What's The Real Meaning Of Eminem's Habits? What We Know

The meaning of the second track on Eminem's new album, "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)," is right there in the title: "Habits" — as in those behaviors that can be really hard to discard. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Eminem advised his fans to listen to his record from the beginning, hinting that it was telling a linear story about his acerbic alter ego's demise. The early placement of "Habits" on the record meant that Slim Shady was still full of energy and overflowing with offensive bars.

In his collab with White Gold, Eminem gleefully resorts to using his old gimmicks to agitate his critics. He drops the R-word, brags about using misogynistic language, and misgenders and deadnames Caitlyn Jenner. He also admits to missing the days when his obscene and bigoted language got him more of a tongue-lashing. "Yeah, I probably annoyed a few feminists / I reminisce on them blowing a fuse over my points of views," he raps.

In the song's chorus, White Gold references Marshall Mathers' unwillingness to abandon the antics that helped him make a few different names for himself by singing, "You got an addiction, man / I know you can't get rid of me forever." Eminem even does some self-reflection at one point, saying, "I really, really gotta quit / Something's wrong with me, my God, old habits die hard." Some listeners had to agree with this viewpoint after noticing Eminem's habit of attacking Jenner on his album.

Eminem mentions Caitlyn Jenner in six songs on "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)," including "Guilty Conscience 2," which is on the latter half of the track list. He suggests that every offensive thing he said previously was just a dream before walking back that claim at the end of the song.

In an era where being bombarded with offensive content on social media has become a common occurrence, Eminem's old act just doesn't have the same effect on people. Internet trolls are the Slim Shady spawn of cyberspace and they've subjected netizens to far worse transphobic remarks. The tired trope of trashing the trans community for shock value has also already been beaten to death by comedian Dave Chappelle, who has turned off some audience members by doing it. Chappelle also earned a shoutout in the "Habits" verse where Eminem claims that having two daughters who are college grads means he can't be considered a misogynist. Sigh.

On X, some users complained about Eminem's habit of using Jenner, who has actually defended Chappelle before, as a punchline. One person wrote, "Take a shot every time he mentions Caitlyn Jenner. It'll kill you but at least you won't have to finish the album." Another joked, "Dave chappelle is listening to this eminem album going 'jeez that's a lot of caitlyn jenner material, give it a rest.'" Maybe Eminem is just Jenner's biggest Stan?