In the latest episode of Joe Budden Podcast, the crew discussed Eminem’s latest chart-topping single “Houdini,” from his upcoming 12th solo studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). At the start of the clip, Joe Budden refused to comment on the song, saying: “Y’all review Em. I ain’t…I don’t like nothing of it.”
From there, Officially Ice starts: “I don’t like this song. I’m just going to start there. With that to the side, I think I see what he’s trying to do with the album being The Death of Slim Shady and with the way the song is kind of like homage to old records. It almost sounds like spoof of old him. Even the way record starts, everything. Again, I’m not a fan of any of these. The video, he’s got Robin suit on some scenes, he got Dre in there. It’s old Slim Shady. With the album being called the death of Slim Shady I could see this being act one into the album of the killing of Slim Shady. I see he’s gong somewhere with it. So I’m not mad. I ain’t judging this. I just don’t like the song and it’s just going to sit over there.” he said.
Then he continued: “That artwork, that style, he has used for Curtain Call 2, similar, that’s in line with that. The whole Houdini, for my next trick, he’s playing this magician thing, you know, pulling rabbit out of hat. I think all these are tying into a larger picture of the album. So, I’m not really gonna judge anything based off of this. And I think he’s intentionally doing this. He wants people to overreact to this. I think the Meg line in there that everybody going crazy is part of the whole Slim Shady cause that’s what he’s known for. I think, he’s going to give us little bit of the dark Slim Shady, this animated cartoony Slim Shady and then go into kind off of the last album and the one before that. Music To Be Murdered By, Kamikaze, where it was real rap and it was good music on there. People are just tired of Em so they didn’t hear it. I think he’s telling a story with this album and going to end of Slim Shady and then give us Marshall.”
It’s a week of comebacks, as Australian rock band Crowded House maintain their perfect albums chart record and Eminem lands his first chart-topping single in more than a decade on ARIA Singles chart.
Billie Eilish returns to the albums chart penthouse, as her third studio album, Hit Me Hard And Soft, reclaims the #1 spot for the second non-consecutive week. No official singles have been lifted from the album, but two tracks are in the top 10 singles chart: Birds Of A Feather at #6 and Lunch at #7.
Just below Billie, Crowded House’s Gravity Stairs opens at #3. It’s the legendary band’s eighth studio album and becomes their 10th top five album: all eight albums plus two greatest hits collections have reached the top five.
Detroit legend Eminem storms back onto the ARIA Singles Chart, with his new track Houdini arriving at #1. It’s the lead track from his upcoming 12th solo studio album The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace).
Houdini is his first chart-topper since “The Monster” featuring Rihanna, from The Marshall Mathers LP 2 album, spent three weeks at #1 in 2013, his first top 10 showing since “Godzilla” with Juice Wrld got to #3 in 2020 from Music To Be Murdered By album, and his 22nd top 10 hit. The new track samples Eminem’s own “Without Me,” “My Name Is” and “Just Lose It,” and interpolates Steve Miller Band’s Abracadabra, which spent two weeks at #1 in 1982.
“Houdini” is Slim Shady’s ninth #1 single in Canada, following “Stan” in 2000, “Without Me” in 2002, “Lose Yourself” in 2002, “Just Lose It” in 2004, “When I’m Gone” in 2005, “We Made You” in 2009, “Love The Way You Lie” in 2010 and “The Monster” in 2013. Only one male artist has had more #1 singles: Elvis Presley, with 14. (Until this week, Eminem was tied with Justin Bieber at eight a piece.)
“Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central” executive produced by Eminem and Paul Rosenberg was an all-star celebration of Detroit music bringing Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean and a host of other top names to the restored Michigan Central train station as the historic site launches its grand reopening for a global audience. The concert was spearheaded by Ford Motor Co., which spent nearly $1 billion to renovate the site and unveiled the artist roster Monday morning after weeks of buildup.
