WAIT A MINUTE! DID SLIM SHADY TRICK US?.. EMINEM GOT KILLED BY SLIM??! 

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Also a lot of ppl are forgetting the fact that in “Houdini” he references Sherri Papini, the woman who faked her own kidnapping which could tie in with GC2, Shady kidnapping Marshall is same person so therefore he’s kidnapping himself, “the kidnapping, never did happen” could mean two things, 1st, listening front to back means it was just a dream so therefore the “kidnapping” never took place, 2nd, listening in reverse order means “the kid napping, never did happen” meaning none of those were actual “dreams” because Shady is taking over, now I’ll admit, that could be somewhat of a stretch however what leads me to really believe in the reverse theory is the fact that he made his first single revolving Harry Houdini who literally faked his own death as a magic trick and I feel like a lot of ppl are forgetting this, it makes so much sense now, Shady faked his own death, there’s more to come ! Also, we live in a simulation, there’s no way Sherri Papini rhymes with Harry Houdini while having a correlation 😂, Em is the goat 🐐

Honestly, he is an artist that figured out how to make a concept album that goes both ways... 😂😂😂

Em said to listen to it in order, like don't skip around or pick just a few tracks - but he never said in which order. Technically listening to it from 19 to 1 is in an order, just not the order most would default to. So many thoughts on this theory and I'm loving how he's provoking analysis and discussion of more than just the bars and beats.

When played backwards the footsteps of Ken kaniff leaving and walking into Tobey

There are flaws in the story both ways because it was created to work in both directions. To achieve it being believable in both directions the narrative isn't always going to flow 100%. The fact Eminem was able to do this at all is unreal and has everyone sitting here wondering if it will be Eminem or Shady that turns up next! Genius

This is why the songs on Eminem's RU-vid channel were uploaded from back to front. The first song uploaded after Houdini was Somebody Save Me which is track 19 and not Renaissance which is track 1

em really hit us with a choose your own adventure album. talent times a thousand. and yes give me a ken kaniff album with special guest bizarre. and yes eminem did shoot slim shady during the “murder/suicide” line at the end of the dream that was guilty conscious 2 and was woken up because you cant die in a dream. that would mean that in reverse he was tied up the entire time shady was going nuts on the album. and i agree that it is intentionally a little shaky story wise either way just to cover which one is the real winner. i need side b. and c through z.

No matter what time of day or what is happening, Cliff is half awake 😂

Personally I think it's going to be like the Superman series in the 90's "the death of Superman" "a world without Superman" and the "return of Superman" "death of Clark Kent" Having so many Chris Reeves references in this album, the talk of the magic trick, misdirection, foreshadowing Marshall's death, Em being a huge comic book nerd which he mentions in the album and the absolutely fire concept that would be all make me believe this is the direction he's going in. Though I don't know the timeline I think it'll all be released within a year. He's had 4 years to put most of it together.

We have the same top 5. Kamikaze is so overlooked and I'm glad someone else finally appreciates it. Top 5 Em album for sure

With the ken kiniff skit, it ends with the sound of footsteps, the same ones that lead into tobey I don't want either to die long live sliminem

Also, this album contains several french origin words.. For example one of them is 'coupe de grace', which means final blow. Then, there is another french word which is Renaissance and that is the name of the first track (or should i say last track). Renaissance means "rebirth". So if the idea is to listen for the album backwards, that indicates the the last track symbolises the rebirth of Slim Shady. 🙃

Guilty Conscious 2 confirms that Slim Shady wasnt killed. He literally woke up from a dream, explained it to Paul and then laughed.

The whole thing is backwards - Guilty Conscience 2 is the beginning of Slim returning 100% even though Em thinks it’s a dream. Side B is definitely coming .. Dre confirmed he’s on the album and wasn’t, Renaissance ends abruptly which makes me think it was only a snippet .. Brand new dance at #4 makes no sense but listing backwards Slim asks Em why he took it off Encore for in guilty conscience 2 ? So Slim is the one who releases it not Em … a physical album not releasing until September 13 (Friday the 13th) 2 whole months after the album drop .. could mean there’s more coming .. the rabbit hole runs deep I freaking love it .. this album is top 5 for sure 👏🏻👏🏻

I have a theory to backup the "Play in reverse" if we take into consideration the trailers for the album and where they fit in the story, the reverse order is perfectly synced with that, and that applies on the two MV dropped as well if I'm not wrong, so that makes the reverse play very logical in fact

This will be equally sad and hilarious if it wasn't done intentionally. Mashall finally has a weight off of his shoulders thinking Slim is dead, only for us to dig up his corpse 24 hours later because someone got the idea to listen to the album backwards.

