''Shady XV'' (stylized as ''SH∀DYXV'', pronounced 'shady fifteen) is a hip hop

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

performed by various artists of

Shady Records Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg in 1999, following the commercially successful release of '' The Slim Shady LP'' that same year. The label's name comes from the last name of Eminem ...

. The double disc album was released on November 24, 2014, by Shady Records and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. The album was released in honor of the label's 15th anniversary and as its 15th project (excluding Eminem's solo releases). The compilation consists of two discs, the first featuring new material from Shady Records artists such as

Slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

Bad Meets Evil Bad Meets Evil is an American Hip hop music, hip hop Supergroup (music), super duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5′9″ ("bad") and Eminem ("evil"). Formed in 1997, the duo's name comes from the namesake song from Eminem's ''The ...

D12 D12 (an initialism for the Dirty Dozen) was an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1996, the group achieved mainstream success with its lineup of ''de facto'' leader Eminem, Proof, Bizarre, Kon Artis, Kuniva and Swifty McV ...

and

Yelawolf Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known by his stage name Yelawolf, is an American rapper. Born in Gadsden, Alabama, and raised in Antioch, Tennessee, he embarked on his recording career in 2005, releasing four mixtapes to pos ...

, as well as the label's founder

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

. The second disc includes the label's

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

, also featuring former Shady Records members. All previous and current members of the label are represented on the album.

Release and promotion

On June 3, 2014,

's manager and

co-founder Paul Rosenberg tweeted "Shady XV". On August 23, 2014, during his final stop of The Monster Tour with

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium (Detroit), Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, t ...

, Eminem wore a T-shirt branded "Shady XV". On August 25, 2014, he tweeted "Yes it's official... #SHADYXV Black Friday," leading to speculation about a release on Black Friday, which fell on November 28, 2014. He also released a 20-second teaser video, featuring images of Eminem and other Shady Records artists. On the same day, August 25, a press release was issued on Eminem's official website, announcing that ''Shady XV'', a two-disc compilation featuring a collection of Shady Records' greatest hits on one disc and new material from Eminem,

, and

on the other, was set to release on November 24, 2014, in the week of Black Friday. On October 13, 2014, Eminem posted a video on various social media websites of the artwork, along with the description "Back to basics! Here's the cover for #SHADYXV out 11/24." The cover depicts a black and red

hockey mask A goaltender mask, commonly referred to as a goalie mask, is a mask worn by goaltenders in a variety of sports to protect the head and face from injury from the ball or puck, as they constantly face incoming shots on goal. Some sports requiring t ...

under two crossed chainsaws. The album was released on disc and as a digital download on November 24, 2014, as the 15th release on the label (excluding Eminem's solo releases) and 15 years after its inception. The "greatest hits" disc contains tracks by current Shady Records members, as well as previous members

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

Obie Trice Obie Trice III (born November 14, 1977) is an American rapper. He signed with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem's Shady Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2000 to release his first two albums, ''Cheers'' (2003) and '' Second Round's on Me' ...

Bobby Creekwater Antoine Raimon Rogers, better known by his stage name Bobby Creekwater, is an American rapper from Atlanta who is a former member of Shady Records.

Ca$his Ramone Johnson (born October 10, 1982), better known by his stage name Cashis (stylized as Ca$his), is an American rapper who was born and raised in Chicago, but moved to Irvine, California. He was most notably featured on the Shady Records a ...

and

Stat Quo Stanley Bernard Benton (born July 24, 1978), better known by his stage name Stat Quo, is an American rapper and record producer.Shaheem Reid (January 12, 2004).Mixtape Mondays: Stat Quo" ''MTV''. Accessed February 5, 2008. Benton worked his way ...

. The track list was revealed on October 29, 2014, on the official website. A rap cypher by Eminem, Slaughterhouse, and Yelawolf, titled 'SHADY CXVPHER', premiered on

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

on November 10, 2014, to promote the album. On November 18, 2014, Eminem revealed info about the "

Lose Yourself "Lose Yourself" is a song by American rapper Eminem from the soundtrack to the 2002 film '' 8 Mile''. The song was composed and produced by Eminem, longtime collaborator Jeff Bass, one half of the production duo Bass Brothers, and Luis Resto. ...

" demo version, the last track on the second disc. It contains alternate lyrics to the original beat that were recorded but never published. Eminem had no memory of this scrapped version until he was recently reminded.

Music and lyrics

Guts Over Fear "Guts Over Fear" is a song by American rapper Eminem featuring Australian singer-songwriter Sia, from Eminem's compilation album ''Shady XV'', released on August 25, 2014. This song is included in the closing credits of the film, ''The Equalizer' ...

