‘The Adventures of Moon Man and Slim Shady’ Review

11th July 2020 * Greg T. Miraglia

I grew up with my older brother annoying me with Eminem’s early albums. It’s easier for me to speak on Eminem. I only recently was introduced to Kid Cudi. I ran into a cover of ‘The Pursuit of Happiness,’ and went searching for the original. Their new song ‘The Adventures of Moon Man and Slim Shady’ appears to act as a trailer to a full album featuring the combination.

For Eminem’s part, the first thing I noticed was a slow down of his lyrics. He is known for spitting fast almost in perceptible lines. ‘Rap God’ is a good example of his pension to rattle off words at an unbelievable rate. However, here, in this new song with Kid Cudi, He slows his rate of release; just like the double meaning in some of his phrases, I think this is intentional. Eminem wants us not just to hear what he’s saying, but take it in.

From ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ and even ‘Marijuana,’ which I admit is a limited amount of Kid Cudi’s discography, he usually takes his time on the lyrics. There is a command to this single that doesn’t appear in the two previously mention songs. He introduces the piece and where Eminem lets loose on his topics, Cudi remains fairly personal. This hits the song perfectly, because with everything that’s happening in the world, we need to understand the personal journeys of nonwhite people.     

Eminem picks up the lead by stating his privilege. The privilege he was both born with, but also that which people gave him. He uses that privilege to shed light on George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. Kid Cudi’s voice always moderates the single even with echoes behind Eminem’s lyrics and he caps the song with a bookend that implies more is coming. This song, like many in both artist’s catalogs, does not leave room for conservative sensitivities.    

The two make a good pair; neither overpowering the other and both being as theatrical as possible to make their points. I look forward to hearing more from the Moon Man and Slim Shady.