I was waiting for your input on this!! Thank you Cliff for all your hard work giving us these amazing reactions and thoughts on possibly one of the best albums ever made

If you look at the names of the song titles it makes sense to listen to it backwards or invert it. The references back to the devil or satan. Its believed that the devil does a lot of stuff in reverse order or backwards to mock God and show that he has power.

He also talks about “the Christopher Reeve song” in GC2. Which could be foreshadowing Shady doing the song “later” if played in reverse.

To people quoting the fact that Marshall shots Slim in GC 2: This is inconclusive to listeners. Firstly, we only have audio. Until Eminem releases a videoclipe or short film, it'll remain inconclusive. Secondly, we heard there was a gun, but it was never mentioned that it was the only one. A second hidden gun is a very common trope in thrillers, and since after the shot, it's Marshall that awakes, it's possible that Slim makes the shot to awake Marshall before he could react, since Marshall is MUCH OLDER than Slim. It's kinda like "The kick" in the movie Inception, with the idea "Slim Shady" remaining. So it's still possible.

My guy you’re right, any death in the middle would fuck the whole thing up, I’ve thought and thought, there is no death in the middle. Em tried killing Slim forward, Slim tried killing Em backwards. Moral of the story. Only Marshal can rid the world of Slim or Em 💪 Untouchable, the coup de grace of proof nobody can beat him. It’s also thought provoking, an invitation for somebody to try.

Listening back to front: Beginning of Guilty conscience 2 Em asks which shot is he on and Slim Shady says "This is your 3rd" and then a few tracks later on "Evil" in Ems 3rd verse he has a line saying "Johnny Walker this is my 3rd shot"...to me this further proves that the backwards idea may actually be legit tbh

I haven’t watched this video fully yet, but what I’ve not seen anyone mention is the fact that in the promo ‘hawk tuah’ video, he’s spitting on the grave of shady, but why would that be at the start of the album if he hadn’t yet killed him? Em never stopped being shady officially until this album (supposedly) so there’s no reason for shady to be in the grave to begin with. He never said you need to listen to it from top to bottom, he just said that listening out of order might not make sense.. 👀 it would play into his Houdini magic theme by tricking the world 👀

I am fairly convinced that eminem meant this to be understood as Shady winning in reverse. Somebody save me is almost like a premonition. Shady comes back to life in the guess who’s back Skit. Tobey- Em rapping. this is the one where I think the Video also gives a clue. In the end of the video it’s clearly shady attacking eminem. I think the next music video will be guilty conscience. So the video storyline is definitely moving in reverse( even Houdini ends with Pete and Em crashing through traffic, and the song before Houdini is Road rage) Bad one- This had me scratching my head, cuz in the normal order, Em takes a shot at MGK, which felt weird cuz he ended guilty conscience by ending all beefs. In reverse it fits. Guilty conscience hasn’t happened. Em taking shots at MGK is normal. He also says when people get angry , I just say “Shady did it.” Ya you’ve forgotten the real shady buddy. He’s coming and the things he’s gonna say, you have no idea. Temporary is Eminem’s farewell note to Hailey. He know Shady is around and he’s in trouble. Head honcho- people have already mentioned the Ezekiel, writing on the wall connection. From that point onwards it’s pretty straightforward. Guilty conscience happens, Em gets shot, Shady talks to Paul, pretending to be Em. Em regains consciousness and shady shows him the mayhem he’s already caused while he was gone. Shady unleashes himself to the world in Houdini. Road rage follows Houdini, as he’s crashing his car through the streets. Fuel antichrist lucifer are all songs with Shady getting more dominant as Em weakens. Shady explains to him that he needs him. Evil brand new dance is shady completely taking over. Trouble is shady feeding Eminem poison and mocking him one last time. Renaissance, shady spits over Em’s grave.

