Eminem is sticking with the master of suspense theme for the upcoming lyric video for “Alfred’s Theme” from the bonus edition of his 2020 album Music to Be Murdered By. On Tuesday night (May 4), the rapper released a 30-second teaser for the visual, which continues the album’s Alfred Hitchcock theme by re-creating some iconic images from the late director’s legendary films.
In one, Marshall — dressed in a robe, shorts and slippers — falls backwards down an M.C. Escher-like stairwell as he raps, “I’d describe it as bowling (why?)/ Ball Hard (ball’s hard)/ ‘Cause the gutter’s where my mind is and when/ It’s in this ‘frame’ better ‘split’ like the five and the 10.”
The clip, which uses a black, grey and red color palette to give the whole thing a throwback vibe, includes a murder in which the repeated stabbing appears to pay homage to the famous Psycho shower scene, as well as nods to Vertigo and the many times characters run up and down steps in Hitch films.
Em dropped his surprise 11th studio album, Music to Be Murdered By, in January 2020 with a cover inspired by Hitchcock’s 1958 spoken word album, Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By; Alfred’s Theme was included on the deluxe version featuring 16 new tracks and guest spots from DJ Premier, Ty Dolla $ign, Dr. Dre and Skylar Grey was released on Dec. 18, 2020.
The full lyric video is slated to drop at noon ET on Wednesday (May 5).
Check out the “Alfred’s Theme” lyric video teaser below.
