Guess who’s back, back again? Shady’s back — and it may be for the last time.
Eminem released the new single “Houdini” on Friday, May 31, his first off his upcoming album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).
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 fact, the song itself begins with the “Guess who’s back, back again/Shady’s back, tell a friend,” lyrics from the 22-year-old track and much of the video recalls the one the rapper released for his earlier song.
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 — complete with the short, bleached blond hair the rapper donned at the time — has arrived in 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,” with Eminem even donning the same superhero suit he wore in the earlier video as he raps about his younger self, what the 20-something Eminem would make of present times, as well as about life today.
“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.
As well as cameos from 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, and comedian Shane Gillis — who all appear on screen within comic book-style portions of the video — Eminem and his younger self eventually battle it out in a fight that sees them meld into an older version of the rapper, featuring longer, bleached blonde hair.
Elsewhere, this “new” Eminem raps surrounded by other blond Slim Shady-alikes before the clip for the new track closes out with a cameo from Pete Davidson, who appears with bleach blond hair and gets into the rapper’s car to give him a ride, telling him, “Don’t worry, I just got my license back.”
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.”
Eminem’s publicity campaign for his upcoming album has focused on magic, and the apparent death of his longtime alter ego Slim Shady. The star first introduced fans to Slim in 1997 with the Slim Shady EP, and two years later put out The Slim Shady LP.
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.”
Earlier this month, a fake obituary for Slim Shady appeared in the Detroit Free Press, Eminem’s hometown newspaper.
Complex reported that the obituary’s headline read, “Slim Shady Made Lasting Impressions,” with a subheading that said, “Fans will never forget controversial rapper.”
The obituary described Shady as a Detroit native whose debut single “My Name Is” “exposed the young artist and his lyrics to a wider audience, but who’d “come to a sudden and horrific end.” The obit also said that “the legacy he leaves behind is no closer to resolution than the manner in which this character departed this world.”
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.