I've ALSO heard that Because Em is a big comic fan this is the "start" of something parallel to the 90s superman trilogy that started with Death of Superman, then Rise of the Supermen, and return of Superman. Makes sense with the Chris Reeves references being pretty prominent again out of nowhere.

To be perfectly honest, my first listen I didn’t actually understand what the timeline was supposed to be. The concept was kinda lost on me because I couldn’t grasp when Marshall was supposed to have killed off Slim. Couple this with Em’s listening directions, remember nothing is straightforward with Em, I can definitely see this being plausible. Also, artistically - it doesn’t make sense for him to kill off his alter ego. One he has been intrinsically linked with since Day 1 of his formal career. Either way, the album is a work of genius. Fascinating stuff. Great video man!

In Houdini as well, they fused as well. Which makes the takeover theory possible 7:17. It was also written that "They created a monster" when the fuse was done. In Head Honcho, EZ also pointed that they don't do sweet things (which stans are saying em becoming mild and tamed) Man, this album is a puzzle 😂

I heard this yesterday and listened to it backwards. I totally agree and I feel like he has something up his sleeve.

if you listen on repeat, its marshal digging up slims grave the last song end's with rain and the first song starts with rain its like groundhogs day . also, on the video em dropped, the caller said, "Aren't you supposed to be dead

I think Slim dyed Em’s hair so when he kills him, Em would look like Shady. Therefore “Death of Slim Shady”. “And for my last trick”

I don't think it's a reverse order thing, I think it's just a continuous loop because he can never keep shady buried. So after he gets lowered into the coffin, the album starts over with em spitting on the grave and Shady comes back. It's an endless cycle.

Eminems a pure genius

If you listen to the Guess Who's Back skit, at the end of it you hear foot steps walking away. In Tobey, the song before the skit you can hear the same foot steps walking in.....

It literally shows you Marshall spitting on Shadys grave.. then Shadys hand pops up from the grave to show he's still alive.

That was my exact thought with the placement of Houdini thank you for catching that and speaking on it

Slim and marshall are both the same person. Marshall is not talking to slim he is talking to himself. In GC2 he is struggling with his evil thoughts (slim) to the point that he is fed up and wants to kill slim. But slim is just in his head so he is basically killing himself! The evil laugh at the end confirms that the survivor is not marshall, he is just slim trying to troll paul!

Imagine a "Slim Shady LP2" featuring all the gang. Royce da 5'9", 50 Cent, Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, Nas, D12... Even Megan The Stallion. Shit would be insane

Eminem took Fight Club to another level with this album.

I believe its a two way album ! The reverse theory is strong because eminem's first release of the album is Houdini as single informing world about shady's comeback ! And in the original album which is supposed to be in order , Houdini is placed in later half of the line , which creates the delinma that shady's introduction is post mid way ! Which also doesn't relate because in the earlier song lines em mentioned that you came out of portal cursing , why mention it before hand for listeners when we haven't reached near that song ! It only makes sense as we can relate becusse houdini was released earlier so we know shady's entry style !

The biggest piece of evidence for me, was like you said. In the skit "Trouble" (3rd track) he says "You thought it was a dream, didn't you". But the dream he's referencing (I assume) is the one at the end of Guilty Conscience (13th track) where he called Paul. So how could the 3rd song, reference a dream, that hasn't happened yet, chronologically, if you are going front to back?

Bible thumpers used to accuse albums of having subliminal messages from the devil when played backwards. Hint hint

Only thing more dangerous than a living Shady is a phantom Shady

The part that I found interesting is that if you play the album from 19 to 1, Slim spits on Em's grave in Renaissance. Then if you go to "Music Tom Be Murdered By" and play the intro "Premonition", it kind of goes together.

The first song starts with spitting on the grave... which was on the one of the teasers (the Hawk Tuah one)... so yeah the reverse makes more sense... been telling this to my brother... why would the album start (according to the video reference to the teaser) with Slim already dead?

Abra abracadabra, that be the magic trick. 🪄

Just realized that at the end of Tobey, Slim Shady killed Eminem in the video too possibly. With the track towards the end of the album, it works with the reverse order of Slim coming back.

