Eminem released the new single “Houdini” on Friday, May 31, his first off his upcoming album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), days after the wedding of his daughter Hailie Jade.
The video for the new track, which dropped the same day, begins with the now 51-year-old rapper in bed, receiving a call from Dr. Dre, in a direct echo of his 2002 video “Without Me.”
In “Houdini,” Eminem receives a call from Dre revealing that a portal to 2002 has opened in the city, meaning that a younger version of Eminem, with the bleached blonde hair, made it to 2024.
The older and younger versions of the two rappers later appear on screen together, as the video continues with the comic book-style visuals also used in “Without Me.”
“Abra-abracadabra (And for my last trick)/I’m ’bout to reach in my bag, bruh (Like)/Abra-abracadabra (And for my last trick, poof)/Just like that and I’m back, bro,” he raps in the track’s chorus.
The rapper released the song’s cover art days before its release, featuring a magician wearing a Jason Voorhees hockey mask and making an electrified microphone float in midair.
“Guess who’s back? And for my last trick…” the cover reads.
The day before, Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) released a video featuring magician David Blaine, in which he asked the magician for help.
“What I was wondering is like, how far can we go with this magic? Like, can we do like a stunt or something?” he says. “Well for my last trick, I’m gonna make my career disappear.”
The album featured songs with lyrics from his alter ego’s perspective, including “My Name Is,” his first big hit which featured the famous opening, “Hi, my name is, what? My name is, who? My name is, chka-chka, Slim Shady.”
Weeks earlier, Eminem announced The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), which will mark his first new album since the January 2020 release of Music to Be Murdered By.
