Shady’s back, tell a friend. Eminem returned with “Houdini,” his first single of 2024 on Friday (May 31).
Em attempted to turn the clock back with the single and his early 2000s Slim Shady alter ego. “Houdini” serves as the start of the rollout for the Detroit legend heading into his The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) album, which will be released this summer.
The project will serve as his 12th album and follows 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Em originally announced plans for the album shortly after his appearance at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit. He teased his own version of an Unsolved Mysteries episode featuring a cameo from 50 Cent. However, it was actually Dr. Dre who revealed the details about Eminem’s upcoming album during a late-night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in March.
Eminem also dropped an accompanying superhero-themed visual for “Houdini” on Friday, and the clip is a star-studded affair while attempting to create Em’s 2002 “Without Me.” 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Pete Davidson, Snoop Dogg and the rapper’s three kids all make cameos in the video.
From Britney Spears to Christina Aguilera, Eminem hasn’t been shy about sparking controversy and name-dropping his celebrity peers throughout his career.
Em tends to lean into the shock value and that’s still the case on “Houdini,” as the provocateur mentions pop-culture personalities such as RuPaul and hip-hop staples like Megan Thee Stallion and Dr. Dre.
Find our full list featuring all the celebrities Eminem references on “Houdini” below.
Lyric: “If I was to ask for Megan Thee Stallion if she would collab with me/ Would I really have a shot at a feat?”
Eminem and Megan Thee Stallion have yet to collaborate, and a feature request playing off of her 2020 Tory Lanez shooting is a bizarre way to ask. Lanez ended up being sentenced to a decade behind bars and the Houston rapper has been vulnerable about the depression and mental health issues she’s endured in the years since.
Lyric: “In the coupe leaning back my seat/ Bumpin’ R. Kelly’s favorite group the black guy pees”
R. Kelly and Eminem never collaborated throughout their careers. Here, Em utilizes wordplay comparing the disgraced singer’s alleged fetish of peeing on women during sex to his favorite group being the Black Eyed Peas.
It’s not Slim Shady’s first time dissing Kells either. On the 2009 Relapse track “Old Times Sake,” Em brings up R. Kelly and his alleged fetish once again. “And it’s given me wings, I believe I can fly/ While I pee on a girl, you won’t catch me CSI,” he raps.
Lyric: “Cancel me what? Ok that’s it go ahead Paul quit/ Snake a– p—k”
Eminem and Paul Rosenberg met in 1997 during the infancy stages of Em’s career and he became Slim’s manager shortly after. Rosenberg left his role with Eminem for a brief period in 2018 when taking over Def Jam Records as chairman, but ended up leaving the label in 2020 and resuming management duties.
Lyric: “F–k them, f–k Dre, f–k Jimmy, f–k me, f–k you, f–k my own kids they’re brats”
Jimmy Iovine is a co-founder of Interscope Records. As the story goes, Iovine reportedly played Em’s Slim Shady EP for Dr. Dre and urged Dre to sign the Detroit rapper to his Aftermath label. Iovine and Eminem remain close to this day as Em pulled up to the famed exec’s 70th birthday party last year.
Lyric: “F–k them f–k Dre, f–k Jimmy, f–k me, f–k you, f–k my own kids they’re brats”
Dr. Dre has long been a mentor figure for Eminem and signed him to his Aftermath record label. From producing Em’s “My Name Is” in 1999 to “Forgot About Dre” and many more, Dr. Dre remains an integral part of Slim Shady’s creative process as they form one of the most dynamic duos in all of rap. Dre appears in the “Houdini” music video and revealed in March that he’s contributed to Eminem’s upcoming The Death of Slim Shady album.
Lyric: “Got two balls, big as RuPaul’s, what you thought you saw/ Ain’t what you saw”
There appears to be no history between RuPaul and Eminem prior to name-dropping him on “Houdini.” RuPaul is known as the “Queen of Drag” while producing his acclaimed reality series RuPaul’s Drag Race. The 63-year-old multi-hyphenate has won a pair of Billboard Music Awards, a Tony and 14 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Lyric: “Caught sleepin’ and see the kidnappin’ never did happen/ Like Sherri Papini”
Eminem has referenced notorious serial killers and other bizarre cases and diabolical criminals seen in American history throughout his lyrics in the past. During the final verse of “Houdini,” Em mentions Sherri Papini, who was arrested for orchestrating her own kidnapping hoax in 2016.
Papini, 34 at the time, claimed she was abducted for three weeks before being released in November 2016. The mother of two stood by her story when questioned by federal agents. The California resident was eventually arrested in 2022 and agreed to a plea deal. She ended up being sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $300,000 on charges of mail fraud and lying to a federal agent.
Lyric: “Harry Houdini, I vanish into thin air as I’m leaving”
Harry Houdini was an escape artist and stuntman that became a renowned performer in the early 1900s. His otherworldly stunts appear to be an inspiration behind Em’s new single bearing his name heading into The Death of Slim Shady. Houdini died at the age of 52 in 1926.
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