Branded as “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central,” the event was streamed live on Peacock, then will be aired Sunday on NBC as a prime-time special. The 90-minute, genre-spanning concert — whose lineup includes hip-hop duo Slum Village, gospel stars Kierra Sheard and the Clark Sisters, techno-house DJ Theo Parrish and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra — marks the biggest convergence of hometown star power on one Detroit stage in decades. The show also featured visiting artists such as Jelly Roll, Fantasia, Common and Melissa Etheridge. Presenters included Detroit Lions stars and veterans such as Barry Sanders, Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown, along with comedian Mike Epps, actress Sophia Bush and one and only Royce 5’9″ who appeared with J Dilla’s mother.
The concert was livestreamed at 8:30 p.m. Thursday on Peacock, the streaming service operated by NBC Universal, and will be repurposed for a one-hour NBC special airing nationally at 7 p.m. Sunday. Six weeks after the NFL Draft downtown, the Michigan Central concert gave Detroit another high-profile starring role amid the city’s ongoing renewal.
“We wanted to celebrate the reopening of Michigan Central Station in style and make it a night to remember for Detroiters and people watching around the world,” Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford, said in a statement Monday. “I am honored and grateful that so many of Detroit’s musical legends, sports heroes, artists and innovators are joining us to celebrate the city we all love and the bright future we are creating together.” The streaming and TV production was led by Jesse Collins Entertainment, a Los Angeles company that has overseen Super Bowl halftime shows, Emmy Awards, BET Honors and other events.
As it turns out, one of the surprise special guests was Eminem himself, joined by Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Denaun Porter, Jelly Roll, performing his latest single “Houdini,” “Sing For The Moment,” “Welcome 2 Detroit” and “Not Afraid.” You can watch the performance below:
Eminem has been mocked by the eldest son of former United States president, Donald Trump Jr., after false news have been spread about Slim Shady making critical comments o his father.
Donald Trump Jr. took to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday (June 6, 2024) to attack Marshall Mathers in response to a viral post claiming that he has vowed to “leave America if Trump is elected.” Trump Jr. replied by poking fun at Em’s appearance, writing above a photo of the Detroit icon: “Are you really telling me that’s not Ellen DeGeneres????”However, it appears that Trump Jr. fell for fake news as there’s no evidence that the rapper made such comments and X flagged it as a spam news.
Many fans on X roasted him for going against Eminem. “bro has more money than you’ll ever have dreamed of achieving without grifting off your dad.” said one of the users. Another said: “Go ahead. Make an enemy of Eminem. We all know where that will go. Someone said: “Nepo-Barbie has thoughts on Eminem. Good luck kid.”
Despite this, Eminem has been made no secret of his disdain for Donald Trump in the past. Slim Shady called out the controversial businessman turned politician on his song “Campaign Speech” which was released shortly before the 2016 presidential election (which Trump won).
“You say Trump don’t kiss a-s like a puppet/ ‘Cause he runs his campaign with his own cash for the fundin’/ And that’s what you wanted/ A f–kin’ loose cannon who’s blunt with his hand on the button/ Who doesn’t have to answer to no one –great idea!” Em rapped.
Em also called Trump a “b–ch” in his verse on Big Sean‘s “No Favors” which dropped a few weeks after he took office. Eminem’s most notable lyrical attack, however, came during his 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher where he urged his huge fanbase to pick a side. “I’m drawing in the sand a line, you’re either for or against/ And if you can’t decide who you like more and you’re split/ On who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for you with this: F–k you!” Eminem rapped. He continued: “The rest of America, stand up!/ We love our military, and we love our country/ But we f–kin’ hate Trump!” Eminem also dissed Trump in several songs on Revival album, including “Like Home” with Alicia Keys and “Nowhere Fast” with Kehlani.
BREAKING: Eminem is scheduled to perform at the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov fight on August 3rd, 2024, at the Bank of Montreal Stadium in Los Angeles for the Riyadh Season Card.
Eminem is probably supporting Terence Crawford again. Last year, as sports fans across the world waited for the incendiary welterweight boxing championship match between Terence Crawford and his archrival Errol Spence Jr., Slim Shady made an unprecedented surprise appearance during the ring walk in Las Vegas.