" is about Eminem and his struggles as an artist, and touches up on moments of his career. "

Detroit vs. Everybody "Detroit vs. Everybody" is a song by American rappers Eminem, Royce da 5'9", Big Sean, Danny Brown, Dej Loaf, and Trick Trick, featured on the 2014 Shady Records compilation album ''Shady XV''. Produced by Statik Selektah and Eminem, it was record ...

" is a

posse cut A posse cut is a popular form of song in hip hop music that involves successive verses by four or more rappers.Edwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC'', Chicago Review Press, p. 221. Tracks described as posse cuts ...

which features Eminem and fellow

natives

Royce da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery (born July 5, 1977), known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, they became acquainted in 1997 and formed the hi ...

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. He met Kanye West as a teenager, and signed with his record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2007. He gained popul ...

Danny Brown Daniel Dewan Sewell (born March 16, 1981), better known as Danny Brown, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. He was described by MTV in 2011 as "one of rap's most unique figures in recent memory". After amassing ...

Trick-Trick Christian Anthony Mathis (born June 28, 1973), better known by his stage name Trick Trick, is an American rapper and record producer from Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. sta ...

, and

Dej Loaf Deja Monét Trimble (born April 8, 1991), known professionally as Dej Loaf (stylized as DeJ Loaf), is an American rapper and singer from Detroit, Michigan. She is best known for her 2014 single " Try Me" and its 2015 follow-up, "Back Up" (featur ...

rapping over a

boom bap Boom bap is a subgenre and music production style that was prominent in East Coast hip hop during the golden age of hip hop from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The term "boom bap" is an onomatopoeia that represents the sounds used for the ...

beat.

Singles

The first single, "

", which features vocals by Australian singer-songwriter Sia and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

from

Emile Haynie Emile Haynie (born July 13, 1980), often credited simply as Emile, is an American record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, his range of production includes alternative rock, hip hop, indie and pop music. Haynie has worked with seve ...

, was previewed in the trailer for the film ''

The Equalizer ''The Equalizer'' is an American vigilante action thriller multimedia franchise initially co-created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim. It originated with a CBS television series from 1985 to 1989 starring Edward Woodward. The concept ...

'', released on June 16, 2014 (with its title not yet revealed). A TV spot for the film was released on August 24, 2014, and aired during the

2014 MTV Video Music Awards The 2014 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 24, 2014 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. It was the 31st annual MTV Video Music Awards. Beyoncé and Iggy Azalea led the nominees with eight nominations each, while Eminem followed them ...

, at the end of which it was promoted as "featuring the new song Eminem feat. Sia 'Guts Over Fear' from ''Shady XV'' - Black Friday". The song was a new leak before it was released a day later on the iTunes Store. It was later confirmed that the track would also roll during the closing credits of ''The Equalizer''. The second single, "Y'all Ready Know" by Slaughterhouse, was released on November 4, 2014. The music video was released the same day. The third and last single, "Detroit vs. Everybody" by Eminem, Trick-Trick, Dej Loaf, Big Sean, Royce Da 5'9", and Danny Brown, premiered on Eminem's radio channel

Shade 45 Shade 45 is American rapper Eminem's hip-hop station on Sirius XM Radio channel 45 and Dish Network channel 6045. History Eminem established his channel, Shade 45, that plays uncut hip-hop. Eminem also established a new morning show, ''Sway in t ...

on November 10, 2014. It was officially released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

later that night.

Critical reception

''Shady XV'' received generally positive reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 61, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 9 reviews. Samantha O'Connor of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' said, "For the Shady diehard fans, ''Shady XV'' is enough. But for those searching for that nostalgic surge of adrenaline-inducing passion and innovative content reminiscent of the Shady reign, it's better to skip the new material and head straight to the classics." Kyle Anderson of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' said, "Shady's first half is, like most new Eminem material, more problematic but also more rewarding. With its aggro-horrorcore production, trapped-in-2001 cultural nods (there's a reference to former congressman Gary Condit), and Billy Squier sample, it's essentially ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2.5'', with all the accompanying dicey gender politics." Homer Johnsen of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'' said, "Some songs border on perfection. A few more are just solidly average. Yet, it all balances out, and the rhymes on full display make ''Shady XV'' a great compilation release."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 138,000 copies in the United States. In its second week, the album dropped to number 21 on the chart, selling 28,000 copies. In its third week, the album dropped to number 37 on the chart, selling 18,000 copies. In its fourth week the album dropped to number 54 on the chart, selling 17,000 copies. As of June 27, 2015, ''Shady XV'' has been certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for shipping more than half-million units (in this case, 250,000 copies double album sets, which are double-counted by the RIAA).

Track listing

;Notes * signifies a co-producer. * signifies an additional producer. ;Sample credits * "Vegas" interpolates "

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...

