Eminem returns with āHoudini,ā a hard-hitting new single accompanied by a fitting video. Em teased the drop earlier this week in a FaceTime with David Blaine ā the clip ended with the magician eating a wine glass, and the rapper declaring, āWell, for my last trick, Iām gonna make my career disappear.ā āHoudiniā gives fans the first taste of Eminemās 12th album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De GrĆ¢ce), due out this summer.
āHoudiniā is produced by Eminem himself and ā continuing the theme- features a sample and interpolation of Steve Miller Bandās 1982 hit, āAbracadabra.ā The accompanying clip imagines Eminemās antagonist character Slim Shady emerging in the present day via a āportalā ā and finds himself confused and unsettled by what he sees in 2024. Determined to mold the modern era into a place more suited to his unique worldview, he sets off on a mission to do exactly that. Only current day Eminemās alter-alter ego āRap Boyā can save the world from Shady, along with his long time mentor- the legendary Dr. Dre. In an effort to neutralize these nefarious actions things go sideways and an unholy hybrid version of Eminem is created. Dr. Dre is less than thrilled with the results and hastily leaves the hybrid Shady to continue on his own⦠until a wandering stranger joins in and takes the wheel. Guess whoās back, indeed.
Directed by long-running collaborator Rich Lee (āNot Afraid,ā āThe Monster,ā āVenom,ā etc.), the innovative āHoudiniā video freely calls back to classic Eminem videos such as Joseph Khanās āWithout Meā and Phillip Atwellās āReal Slim Shadyā. āHoudiniā is packed with cameos including Dr. Dre, Pete Davidson, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Jimmy Iovine, Grip, Westside Boogie, Denaun Porter, Royce 5ā 9ā, Paul Rosenberg, The Alchemist, EZ Mil, Ryan Keely, Samantha Mack, and comedian Shane Gillis. The generative AI used in the video was created by Metaphysic, with Jo Plaete and Chris Ume supervising production.
Rich Lee speaks on the video more by mentioning āWhat if Shady from the 2000s got teleported into the modern day and we got his take on what the world has becomeā¦and what if āRap Boyā was the only person who could stop him? But, 20+ years have passed so theres a little less stamina and some bad knees. The crazy combination of new tech that made this music video possible. We are in such an awesome time now for filmmaking, and we were able to leverage so much of the great tech we have at hand.ā
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De GrĆ¢ce) will be Eminemās first album since 2020ās Music to Be Murdered By, which not only topped the Billboard 200, but also was the artistās 10th to do so. That set was packed with a generation and genre-spanning guest list, ranging from Dr. Dre to Ed Sheeran to Juice Wrld. Not much has yet been revealed about the forthcoming full-length, but fans have been searching for clues in a special episode of Detroit Murder Files, and a mysterious obituary published in the Detroit Free Press. Dr. Dre has confirmed his involvement.
We have compiled reactions to āHoudiniā from hip-hop artists and it includes B-Real, Big Daddy Kane, Ice T, Big Sean, Mickey Factz, Math Hoffa, DJ Hed, Punch TDE, Obie Trice and many others. Check them below.
āI was on the tour lately and I randomly got a text from Eminem and apparently he had heardĀ the song that I did with Mr. Criminal. We did a song recently and somehow thatās the one Eminem heard. He hit me up and heās like ādude! the bar work on Mr. Criminal songā¦ā and he starts quoting the bars. I was like āhey man, coming from you that means a lot cause I respect the hell out of my bro. To me, heās top 3 all day. No one could shake that foundation, ever! Donāt try to throw other MCs in front of the names that I choose as my three. Itās my three and Eminemās on my top 3.ā ā said B-Real.
Then he continued: āHe was giving me feedback on some stuff cause I sent him the Real Psycho album and we had like two-three day conversation and heās like āman, Iām listening to this sāt and your bars on this and thatā¦ā It surprised me. I only gave it to him for an opinion cause I respect him as an MC and writer. He was kinda giving me feedback on all of it and I was like āthank you bro, itās much love all day.ā And then, when I heard the new joint āHoudiniā the other day I had to hit him back like ābro! your pocket is still just ridiculous!ā Every bar flipped. Itās like an old Eminem sāt. Like, got bars and its funny. He has brought the shock humor cynical bars back. The video is also hilarious. I donāt care what anybody says, that sāt was hilarious to me. Thatās him singing the chorus and he killed that. And I said to him āthat Steve Miller sāt you put on the chorus was fāking hard son. Thereās gonna be a lot of people scrutinizing my dude but hate if you want, we are not. We fāk with it. If you hate itās just because you got a problem. Art is subjective, some people are going to get down with it and some aināt but Iām just saying I get down with it cause he came back with a smasher right there and the video just backs it up cause its hilarious and just as funny as the first one, if not more funny. That was gold. I canāt wait what the album sounds like.ā
Em is Back! š„Ā https://t.co/8iaIY3Yajw
ā ICE T (@FINALLEVEL)Ā May 31, 2024
What you think about Houdini? Lyrically and cadence wise, this is impressive. Eminem is one of the best!Ā #eminemĀ #slimshadyĀ #houdiniĀ #cadenceĀ #multisyllabicĀ #lyricistĀ #penduluminkĀ #mickeyfactzĀ pic.twitter.com/ZlDDQOg4lh
ā IG: Mickey.Factz (@MickeyFactz)Ā June 1, 2024
NewĀ @EminemĀ joint is very nostalgic⦠he got a few Barz in there thatās craaaazy! How yāall feel about it?
ā DFG HOFFA (@MATHHOFFA)Ā June 1, 2024
I like the Em song
ā DJHed (@DJHed)Ā May 31, 2024
I like Emās new song. Itās classic Slim Shady for sure.
ā Punch TDE (@iamstillpunch)Ā May 31, 2024
Obie Trice bumping āHoudiniāšŖĀ pic.twitter.com/vXsxmlnFUX
ā The Eminem Bible (@Shadyind)Ā June 1, 2024
This mfĀ @EminemĀ is craaaaazy lmao welcome back
ā OāShea Jackson Jr (@OsheaJacksonJr)Ā May 31, 2024
Never tell the audience how good you are, they will soon find out for themselves āØš©Ā https://t.co/jVuCp6McCf
ā FredWreck (@Fredwreck)Ā May 31, 2024
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