Marshall, who joined Crawford during his welterweight title match at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, hyped the crowd up just ahead of one of the most influential boxing matches of our times. “Las Vegas, make some noise for the next undisputed welterweight champion of the world, Terence ‘Bud’ f—ing Crawford,” Eminem roared to the roaring crowd at the packed arena.
The Detroit icon didn’t rap the song as a recording of the track simply played while they walked out. However, his appearance was still a big deal in itself. As for how Crawford managed to get Eminem as his hype man? All it took was a simple DM. “I throw a rock in a haystack and he replied, I told him to pull up, and he said, ‘I’m there. You’re one of my favorite fighters,’” Crawford said (via Rolling Stone). “That showed a lot of support for me, and that showed what level I’m at in the boxing world.”
Terence Crawford will step into the ring against light-middleweight world champion Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles as he attempts to win a world title at a fourth different weight.
The 36-year-old holds an unbeaten record in 40 professional fights, winning all of them, and has held world titles in the welterweight, super-lightweight and lightweight divisions.
His opponent Madrimov defeated Magomed Kurbanov to win the vacant belt in March. The 29-year-old is also unbeaten and has won 10 fights and drawn one. “Terence Crawford is one of my favourite boxers and one of the best boxers in the world,” he said. “I am very excited to get this opportunity to make a statement, and I will”….And few minutes ago, Eminem was announced as the special guest performer for the fight night. Check the announcement below:
Eminem and Paul Rosenberg are set to executive produce the “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central.” It could be one for the ages: A blockbuster, all-star celebration of Detroit music will bring Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean and a host of other top names to the restored Michigan Central train station as the historic site launches its grand reopening for a global audience. The concert is spearheaded by Ford Motor Co., which spent nearly $1 billion to renovate the site and unveiled the artist roster Monday morning after weeks of buildup.
Branded as “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central,” the event will stream live on Peacock, then air Sunday on NBC as a prime-time special. The 90-minute, genre-spanning concert — whose lineup includes hip-hop duo Slum Village, gospel stars Kierra Sheard and the Clark Sisters, techno-house DJ Theo Parrish and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra — will mark the biggest convergence of hometown star power on one Detroit stage in decades. The show will also feature visiting artists such as Jelly Roll, Fantasia, Common and Melissa Etheridge performing tributes to the city’s rich music heritage. Additional acts are being booked for the event, sources have told the Detroit Free Press. Monday’s official announcement says the concert will include “surprise special guests.” Presenters will include Detroit Lions stars and veterans such as Barry Sanders, Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown, along with comedian Mike Epps and actress Sophia Bush.
The concert can be watched live at 8:30 p.m. Thursday on Peacock, the streaming service operated by NBC Universal, and will be repurposed for a one-hour NBC special airing nationally at 7 p.m. Sunday. Six weeks after the NFL Draft downtown, the Michigan Central concert is poised to give Detroit another high-profile starring role amid the city’s ongoing renewal. Details were revealed Monday by Ford and Michigan Central after weeks of growing buzz and intrigue about the free event, which will accommodate 15,000 people at Corktown’s Roosevelt Park in front of the restored train station. Tickets have already been distributed. The concert is a marquee moment for Ford as it unveils the resurrected Michigan Central following a six-year, $950 million rehabilitation of the 13-story depot and its surrounding 30-acre campus just west of downtown Detroit.
“We wanted to celebrate the reopening of Michigan Central Station in style and make it a night to remember for Detroiters and people watching around the world,” Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford, said in a statement Monday. “I am honored and grateful that so many of Detroit’s musical legends, sports heroes, artists and innovators are joining us to celebrate the city we all love and the bright future we are creating together.” The streaming and TV production is being led by Jesse Collins Entertainment, a Los Angeles company that has overseen Super Bowl halftime shows, Emmy Awards, BET Honors and other events.
Homegrown hit rapper Big Sean, who kicked off April’s NFL Draft with a live set, figured prominently in Ford’s 2018 public festivities when the automaker bought the train station property. Those artists and the others announced Monday make up the most notable concentration of name-brand Detroit talent to share a bill in many years — likely going back to the 1960s and the Motortown Revues that assembled chart-topping Motown acts at venues such as the Fox Theatre.
