“Antichrist” is the eighth track on Eminem’s 2024 album ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).’ As the title suggests, the song harks on the anti-christ-like characteristics that have made him famous and an enemy to many.
‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)’ is the thirteenth studio album by Detroit rapper Eminem. The album was released on July 12, 2024, and contains 19 songs. The album features artists such as Big Sean, BabyTron, Skylar Grey, Dr. Dre, and JID. This is the most pre-album promotion Eminem’s camp has done for an album release including two singles “Houdini” and “Tobey.”
In “Antichrist,” Eminem goes at Gen-Z, woke culture, mentions Bill Cosby, Family Guy, the infamous Will Smith slap, and more. Through all these topics, we can hear Slim Shady being completely honest about the wildest thoughts that pop in his head.
Listen to “Antichrist” by Eminem
Eminem “Antichrist” Lyrics Review and Song Meaning
The first verse of the song takes jabs at Gen-Z and today’s climate of pronoun usage.
If I mispronounce (Thee, them)
He admits that he will most likely mispronounce the pronouns (miss pronouns) as he is a bitter old man from another generation. But he is smart enough to apologize for it beforehand.
Next, Slim Shady takes jabs at the ‘woke’ culture–in which everything has to be appropriately labeled and addressed. Missteps can be dire. There are numerous examples of people’s entire lives being destroyed for saying something politically incorrect.
Swimming upstream against social justice is something Eminem has done in his music (jestfully of course) his entire career. And not a lot has changed since. He calls himself a ‘Grade-A prick’ implying that he still goes against the grain whenever possible.
One of the primary complaints against Eminem’s music is that he sounds so angry in them. He does not deny it. But Kanye West is literally losing his mind and nobody bats an eye. Em’s lyrical work is far more concerning to some people than Kanye West parading his new ‘wife’ semi-naked on the streets.
In the next lines, Eminem says he is a cross-fusion of Nas, Biggie Smalls, GZA, and RZA. The latter two are American rappers who founded the infamous hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. On the female hip-hop front, Em gives props to Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, and SZA (here, scissor is a homophone to SZA).
Shady as Bill, takin’ the pill and putting it in your soft drink (Ah)
Something’s off and I don’t know what the cause be (Yeah)
A clever scheme forms in the above lyrics. These lyrics are a reference to the infamous Bill Cosby sexual allegations where he was accused of slipping pills in the drinks of women before having sex with them under the effect of these pills. The last two words ’cause be’ sounds like Cosby, thus completing the scheme from the prior sentence.
In the second verse of the song, Eminem dives further into his persona. He says he is terminally ill and also mentally ill. And there goes that argument anyone else can use against him.
Antichrist, how come you can’t be nice?
Look who’s talkin’, dog, like Brian from Family Guy (Huh)
With these lyrics, Eminem points out that the people who question his integrity are not so innocent angels either (‘dogs’). He also references the talking dog Brian on the popular animated series ‘Family Guy.’ Brian, the dog in the series, oftentimes acts very sophisticated but inside he is just a dog at heart.
Eminem also mentions Diddy and his domestic violence case with model Cassie Ventura from 2023. Em threatens anyone who is going to question him would get a beating like Cassie got from Diddy.
…when them rappers like Jada bring out the will in you (Woo)
‘Cause now my sh*t slaps harder than Will’ll do,
These lines are a clever reference to the infamous Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 94th Academy/Grammy Awards in 2022. Jada Pinkett-Smith is Will Smith’s spouse to whom Chris Rock aimed a joke while he was hosting the awards ceremony. Noticing how Jada did not find the joke funny, Will Smith walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock. ‘Slaps harder’ in a colloquial term means his music is very good.
Take my lyrics a little bit too literal, you can all suck on my d*ck and if you
Many people do get outraged about Marshall’s lyrics and how explicit they are. Well, they are meant to be just lyrics–creative pieces. You don’t see people carrying pitchforks about movie directors. Why should music be any different than a movie script? But if anyone still wants to take his lyrics literally, he has a very vulgar proposal. Since you take his lyrics literally, this is an offer you cannot deny.
Eminem’s long-standing collaborator and Detroit rap icon Bizarre also gets a feature on “Antichrist.” Staying true to the theme of the song, he also mentions how he wants to have sexual affairs with Bruce Jenner–who is now a woman. He is searching for Megan Thee Stallion to suck her toe–probably the one that got injured in the infamous shooting incident involving Tory Lanez.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Read the complete lyrics to the song on Genius.