" written and performed by

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

* "Fine Line" interpolates "Melody" by Luis Resto *"Shady XV" contains elements of " My Kinda Lover", written and performed by

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include " The Stroke", " Lonely Is the Night", " My Kinda Love ...

. Contains elements of "Fack" and "The Monster" performed by Eminem. *"Die Alone" interpolates "Just So You Don't Die Alone", written and performed by Luis Resto. *"Down" contains elements of "Going Down", written by

Don Nix William Donald Nix (September 27, 1941 – December 31, 2024) was an American musician, songwriter, and producer. Nix, who was best known for his song "Going Down," was described by AllMusic as "one of the more obscure figures in Southern soul ...

and performed by

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

. *"Twisted" contains elements of "

Synthetic Substitution "Synthetic Substitution" is a 1973 song by Melvin Bliss. Originally starting life as a throwaway B-side, with "Reward" as the A-Side, the song failed to chart anywhere on its initial release because of the collapse of Opal Productions, the parent c ...

", written by

Herb Rooney Herbert Louis Rooney (born 1940 - February 16, 1991) was an American record producer who was responsible for writing, producing and singing bass on songs by the Exciters and for writing and producing the sample staple Synthetic Substitution by ...

and performed by

Melvin Bliss Melvin McClelland (June 1, 1945-July 26, 2010) was a rhythm and blues singer known for his 1973 song " Reward/Synthetic Substitution", the B-side of which was heavily sampled

. *"Right For Me" interpolates "Effigy" by Luis Resto *"Detroit vs. Everybody" contains elements of "

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a song by James Brown recorded in 1969 and released as a single in 1970. Its drum break, Musical improvisation, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampling (music), sampled music recordings. Recor ...

", written and performed by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, and "Static on the Frequency", written by Peter Beveridge, Andy James and Jon Trotti and performed by Peter Beveridge. *"I Get Money" contains elements of "

Top Billin' "Top Billin'" is a single for American hip-hop duo Audio Two, released as the B-side of the single "Make It Funky" from the album '' What More Can I Say?'' It was released before First Priority Music signed a distribution deal with Atlantic Recor ...

", written by Kirk Robinson and performed by

Audio Two Audio Two was the Brooklyn, New York hip hop duo of rapping, emcee Kirk "Milk Dee" Robinson and DJ Nat "Gizmo" Robinson, best known for their first hit "Top Billin'". History The duo's debut single, "Make it Funky", was released in 1987, bu ...

. *"Cry Now" contains elements of "Blind Man", written by Joseph Scott and

Don Robey Don Deadric Robey (November 1, 1903 – June 16, 1975) was an American record label executive, songwriter, and record producer. As the founder of Peacock Records and the eventual owner of Duke Records, he was responsible for developing the car ...

, and performed by

Bobby "Blue" Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was describ ...

. *"Hammer Dance" contains elements of "

Falling Away from Me "Falling Away from Me" is a song by American nu metal band Korn. It was released as the first single from their fourth album '' Issues'', debuting in an episode of Comedy Central's animated series ''South Park'', entitled " Korn's Groovy Pirate G ...

", written by

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, which is considered a pioneering act of the nu metal genre. Davis's ...

Reginald Arvizu Reginald Quincy Arvizu (born November 2, 1969), also known as Fieldy, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for nu metal band Korn. He is also the guitarist/bassist for rock band StillWell. Career Prior to Arvizu's time in Korn ...

James Shaffer James Christian Shaffer (born June 6, 1970), also known by his stage name "Munky", is an American musician best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the nu metal band Korn. He was ranked at No. 26 of Guitar World's 100 Greatest Heavy Metal G ...

David Silveria David Randall Silveria (born September 21, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the original drummer for nu metal band Korn from 1993 until leaving the band in 2006. He then became the drummer for Infinika, which was formed in 2012 and ...

and

Brian Welch Brian Philip Welch (born June 19, 1970), also known by his stage name Head, is an American musician. He is a guitarist and founding member of the nu metal band Korn and his solo project Love and Death, where he also provides vocals. Along wit ...

, and performed by

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

. *"Wanna Know" contains elements of "It Couldn't Be Me", written by William Jones and Dennis Webber and performed by Power of Zeus.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2014 greatest hits albums 2014 compilation albums Eminem compilation albums Albums produced by Dr. Dre Albums produced by DJ Premier Albums produced by Eminem Albums produced by Emile Haynie Record label compilation albums Shady Records compilation albums Hip-hop compilation albums Albums produced by DJ Khalil Albums produced by John Hill (record producer) Albums produced by Boi-1da Albums produced by Just Blaze Albums produced by Statik Selektah