If Eminem were to perform, it would be the rapper’s first hometown show in nearly a decade, not counting his onstage cameos with touring acts such as Ed Sheeran and 50 Cent. Eminem ‘s last headlining stand in Detroit was an August 2014 Comerica Park doubleheader with Rihanna. It appears besides producing the show, Eminem will perform at the main stage as today fans heard “Sing For The Moment” soundcheck rehearsal at the place. Slim Shady might also perform his latest hit single “Houdini,” as Denaun Porter suggested few days ago. You can watch the rehearsal video below:
Westside Boogie has recently visited Hat Club to do some hat shopping. In the newest episode of Crowned hosted by Brownbag Podcast’s and Power 106’s Rosecrans Vic at Hat Club LA on Melrose Avenue, Boogie talks about his music career, his love for the fitted culture, when his latest music projects will be releasing soon and much more.
About Superheroes from Compton.
I’m going to take out Dr. Dre from there just because I feel like he represents LA as a whole. He’s like a cheat code so let’s just be more specific. My big hommie [G Weer] who is one of the reasons I got signed. That’s my number one hero. Number two, Kendrick. He’s from my neighborhood, shout out to the guy. Shout out to Serena, one of the greatest athletes of all time. DJ Quik, one of my inspirations growing up. I gravitated towards his beats and I feel like that’s a west coast sound. One more? Can I say myself? Myself! I’m a hero.
About Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef.
I’m going to be bias and I’m going to be a delusional LA native always. Kendrick was my favorite rapper before this and the fact that he’s from my neighborhood I’m always going to side with him. But I think it was super dope for hip-hop, not to discredit anything that Drake done for hip-hop, the city got a W. We won it, in my opinion. The fact that in this era where we all got this short attention span and they gave us music back to back to back to back and you got to see Kendrick strategy, stepping all over releases, I think it was dope!
About friendly back and forth beef with someone.
Oh yeah [I’m down for that]. I always wanted that. I love competing. I feel like, if you say you competing you got to have that moment in your career where you go at somebody and see if you could survive and it could define you so I think it’s dope. I’m waiting for the smoke. It’s hard for me to picture myself having problem with somebody just on some rap s–t. I got to really not like you. You really got to say something disrespectful about the person and even get the point across.
About his new music music.
Trying to get out of my head and drop third album. So, that’s the plan. With artists like myself, who spend a lot of time working on lyrics and making sure to put out the best product you get caught in that overthinking so this year is the year I’m trying to actually drop. As far as the message I wanna deliver with this project, it’s still n early stages. I got a lot of records done so it’s about filtering out my ideas and making sure I got tunnel vision of what I want to do with the project and what message I want to deliver.
Eminem has returned with “Houdini,” a hard-hitting new single accompanied by a fitting video featuring cameos from adult film stars Samantha Mack and Ryan Keely. The song gives fans the first taste of Eminem’s upcoming 12th solo studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), due out this summer.
“Houdini” is produced by Eminem himself and – continuing the theme- features a sample and interpolation of Steve Miller Band’s 1982 hit, “Abracadabra.” The accompanying clip imagines Eminem’s antagonist character Slim Shady emerging in the present day via a “portal” — 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 Eminem’s alter-alter ego “Rap Boy” 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 who’s back, indeed.
Directed by long-running collaborator Rich Lee (“Not Afraid,” “The Monster,” “Venom,” etc.), the innovative “Houdini” video freely calls back to classic Eminem videos such as Joseph Khan’s “Without Me” and Phillip Atwell’s “Real Slim Shady”. “Houdini” is packed with cameos including Dr. Dre, Pete Davidson, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Jimmy Iovine, Grip, Westside Boogie, Denaun Porter, Royce 5’ 9”, Paul Rosenberg, The Alchemist, EZ Mil, comedian Shane Gillis and adult film stars Ryan Keely and Samantha Mack. The generative AI used in the video was created by Metaphysic, with Jo Plaete and Chris Ume supervising production.
