Slim Shady fans caught on to a subtle hint in an Instagram post.
On Wednesday, Eminem’s manager and co-founder of Shady Records Paul Rosenberg Instagramed a photo of Yelawolf’s album, Trial By Fire, which drops Friday. In the photo, behind the actual album, there’s a billboard ad for something called Revival. The billboard looks like a typical prescription drug ad but fans on Reddit noticed something else in the photo that most people would miss: The E in Revival is backwards—just like in Eminem’s logo.
This, of course, led to fans finding the website AskAboutRevival.com. Not only is the website registered to Interscope Records, but it’s filled with hints that it’s both a fake website and likely the name of Eminem’s newest album.
The site certainly isn’t for an actual medical product. For one, it claims to treat “Atrox Rithimus” which isn’t even a real thing (though it may be an anagram, if so, internet sleuths get to work!). The site also features warnings like “Revival is a non-injectable medication given through the ear canal, and is not intended for anal use” which is the exact kind of humor fans have come to expect from Slim Shady.
There’s a bunch of clear references to Eminem’s music throughout the site. At the bottom it reads, “REVIVAL does not cause these side effects, but if you have them you should for sure seek medical attention, ‘I need a doctor.’” Which is obviously a reference to Dr. Dre’s Eminem assisted song, “I Need A Doctor.”
The tag line for the ad is “seize the moment,” a phrase Em used on “Sing For The Moment.”
That’s why we seize the moment
Try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and hold it
‘Cause we consider these minutes golden
But the song that’s most referenced is Em’s biggest hit, “Lose Yourself.” In a video ad for Revival, an actor says it’s easy to “lose yourself” when you suffer from AR. The site lists “sweaty palms” as a symptom (as well as brain damage, a cut off The Slim Shady LP) you should tell your doctor about, which is a nod to the opening lyrics of “Lose Yourself.”
Yo, his palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There’s vomit on his sweater already: Mom’s spaghetti
The website also has a phone number you can call, 1-833-243-8738. If you do call up, the hold music is “I Need A Doctor.” Later, a voice tells you, “Thank you for your interest in Revival, the No. 1 slightly invasive treatment for Atrox Rithimus. You only get one shot to beat AR.” This is a reference to the hook from “Lose Yourself.”
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
There are also some more indirect hints on the site. The Revival logo features nine strikes—Revival is posed to be Em’s ninth studio album. The pharmaceutical name for Revival is listed as “Canticum Remedium,” which roughly translates to “song cure.” And one of the symptoms listed is “highly combustible head,” a reference to a line from one of Em’s lesser-known songs, “Any Man.”
A highly combustible head
Spazmatic, strapped to a Craftmatic adjustable bed
If Revival is indeed Eminem’s album title, it harkens back to his 2009 and 2010 albums, Relapse and Recovery. If the marketing campaign—which is obviously based on prescription pills—is anything like the album, it’s likely to share similar themes to Relapse, which dealt with Em’s drug addictions and features his face made of pills on the cover
All year we’ve been getting clues that a new Eminem album is coming. Even Em’s longtime friend and collaborator Mr. Porter recently claimed the album was done (before then claiming he was just trolling). But this is just the latest confirmation, from a source as official as Paul Rosenberg, that Em’s album is coming sooner than later.
