Are you ready for Revival? Looking to seize the moment? Eminem’s new album promo is already winning the race for the year’s most eccentric strategy. And now we actually have music to attach to the campaign, with a new Beyoncé-assisted first single, “Walk On Water.”
Produced by Rick Rubin, the first impression of Eminem’s new album is a contemplative, piano-laden ballad that finds the rapper questioning his position in the game. Em gets more vulnerable than we’ve heard him in years, as he questions if his talent is deteriorating while dealing with critic reaction to his work. He even mentions his fallen friend Deshaun “Proof” Holton, pondering “am I lucky to be around this long?” Beyoncé delivers an equally humanizing chorus: “I walk on water, but I’m not Jesus.”
Em seems to finally regain his confidence at the end of the song. “As long as I got a mic, I’m god-like. So you and me and you are not alike: bitch, I wrote ‘Stan!’”
The single caps off a series of mysterious “Revival” promo from the Shady camp. The first round of teasers started last month when Paul Rosenberg, the rapper’s longtime manager and soon-to-be CEO of Def Jam, posted a photo on Instagram that sent fans into a (B)rabbit hole of speculation.
The release of “Walk on Water” marks Eminem’s first official release since last year’s warm-up “Campaign Speech,” and the first rhymes we’ve heard from him since he spewed an anti-Trump cypher at the BET Hip Hop Awards. He is set to perform on the November 18 episode of Saturday Night Live, which will be hosted by Chance the Rapper. Eminem’s last album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, arrived in 2013.