After the release of the “Houdini” music video, both Ryan Keely and Samantha Mack responded on social media. “My time in California has blessed me with so many incredible experiences, especially within the entertainment industry. I hope I am accurately explaining how grateful I am. I’m not kidding when I say I’ve been #BlessedByTheBest I have to shout out @ryankeelytm for being so warm and welcoming and professional. She was so incredible to work with. I really admire how she oozes confidence, and elegance. She has a beautiful and powerful presence. FUNNY MEMORY: When I was sitting in Hair and Makeup preparing for the scene, I saw a list of all of the Eminem doubles they were expecting. As you can tell from the video, there are a lot! So when a charming man walked on set and introduced himself as “Ralph,” (with a wink) I just assumed he was one of the doubles! He was making funny side comments to us while he was getting notes from the Director. His quick wit had us giggling the whole time. I thought we were just mapping out the scene… It wasn’t till we started filming that I realized it was actually Eminem beside me.” said Samantha Mack in one of her Instagram posts.
“This was a pretty great day at work! I was on set for 10 1/2 hours for 2 1/2 seconds in Eminem‘s new music video. #Houdini. @ryankeelytm is so awesome to work with. She is positive and energetic and incredibly supportive and her quick wit had me in stitches all day long. She is truly beautiful inside and out. So many people fussed over us this day. From hair & makeup to wardrobe, but I have to give a very appreciative shout out to a man named Dion who followed me around holding umbrella over my head each time I had to walk between my dressing room and set… because it suddenly started hailing in California. That young man protected me from Mother Nature like his life depended on it. This film set and crew went so over and above! II’ve been on a lot of different film projects, and the way we were treated and the amount of preparation that went into this workday was well beyond impressive! California has blessed me with so many opportunities and experiences that fill my heart with gratitude and now that this video has been released, I can finally add this day on set to my list. #AttitudeOfGratitude #BlessedByTheBest. Thank you to @jamescullenb for sliding my number on over so @eminem’s people could call my people. Surround yourself with people who speak positively about you behind your back! Good attracts good, and the ripple effect is real.” Samantha Mack said in another post.
“Hey @Eminem thank you making magic happen and including me in Houdini. Surreal! So cool. Can you do one more trick and get @SynapseVpGlobal to send me my check?” said Ryan Keely on X (formerly Twitter). Someone replied: “How much time did hairdresser take to get this hair job?” On which, she responded: “Dude it was gnars! 3 bags of clip in extension and then they added a 4th bag of tape-in extensions. let’s call it the the hair-pièce de résistance.” Check the post below:
Drake has contributed a verse to “Wah Gwan Delilah,” a new Toronto-themed remix of “Hey There Delilah” by rapper who goes by the name of Snowd4y.
Arriving on the tails of Drake’s highly-publicized rap feud with Kendrick Lamar, his “Wah Gwan Delilah” verse sees him cheekily re-imagine the lyrics of the Plain White T’s classic with Toronto lingo and a healthy layer of auto-tune, though in all honesty, the feature sounds like it could really go either way on being AI or not.
For his part, Snowd4y — who provides most of the vocals for the remix — has been teasing Drake’s involvement on social media for weeks, sharing videos of him revealing the feature to friends. Drake’s recent feud with Lamar had been simmering for some time, but came to a head this past April when the two artists began releasing back-and-forth diss tracks, culminating with Lamar’s “Not Like Us” reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Drake followed up with the non-charting “The Heart Part 6.”
Fans are disappointed by Drake’s new singing verse and some of them now claim Kendrick Lamar made Drake to change the genre like Eminem did to Machine Gun Kelly with “Killshot” back in 2018. Check out some reactions below:
Remember when Em massacred MGK so hard that he completely switched genres for like 4 years?
Eminem and Paul Rosenberg are set to executive produce the “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central.” It could be one for the ages: A blockbuster, all-star celebration of Detroit music will bring Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean and a host of other top names to the restored Michigan Central train station as the historic site launches its grand reopening for a global audience. The concert is spearheaded by Ford Motor Co., which spent nearly $1 billion to renovate the site and unveiled the artist roster Monday morning after weeks of buildup.