The whole album is a double. 😂

Eminem created a new multiverse.

I think em is so psyched that his real fans have figured this out and that he wrote a choose your own adventure murder mystery

Interestingly that reminds me of a line in "Hi Ren" "You think that you can amputate me? I am you, you are me, you are I, I am we We are one, split in two that makes one, so you see You got to kill you if you wanna kill me" Eminem has to kill himself to kill Shady.

Tobey does lead into Guess Whos Back but at the same time, Guess Who's Back leads into Tobey. The foosteps of Ken Kaniff leaving lead into the footsteps of what i would assume to be Eminem, Big Sean and BabyTron coming in

Just want some opinions on this, in Tobey the hockey mask on em at the end is that slim shady hitting marshall/eminem with the "godamn belt" then chopping his left arm off, the chalk as well would that mean guilty conscience 2 was a dream and in the end slim killed em/marshall anyway or is that a reach? 😂

Em turning everyone into Scooby Doo 😂😂 it was Marshal all along 😂😂

We're getting another album...give it a few weeks/months

Marshall is a genius and i didnt expect any less than the incredibly ambitious & creative project we got. Its about time Slim was back in peoples mouths, no diddy. 🎉

All shady is is a bottle of hair bleach and vodka- Eminem

They both kill each other off. Playing the tracks front to back kills Slim Shady but back to front kills Eminem. Hence double homicide Aka Eminems last album. 😢

The fact it's plausible is all that needs to be said

Don't forget, there was an airplane with a flag being pulled behind it saying SLIM SHADY MISSING w/ a phone number to call. Steve Herman say's he's missing. It all makes sense. There's GOTTA be a side B man. Plus in the promo before the album dropped.. the video where Eminem spits on the grave Hawk Tuah style, he walks away and Slim Shady's arm reaches out from the grave. So he's obviously not dead. One last thing, there's the flyers on Spotify for certain Eminem songs that have the "Missing, Have You Seen This Man? - Slim Shady" canva. There are so many easter eggs it's insane. Em is a literal genius bro..

The coffin at the beginning of the trailer says it feels so empty without him implying that slim in not in the coffin.

I know I'm a little late, but I think that you listen forward as an analogue to his journey to brainwash that allowed the outside noise to influence him to put Shady away. Listening backwards is an analogue to him waking up, realizing that he was brainwashed, and bringing Shady back. If you think about it, this album is the journey of his life post Encore.

Everyone is talking about how playing the album backward is the full story, but if you line it up with the movie “Detroit Rock City” it matches perfectly like Pink Floyd & Wizard of Oz did back in the day

Wouldn't be a surprised to find out Marshall is sitting there with two albums waiting to see which point gets more traction and is settled on releasing the one that wins

The weirdest thing full stop is houdinis placement in forward order, Why would it make sense that shady appears through a portal, after we've already heard him on tracks, it makes sense that houdini is the first song shady appears on

I haven't figured out which order/what actually happened, but I think the tell for the whole album (and it being the lead single) was in Houdini: "What you thought you saw ain't what you saw. You're never gonna see me caught sleeping, the kid napping (kidnapping) never did happen". Marshall was never kidnapped by Shady (or vice versa). I haven't worked out the timing of the waking up from dreams and how it affects the story, but I think it holds up. "For my last trick!"

Slim shady returning on Houdini makes since for the shear fact that it was the lead single and he put so much promo into it just for it to end up towards the "end" of the album

"I was about 10, the album had been out a while . . . ", yeah, feeling old now 🤣

Em, Slim, Marshall who or however you want to call him, has done his job. Making peeps lose there minds over what this album is really about and causing more controversy on a whole other level. Well Done.

