So, Eminem decided to make a comeback. For some reason, he felt the need to come out of his shell and release a track and with the same name ‘Houdini’ that Dua Lipa had used for her song last year.
Eminem released Houdini as part of ‘The Death of Slim Shady album’ on 31st May the same day I put my papers (lol on a side note) and this song has garnered a lot of attention.
I feel several people are happy to see him perform. Its not like he had gone totally silent, his major song ‘Don’t Front’ featuring Buckshot being released last year.
However, it almost felt like we had witnessed nearly everything that Eminem had to offer. But, he proved us wrong when he came up with Houdini and he also had a music video created for it.
Eminem actually collaborated with David Blaine before the release of his song saying it was going to be his last trick to make his career disappear perhaps implying that his recent production is going to eclipse his earlier work.
The song is like a recreation of his 2002 song ‘Without Me’ in terms of tune, context and lyrics too. It also features Slim(his alter ego) with Eminem rapping together.
The video features Slim entering the Eminem’s reality making it two personalities from the same person being in the same dimension. Now, Slim Shady is supposed to be Eminem’s reckless alter ego something he made use of to create destructive music.
The song is about how Eminem is actually trying to keep up with his old self. But he realizes that he actually can’t do so, no matter how hard he tries.
There is also an expectation from him to come up with better and better music which is difficult given his current age.
Eminem fuses with his past self ‘Slim Shady’ to produce a hybrid. Given the sensitive world that we are in right now, Eminem is actually trying to save the world from his past self that is about to blow up smoke which will only get him cancelled further than he ever was before.
The video is incredibly detail oriented. In ‘Without Me’ music video Eminem snatches his CD from kids because he doesn’t want kids to be influenced by what he says.
Yet in Houdini’s video, we see him doing the same thing by snatching the mike from Slim because he wants the world to be safe from Slim’s offensive remarks.
Yet in the showdown with him and his past self ‘Slim’ he ends up fusing to create another hybrid of his own, which goes off on everyone be it Dre, Jimmy, his children and even his own past self which he calls out for crossdressing.
Eminem knew beforehand that his song would create controversy like most of them do. He referenced Megan Thee Stallion in his lyrics and also the shooting incident in 2020 which left her foot injured.
He even talked about Sherri Papini faking her own kidnapping. Its funny how Eminem calls people out of the blue who are not even related to him and start random beefs with them altogether.
The video features Pete Davidson and his horrific driving referencing the incident when he was charged for driving recklessly last year.
He makes a lot of references to his disappearing trick that he wants to pull off just like Houdini the magician used to. Lets see what that is actually about and if he is successful in doing so.
Overall, I like the entire concept of the song. I would say its highly creative and entertaining. Its good to see Eminem somehow being able to innovate on his craft at this point of time in his life and career.
I am excited to see him come up with different concepts altogether and looking forward to more tracks by him in the future. I feel like ‘The Death of Slim Shady’ could break records and be one of his most influential albums ever.
Let me know your opinion about the song in the comments below.