Branded as “Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central,” the event will stream live on Peacock, then air Sunday on NBC as a prime-time special. The 90-minute, genre-spanning concert — whose lineup includes hip-hop duo Slum Village, gospel stars Kierra Sheard and the Clark Sisters, techno-house DJ Theo Parrish and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra — will mark the biggest convergence of hometown star power on one Detroit stage in decades. The show will also feature visiting artists such as Jelly Roll, Fantasia, Common and Melissa Etheridge performing tributes to the city’s rich music heritage. Additional acts are being booked for the event, sources have told the Detroit Free Press. Monday’s official announcement says the concert will include “surprise special guests.” Presenters will include Detroit Lions stars and veterans such as Barry Sanders, Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown, along with comedian Mike Epps and actress Sophia Bush.
The concert can be watched live at 8:30 p.m. Thursday on Peacock, the streaming service operated by NBC Universal, and will be repurposed for a one-hour NBC special airing nationally at 7 p.m. Sunday. Six weeks after the NFL Draft downtown, the Michigan Central concert is poised to give Detroit another high-profile starring role amid the city’s ongoing renewal. Details were revealed Monday by Ford and Michigan Central after weeks of growing buzz and intrigue about the free event, which will accommodate 15,000 people at Corktown’s Roosevelt Park in front of the restored train station. Tickets have already been distributed. The concert is a marquee moment for Ford as it unveils the resurrected Michigan Central following a six-year, $950 million rehabilitation of the 13-story depot and its surrounding 30-acre campus just west of downtown Detroit.
“We wanted to celebrate the reopening of Michigan Central Station in style and make it a night to remember for Detroiters and people watching around the world,” Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford, said in a statement Monday. “I am honored and grateful that so many of Detroit’s musical legends, sports heroes, artists and innovators are joining us to celebrate the city we all love and the bright future we are creating together.” The streaming and TV production is being led by Jesse Collins Entertainment, a Los Angeles company that has overseen Super Bowl halftime shows, Emmy Awards, BET Honors and other events.
Homegrown hit rapper Big Sean, who kicked off April’s NFL Draft with a live set, figured prominently in Ford’s 2018 public festivities when the automaker bought the train station property. Those artists and the others announced Monday make up the most notable concentration of name-brand Detroit talent to share a bill in many years — likely going back to the 1960s and the Motortown Revues that assembled chart-topping Motown acts at venues such as the Fox Theatre. If Eminem were to perform, it would be the rapper’s first hometown show in nearly a decade, not counting his onstage cameos with touring acts such as Ed Sheeran and 50 Cent. Eminem ‘s last headlining stand in Detroit was an August 2014 Comerica Park doubleheader with Rihanna. For more details, visit DETROIT FREE PRESS and bump Eminem ‘s new single “Houdini” below:
Few days ago, Eminem released “Houdini” single with a music video, directed by long-running collaborator Rich Lee (“Not Afraid,” “Rap God,” “Phenomenal,” “Walk On Water,” “The Monster,” “Venom,” “My Life”). The innovative “Houdini” video freely calls back to classic Eminem videos such as Joseph Khan’s “Without Me” and Phillip Atwell’s “Real Slim Shady”. “Houdini” is packed with cameos including Dr. Dre, Pete Davidson, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Jimmy Iovine, Grip, Westside Boogie, Denaun Porter, Royce 5’ 9”, 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 spoke on the video more by mentioning “What if Shady from the 2000s got teleported into the modern day and we got his take on what the world has become…and what if “Rap Boy” 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.”
After the release of the music video, the director hit Instagram to share a quick beautiful story behind “Houdini”: “Our new Eminem video is out! Quick story! I moved to Los Angeles in 1999 and I was working as a sculptor and fabricator for Walt Disney Imagineering. I remember walking through the shop one day and some of the carpenters had the radio blasting (as that rowdy bunch usually does!) and the track that was playing was Eminem’s “My Name Is”. I remember that moment so vividly. I remember the faces of who was around, where I was standing, the smell of the workshop and Em’s voice echoing through it. I had no idea who he was at the time but it sounded so different than anything else. I literally stopped in my tracks and just stared at the radio, listening to this unhinged yet so precise voice assaulting my eardrums. I was mesmerized. I could never have predicted that 10 years later I’d be directing my first music video for him…or 20+ years later doing over a dozen projects with him. Wild.” said Rich Lee.