Em said if you listen to the songs out of order it may not make sense - but he did not specify the order - it does feel like a final album however with him doing shows in certain countries and having the wake in the UK

1. The Eminem Show 2. TMMLP 3. TSSLP 4. TMMLP2 5. TDOSS Love relapse .. it’s understated .. recovery has bangers too but these 5 hit diff

I have the album in My RU-vid red “downloaded” folder. A couple of days ago I went to the album to press play (it plays the first song unless you hit shuffle) expecting to listen to renaissance. Anyway I hit play, locked My phone and noticed that “somebody save me” was playing. I thought this was weird. So I unlocked My phone, opened the app, and see that the songs were rearranged with the last song being 1, and the first song being 19. I thought to myself self, “how tf could this happen, I’m listening to it “offline” wtf?’ .. I wrote it off as a ‘glitch’ , deleted it from My downloads and re-downloaded it and the songs were back in their ‘original’ order. But now hearing this theory…. Hmmmm .. I know this shit sounds crazy, I wish I had screenshotted it 😅😅

Guess Who's Back really just serves to foreshadow or confirm Slim still being a presence, regardless of direction you listen, since Ken Kaniff is only present when Slim Shady is present and hasn't been on anything since MMLP2 Evil Twin and Wicked Ways. So, backwards, Ken being back is foreshadowing Slim Shady being present going into Tobey where he shows back up and subdues Marshall. Front to back, Ken being back confirms that Slim was not killed in GC2, did come back to get Marshall in Tobey, and raises questions about Somebody Save Me.

MM is also left handed. The Chainsaw vid with Dre & Snoop - the outline has the left hand cut off. There will be at LEAST 1 more side (B) and probably an LP 3 or 4 side masterpiece. We havent had snoop, dre, L.L. & 50 feat.s yet. There's more coming on his b-day (oct 17) and halloween (Houdini's death) IMO.

In fuel he says “it ain’t over it’s just beginning.”. and in guilty conscience 2 he says “frontwards and backwards” literally clues throughout the whole album.. I can go on and on

Temporary seems like it’s just thrown in there for Hailey when listening through 1-19… what sold me is when i saw it foreshadows Eminems death when listening 19-1

I don't think the genius of the album is over. I'm expecting a side B that begins with Marshall and ends with Slim Shady. Making it a wrap around album that completes the cycle of madness. The tug o war between the personas. Neither can live or die alone. Both try to kill eachother and take over through Eminems career. It's almost a beautiful summation of Eminems career since the introduction of Slim Shady to current. The album will loop this concept of forward and reverse listening.

I was back and forth on the theory too. But so much of it lines up. For example in Houdini the devil baby was born and then that would be before the songs antichrist and Lucifer and the line about look what your uterus spawned I need y’all to figure it out and just let me know.

Another point for Guilty Conscience 2, after the gun shot, the alarm goes off, and he wakes up and calls paul, it was all a dream. Some people say it wouldnt make sense backwards because he hasnt talked about that stuff yet, but at the same time, the dream could have been a premonition, or just him knowing what Shady wants to do, because you hear Shady laugh at the end, like "see? you cant stop me, we're doing this." Or maybe thats just me trying too hard to make the theory work, lol. I guess time will tell

The slim killed eminem theory works forward too. At the end of GC2 right after the phone call with paul, you hear shady laugh. In tobey, eminem says slim is gone just before slim kills him in the vid and given tobey is right at the end of the album, i think it works either way.

i think the "guess whos back" and "Tobey" one is tricke - u actually can listen to it in both orders. front to back as u said - the skit hast the end of tobey fading in at the start back to front - ken walks away at the end - in tobey u have the same footsteps coming in at the beginning

Which makes sense why Houdini is halfway through the album. I was wondering how Slim Shady could be in the first half if he arrives in Houdini

My feelings on this front to back and back to front shit is this; There's many holes in the storytelling in both directions but in the back to front there's more consistency in a narrative and it all centers around Houdini. It was the first track released, we get the first introduction of Slim, we get the Sherry Papini bar and the Paul "it ain't what you saw, never did happen" bar. All the clues are hidden in this track I think including the title itself: Houdini. The narrative is tighter backwards if you start with Somebody Save Me.

An album of just slims old unreleased songs would be epic he’s said in the past he has enough from relapse and encore to release a second album of them

I think the point about concept of this album is, In any way, they both are alive and can't be killed don't forgot, they both need each other!

I think play the album backwards is the correct order. Think about it. Everyone keeps giving him s#!+ for going soft, then Slim Shady pops out from nowhere after around 20 years. Plus, his first hit single in over a decade is on the radio.

