Houdini (Eminem song)

"Houdini" is a song by American rapper Eminem, and is the lead single from his twelfth studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). The song was produced by Eminem and Luis Resto, and was released through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records on May 31, 2024. It interpolates multiple previous Eminem works, as well as "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band; Jeff Bass, Anne Dudley, Steve Miller, Trevor Horn, DJ Head, and Malcolm McLaren are credited as songwriters due to the interpolation of the latter.

Released alongside an accompanying music video, "Houdini" debuted at the top of the Billboard Global 200. It also topped the charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and has reached the top ten of the charts in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United States.

Background and composition
In April 2024, Eminem announced his twelfth studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), to be released in mid-2024. Three weeks later, he shared an iMessage screenshot with a cryptic message that says "...and for my last trick!", sent to all of his contacts. The date for the message read May 31, hinting at an upcoming release. On May 28, the rapper posted a joint video call between himself and magician David Blaine, in which the former asked Blaine for help and a magic trick to which the latter responds by drinking a glass of wine and then eating it; Eminem then states that for his "last trick", he was going to make his career "disappear". The rapper then previews the track by playing a short instrumental snippet. At the end of the clip, the song title and release date are revealed.

"Houdini" was released on May 31, 2024. A hip hop song, "Houdini" interpolates Eminem's "Without Me", "My Name Is", and "Just Lose It", as well as the 1982 song "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band. The day after release, Steve Miller praised Eminem as "one of those timeless originators building something new on a long musical legacy of original artists".

The lyrics reference Harry Houdini, after whom the song is named, as well as the Sherri Papini kidnapping hoax, RuPaul's testicles, and the Black Eyed Peas in a pun on R. Kelly's urolagnia. They also reference Eminem's controversy over homophobic lyrics in his earlier career, and imply that the "old" Eminem would consider "the way shit is today" to be "gay". Eminem also calls his manager Paul Rosenberg a "male cross-dresser" and a "fake ass bitch", before saying "fuck" those giving him "shit" for that, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine, himself, "you", and his own children. "Houdini"'s lyrics also inquire as to whether a collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion would give Eminem "a shot at a feat", a reference to her being shot in the foot by Tory Lanez, fantasize about hitting an eight-year-old child in the face with a participation trophy, and assert that Eminem's "transgender cat" is Siamese, "identifies as black", and "acts Chinese".

Music video
The music video for "Houdini", directed by Rich Lee, who previously directed Eminem's videos for "Not Afraid", "Rap God", "The Monster", "Phenomenal", "Walk on Water" and "Venom", was released alongside the single on May 31, 2024. In the music video, Eminem, dressed as his Rap Boy persona from "Without Me" (The Eminem Show, 2002), and Dr. Dre drive around a Gotham City-esque city while tracking down and battling Slim Shady, who time traveled through a portal from 2002 to the events of the music video. The music video features cameo appearances from fellow rappers 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Royce da 5′9″, Denaun Porter, along with Westside Boogie, Grip, and Ez Mil, signed at the time to Eminem's record label Shady Records, record producer the Alchemist, comedians Shane Gillis and Pete Davidson, adult film actresses Samantha Mack and Ryan Keely, Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg, Interscope Records co-founder and executive Jimmy Iovine, and Eminem's own children.

Reception
Andrew R. Chow of Time stated that the song was "revolting his critics". Stereogum's Tom Breihan was not impressed with "Houdini", writing that it was "truly amazing" that Eminem had continued "to find new ways to get even shittier" and opined that he and Luis Resto had managed to make "Abracadabra" "sound even more like circus music". He also described the lyrics as "full of hack-ass jokes about how everything is too woke now" and Eminem's cadences as "cluttered and unpleasant", and wrote that listeners could "make a fucking bingo card" out of the song. Eddie Fu of Consequence wrote that Eminem "sounds like ass" on the track, opined that his customary potshots at celebrities were "more predictable and boring than shocking and clever", and stated that his publication "could also do without his complaining about being 'targeted' by the TikTok backlash" given that "leaning into controversy" had been his strategy throughout his entire career.

A more positive review came from Brian McCollum of the Detroit Free Press, who praised the song as a "catchy throwback" with "clever, multilayered wordplay". Robin Murray of Clash described the song as a "perfectly timed dose of cartoonish fan service, a colorful, occasionally shocking (and occasionally boring) dose of ultra-colorful chart rap", though felt the use of "gay" as a slur rankled and that the verse about Eminem's "transgender cat" was "corny as hell", and wrote that "Houdini" failed to "escape the lingering stench of the era it embodies". In addition, Lindsay Zoladz of The New York Times felt that the track's "garish, carnivalesque beat", over which Eminem "surveys the current cultural moment and strings together some stiltedly rapped jokes [while] desperate to offend at every turn", was "exhausting".

Commercial performance
"Houdini" debuted at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated June 15, 2024, with 48.8 million streams and 49,000 copies sold. It became his 23rd top ten song in his native country and his highest charting single since "The Monster" a decade earlier. "Houdini" also received significant airplay on Alternative Radio, and debuted at No. 35 on the US Alternative Airplay chart dated July 7, 2024, making it his first song in nearly 22 years to enter the chart since "Lose Yourself" in 2002, and his fifth overall song on the chart.

In Canada, "Houdini" entered the Canadian Hot 100 at number one, and is his sixth track to reach the summit.

In the United Kingdom, "Houdini" debuted at the top of the UK Singles Chart on June 7, 2024 – for the week ending date June 13, 2024 – with 104,800 chart units including 13.3 million streams. It became Eminem's 11th chart-topping song in Britain, his first since "Godzilla" with Juice Wrld in January 2020, and his first without a feature since "Like Toy Soldiers" in February 2005. This was Eminem's best first-week performance on the UK Singles Chart since "Without Me" in May 2002. It remained at the top of the chart for two weeks, becoming his first song to hold the summit of the UK Singles Chart for more than one week.

The song also topped the ARIA Singles Chart in Australia, where it became the first Eminem song to feature on the charts since "The Monster" (featuring Rihanna) in 2013, and the first without a feature since "We Made You" in 2009. "Houdini" became the eighth Eminem song to reach number one in Australia.