Then he continued: Looking at the comments on social media, the controversy, the love, the hate, etc., one thing that I’m seeing a lot of is a lot of people of my gen feeling a great sense of nostalgia for that early 2000s feeling. We obviously were leaning on some of his early iconography from that time, in a way it’s sort of a sequel to some of those videos (Are we rebooting music videos now?!). It was a lot to live up to and while challenging, it was a lot of fun to put this together.
“Anyways, I’m super lucky to be able to do this kind of work and collaborate with icons like Em. Dude is def the GOAT and totally ridiculous and fun to collaborate with! Quick thank you to the awesome team that helped get this across the finish line!” Rich Lee added.
The director also shared the ‘Eminem kids’ scene from the music video on his Instagram story with the caption: “By the way, it was crazy to shoot Eminem but to be honest it was surreal to have Hailie on our set too. Such a huge part of Eminem lore.” You can check the screenshot below:
Eminem returns with “Houdini,” a hard-hitting new single accompanied by a fitting video. Em teased the drop earlier this week in a FaceTime with David Blaine — the clip ended with the magician eating a wine glass, and the rapper declaring, “Well, for my last trick, I’m gonna make my career disappear.” “Houdini” gives fans the first taste of Eminem’s 12th album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), due out this summer.
“Houdini” is produced by Eminem himself and – continuing the theme- features a sample and interpolation of Steve Miller Band’s 1982 hit, “Abracadabra.” The accompanying clip imagines Eminem’s antagonist character Slim Shady emerging in the present day via a “portal” — 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 Eminem’s alter-alter ego “Rap Boy” 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 who’s back, indeed.
Directed by long-running collaborator Rich Lee (“Not Afraid,” “The Monster,” “Venom,” etc.), the innovative “Houdini” video freely calls back to classic Eminem videos such as Joseph Khan’s “Without Me” and Phillip Atwell’s “Real Slim Shady”. “Houdini” is packed with cameos including Dr. Dre, Pete Davidson, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Jimmy Iovine, Grip, Westside Boogie, Denaun Porter, Royce 5’ 9”, 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 “What if Shady from the 2000s got teleported into the modern day and we got his take on what the world has become…and what if “Rap Boy” 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.”
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) will be Eminem’s first album since 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By, which not only topped the Billboard 200, but also was the artist’s 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 “Houdini” 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.
“I was on the tour lately and I randomly got a text from Eminem and apparently he had heard the song that I did with Mr. Criminal. We did a song recently and somehow that’s the one Eminem heard. He hit me up and he’s like ‘dude! the bar work on Mr. Criminal song…’ and he starts quoting the bars. I was like ‘hey man, coming from you that means a lot cause I respect the hell out of my bro. To me, he’s top 3 all day. No one could shake that foundation, ever! Don’t try to throw other MCs in front of the names that I choose as my three. It’s my three and Eminem’s on my top 3.” – said B-Real.
Then he continued: “He was giving me feedback on some stuff cause I sent him the Real Psycho album and we had like two-three day conversation and he’s like ‘man, I’m listening to this s–t and your bars on this and that…’ 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 ‘thank you bro, it’s much love all day.’ And then, when I heard the new joint ‘Houdini’ the other day I had to hit him back like ‘bro! your pocket is still just ridiculous!’ Every bar flipped. It’s like an old Eminem s–t. Like, got bars and its funny. He has brought the shock humor cynical bars back. The video is also hilarious. I don’t care what anybody says, that s–t was hilarious to me. That’s him singing the chorus and he killed that. And I said to him ‘that Steve Miller s–t you put on the chorus was f–king hard son. There’s gonna be a lot of people scrutinizing my dude but hate if you want, we are not. We f–k with it. If you hate it’s just because you got a problem. Art is subjective, some people are going to get down with it and some ain’t but I’m 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 can’t wait what the album sounds like.”
