The song is produced by legendary music producer and Def Jam co-founder, Rick Rubin. The single finds Eminem passionately rapping over light piano keys that periodically crescendo in dramatic fashion about living up to expectations. Beyoncé’s vocals appear on the chorus, echoing the same sentiment as Eminem, using “walk on water” as a metaphor for trying to make it through life trying to not disappoint people’s outrageous expectations. This marks the first collaboration between Eminem and Beyoncé, and a fitting first single for an album that has had Eminem’s most intricate marketing campaign.
In October, Eminem’s longtime manager Paul Rosenberg posted an Instagram photo of him holding Shady Records artist Yelawolf’s Trial By Fire album in front of a window with a huge, unsuspecting ad for something named Revival. People soon noticed the ‘E’ in the Revival ad was backward, the same way Eminem spells his name on his albums. Then Reddit users, in their usual investigative ways, discovered there was no actual drug named Revival, and the ad was purchased by Interscope Records, Eminem’s parent label.
To take fans deeper down the Eminem rabbit hole, a website for the fake drug was created, containing allusions to lyrics in Eminem songs. The phrase “seize the moment” is a lyric from Eminem’s 2002 song Sing for the Moment, and is plastered on the website’s homepage. There were even fake commercials made with actors also referencing Eminem lyrics. Soon, word got out that Revival was actually going to be an Eminem album.
Eminem’s Revival album is reportedly slated to be released on November 17. The first performance of this epic collaboration may be sooner than you think. Eminem is slated to appear as the Saturday Night Live musical guest on November 18. Revival will be Eminem’s eighth solo album and the first one since he released The Marshall Mathers LP 2 in 2013.
Shady’s back. Tell a friend.