I wasn't a believer at first either. But I seen you, crypt and nolife all post a video about this. Yours, is when I finally decided to hear this theory out.

In the music video for Houdini, how does it end? With Pete and Slim driving off in epic Road Rage... he already told you the path to follow, just had to listen.

Em is the only artist that could've pulled off an album concept like this.... Prove me wrong. The fact we are discussing how to listen to an album like this. Additionally the thought that generations could've grown up with Hailie and others and feel connected like this as we do know is insane

I Can't wait for the music awards!!! This album is gonna win everything

When I first listened to the album, I got this sense, that it is a bit weird in a way, and it's almost "backwards". Then I listened to it in both orders a couple of times (commuting for the win) and what I ended up with as an opinion or theory, is that it is both. It is Slim killing Em and Em killing Slim at the same time, Schrödinger's Marshall Mathers, if you will. Because at the end of the day, there is no Eminem or Slim, without Marshall, but as long as Marshall makes music, both Eminem and Slim Shady will be there. They can't be killed. If you do, they come back. To me, this album feels like one of the best concept albums ever and one that says "hey, I might not make music after this, but if I will, you will never know if it's Em, Slim, or both. I do what I do, no matter how people complain" That's my take on it, which of course, might be completely off. With Em, it's really hard to guess with certainty.

My main reasons i dont think its a reverse listen album are the spit on the grave at the begining is just the audio from the promo of em spitting on shadys gravestone, trouble goes perfectly into brand new dance even mentioning quadropalygics and chris reeves then goes fully into a reeves diss in brand new dance, hes tied up in the skits and songs leading upto gc2 there talking about things already said if yiu listen front to back,were also he gets slim to untie the zip ties they struggle over the gun, it goes off ,i think its kills em and from that point on slim pretends to be em but the lyrics are slim shadyish, ken keniff skit where hecsays were everybody go, allways at end of shadys albums proving its slim just pretending to be em,then to prove it save me is slims song to the kids slim been gone for 15/20 years he missed hailies wedding and the other stuff he says hel never get to do shady missed those not em , em walked halie down the isle saw her graduate saw her podcast etc, slim has to pretend to be em to get dre and paul to agree to the nxt albun then hel go full shady, greatest trick the devil ever pulled convincing the world he dosnt exist

Yup!!! What a concept album!!! Em is a Genius!!! Anyone who says otherwise is in denial and will never have a fingernail amount of the talent Em Has!!! He is undeniably “THE GOAT”🔥🔥🔥🐐

Opens up for Revenge of Shady album 🙏🏻 He put the songs on RU-vid backwards for a reason. There’s a lot of list online of all the songs and the meaning. I wasn’t. I’m sold now.

Thankyou for saying the trinity cliff. I have been arguing with ppl over this. It's also the reason I feel that he calls himself a God as well. And you nailed it for me cliff on marshall being the vessel. I really believe that the actual vessel and the final form is what hoduni showed you on the roof top.

When Eminem shot Shady in Guilty Conscience 2 it was a dream at the end. When he calls at the end of the song he laughed like Shady. Eminem also didn't say what order he just said in order. Maybe that's why he made that skit like a dreams so it could be flipped both ways. The Shady laugh on GC2 makes me think it was supposed to be listen to backwards. Who knows the dude is crazy. It is also weird because in the start of the album Eminem spits on Shadys grave but Shady has the first song? Seems wrong but backwards Shady takes over.

Bad one is my fav track, its the realest track of the album, cus its OLDER SLIM SHADY ! The real one who grew up inside em without needing to tell the world he was still alive. This whole album is incredible tbh. The whole album for me is Em showing slim never left and if we want it, he will even face off young vs older slim. Never forget, "The kidnapping, never did happen" and after that you get Roadrage where Em speaks through slim voice and Slim speaks through em's voice ^^

The fact Em just buried Slim and hug and hangout with fans and the theory buried with it

Yeah I did this twice reverse wow.

Ever since I heard this, my feelings are the exact same. A few things off going backwards, but it works. I’m just not sure if I should feel like an idiot for buying all three exclusive versions with the album, both bonus tracks, and today the Steve Berman.