"Brand New Dance" is a song by American rapper Eminem. It was released through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records as the fourth track from his twelfth studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), on July 12, 2024.[1] The song was written and produced by Eminem himself and Luis Resto.[2][3] The song was originally titled "Christopher Reeves", named after the actor of the same name, but adding a "s" on his family name, and intended to make part of the track list for Eminem's fifth studio album Encore (2004), but was later renamed "Brand New Dance", due to Reeve's conditional form.
Background
Originally, the song was recorded to be on Eminem's fifth studio album Encore, under the name "Christopher Reeves". However, the song was cut after its main subject, film actor Christopher Reeve, died on October 10, 2004 from heart failure, a month before the album's release. This was revealed on Eminem's song "Guilty Conscience 2", with the lyrics "And I know that Chris Reeves song was recorded in 2004 for Encore / Fuck'd you take it off for? / 'Cause he died / Man, that motherfucker did that bullshit on purpose to ruin the song for us."[4]
On July 12, 2024, the song was released on Eminem's twelfth studio album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), under the name "Brand New Dance". The bridge and outro of the song was recorded during the making of the album.[5]
In a comedic interview titled "Slim Shady vs. Marshall Mathers: THE FACE-OFF" which released on July 30, 2024, Mathers asks his alter-ego "Also, what's your fucking weird obsession with Christopher Reeve?". Slim Shady responds "Christopher Reeves was Superman, what are you talking about? I'm tryna pay homage. It's funny, 'cause he was fucking Superman, he fell off a horse.", potentially giving more insight as to why this song was created.[6]
Critical reception
The song was met with generally negative reviews from critics. Ben Devlin of MusicOMH wrote "It certainly sounds like a reject from one of Eminem's worst albums [Encore], emphasizing the backward-looking, tedious approach of this record, and the song has no cultural relevance decades after Reeve's life-changing accident."[7] Jordan Bassett of NME wrote in a review of The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), "The production is appealingly cartoonish and rubbery, from the elastic bassline that twangs through 'Brand New Dance'..."[8] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote, "But it's fair to say that nobody, not even his worst enemies, would have predicted that two decades later, he'd still be making Christopher Reeve jokes—in fact, he'd devote an entire song to repeating the same joke that once took him three seconds. "Brand New Dance" is sad enough in itself..."[9]
Dash Lewis of Pitchfork praised the song, writing "Despite its dated, unnecessary content, "Brand New Dance" might be the best song on [The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)]."[10]
