Image via: Eminem’s YouTube channel.
Last night Eminem dropped the first single “Houdini” off of his forthcoming new album titled The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) on steaming services. The song 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.
“Houdini” debuted at No. 3 on Global Spotify by earning 7,850,400 streams in its first day of release. That makes “Houdini” Marshall’s biggest ever streaming debut on the charts, surpassing 2020’s “Godzilla,” featuring Juice WORLD, from Music To Be Murdered By, which accumulated 5,773,657 streams globally on its first day. The song is also the third biggest opening debut of the year so far.
The song also debuted at No. 4 in the United States Spotify charts with almost 3 million streams. No. 2 in the United Kingdom with 815k streams and No. 2 in Canada with 600k streams. It also hit No. 6 in Germany with 503k plays. “Houdini” also had a huge success on iTunes. It reached No.1 in Worldwide iTunes Chart and No.1 in 17 Countries. It also was the most watched music video in the last 24 on YouTube with 13.5 million views.
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.” Because of so much references to his old classic song, “Without Me” was the biggest gainer on Top Songs Global charts.
