Eminem Pays Homage to Alfred Hitchcock With Murdered Album Cover and Title

The surprise release also includes audio excerpts of Hitchcock's comedic monologues from 1958.

Eminem may not be the Master of Suspense: He just dropped his new album, “Music to Be Murdered By,” Thursday at midnight, without even milking it with any prior warning. But he appears to be a fan of Alfred Hitchcock anyway.

The new set shares its title and cover concept with the one and only album Hitchcock ever released, a 1958 collection that had the legendary director dropping bits of his trademark dry and macabre humor between easy listening-style instrumental arrangements of songs with ironically appropriate titles, like “I’ll Never Smile Again” and “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You.”

As Hitchcock did, Eminem poses holding both both a hatchet and pistol to his head. But lest that appear too provocative for some retailers in 2020, there’s also a version of the album art in which the rapper poses with a shovel, which fans may find either less or more menacing.

The album also uses portions of Hitchcock’s spoken-word contributions to the ’58 album, in interludes titled “Alfred” and “Alfred (Outro).”

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Eminem’s album ends just as Hitchcock’s did: with the filmmaker saying, “If you haven’t been murdered, I can only say better luck next time. If you have been, goodnight, wherever you are.”

Unlike Hitchcock’s vintage album, which featured not a single “feature,” Eminem’s surprise release credits the late Juice Wrld, Ed Sheeran, Skylar Grey, Royce Da 5’9″, White Gold, Young M.A, Black Thought, Q-Tip, Denaun, KXNG Crooked and Joell Ortiz as well as the unbilled Hitch.

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Martina Birk

Update: 2024-07-05

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