig Marsh | 4:07 |
| 18 | No Regrets (featuring Don Toliver) | Mathers, Caleb Toliver, Doman, Daniel Kostov, Justin Thomas, Anders Olofsson | 3:20 |
| 19 | I Will (featuring Kxng Crooked, Royce da 5'9", and Joell Ortiz) | Mathers, Dominick Wickliffe, Montgomery, Joell Ortiz, Resto | 5:03 |
| 20 | Alfred (Outro) | Young, Parker, Brissett, Alexander | 0:39 |
| Total length | 64:23 | ||
Disc two
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfred (Intro) | Mathers, Resto, Alexander | 0:17 |
| 2 | Black Magic (with Skylar Grey) | Mathers, Hafermann, Taylor, Resto, Jayson DeZuzio | 2:54 |
| 3 | Alfred's Theme | Mathers, Resto, Charles-Francis Gounod | 5:39 |
| 4 | Tone Deaf | Mathers, Resto | 4:50 |
| 5 | Book of Rhymes (featuring DJ Premier) | Mathers, Christopher Martin, Ray Fraser, Resto, Ronald Spence Jr., Marrero, Matthew Jacobson, Nayvadius Wilburn, Jacob Canady, Nasir Jones, Peter Phillips | 4:49 |
| 6 | Favorite Bitch (featuring Ty Dolla $ign) | Mathers, Tyrone Griffin, Jr., Sly Jordan, Resto, Byron Perry, MJ Nichols | 3:56 |
| 7 | Guns Blazing (featuring Dr. Dre and Sly Pyper) | Mathers, Young, Jordan, Resto, Jeremy Zumo Kollie, Jason Pounds, V. Smith | 3:16 |
| 8 | Gnat | Mathers, Doman, Anders Olofsson, Ezemdi Chikwendu, D. Levin, K. Mars | 3:44 |
| 9 | Higher | Mathers, Resto, Jordan, Mike Strange, Brissett | 3:42 |
| 10 | These Demons (featuring MAJ) | Mathers, James Hudson Jr., Yewah, Doman, William Coleman, Shiv Barot, Pat Rosario, Levin, M. Benzinger | 3:27 |
| 11 | Key (Skit) | Mathers, Resto | 0:57 |
| 12 | She Loves Me | Mathers, Jordan, Young, Bernard Edwards Jr., Griggs, Lawrence | 3:24 |
| 13 | Killer | Mathers, Doman, Chikwendu | 3:15 |
| 14 | Zeus (featuring White Gold) | Mathers, Yewah, Tyler Williams, Luca Mauti | 3:50 |
| 15 | Thus Far (Interlude) | Mathers, Resto, Alexander | 0:16 |
| 16 | Discombobulated | Mathers, Young, Larry Griffin Jr., Batson, Parker, Nichols, Lawrence, Frano Huett | 4:12 |
| Total length | 52:28 | ||
Track listing from the source article.
Recording and production
In 2019, Shady Records A&R Mike "Heron" Herard sought production contributions for a new Eminem album. Producers enlisted included Eminem's longtime collaborators Royce da 5'9" and Dr. Dre, along with Dre's colleagues Dawaun Parker, Lawrence Jr., Dem Jointz, Mista Choc, DJ Silk, and Erik Griggs, as well as younger producers D.A. Doman and Ricky Racks. According to a Rolling Stone feature, Lawrence Jr. worked with Dr. Dre's team starting in the summer to create tracks for the album's second half. Lawrence Jr. described the group as knowing Dre's instincts, with Dre acting as coach and orchestrator. Guest contributors included Black Thought, Q-Tip, Juice Wrld, Ed Sheeran, Young M.A, Skylar Grey, Don Toliver, Anderson .Paak, Kxng Crooked, and Joell Ortiz. On "Godzilla", Eminem recorded a third verse that set a record for the fastest verse on a charted track, rapping 10.65 syllables per second, surpassing his own previous records on Nicki Minaj's "Majesty" and his own "Rap God".
Release and promotion
The album was released as a surprise on January 17, 2020, with no prior announcement, similar to Eminem's previous album Kamikaze. Alongside the release, a music video for "Darkness" directed by James Larese was issued, depicting the 2017 Las Vegas shooting from the perpetrator's perspective alternating with Eminem's own, which drew both praise and controversy. On January 31, 2020, "Godzilla" was released as a single, with a music video by Cole Bennett following on March 6. The album's title and alternative cover art are taken from the 1958 album Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By, which featured Hitchcock's dark humor over easy listening instrumentals by Jeff Alexander. Eminem tweeted an image of the 1958 cover and said his alternative cover was "inspired by the master, Uncle Alfred!" Hitchcock's voice is sampled in the interludes "Alfred" and "Alfred (Outro)" and the beginning of "Little Engine". The album has three covers: a digital cover with Eminem holding a shovel, an alternate cover with him pointing a gun and holding an axe to his head, and a physical CD cover with him hatless and hands behind his back. Eminem dedicated the album to Juice Wrld and his former bodyguard CeeAaqil Allah Barnes.
Critical reception
Music to Be Murdered By received mixed to positive reviews. AnyDecentMusic? gave it an average score of 5.8 out of 10. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph called it "the first great album of 2020, so lethally brilliant [that] it should be a crime." Scott Glaysher of HipHopDX compared it favorably to Eminem's earlier work, noting that despite flaws, the album shows signs of adapting to the times through modern musical choices and smarter songwriting. Dan Weiss of Consequence of Sound said Eminem improved the caliber of his beats and guests, taking stands against injustices and rapping with manic precision, though he found none of it as hilarious as Chris D'Elia's impression of him. Fred Thomas of AllMusic wrote that the album sees Eminem pulling himself out of Kamikaze's wreckage, though he still falls into moments of willful dumbness and tedious self-obsession, with hints of the fire that made him a rap legend on the best tracks.
Commercial performance
In the United States, Music to Be Murdered By debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 279,000 album-equivalent units, including 117,000 traditional album sales, and 217.6 million on-demand streams. It became Eminem's tenth US number-one album, making him one of only six artists with at least ten number-one albums. By December 2020, the album had sold over 1,053,000 equivalent units, including 249,000 in pure sales, and was the ninth best-selling album in pure sales in the US for 2020 with 287,000 copies. Internationally, it debuted at number one in Canada, becoming Eminem's 11th number-one album there, and remained atop the Canadian Albums Chart for four consecutive weeks, the longest since Recovery. In the UK, it entered at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 36,000 units, making Eminem the first artist with ten consecutive number-one albums in the UK, while "Godzilla" also debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. When the deluxe edition was released, the album saw a 1,125% sales boost, moving 94,000 units and jumping to number three on the Billboard 200 in its 48th week, breaking a 50-year-old record for the largest chart jump previously held by Bob Dylan's Self Portrait.
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