Eminem has dropped “Houdini”, and it’s stirring up conversation – both positive and negative. Let’s dive into a recent discussion on the Joe Budden Podcast.

The Joe Budden Podcast crew tackled Eminem’s latest single, and, well, let’s say they are not feeling it.

Right off the bat, Joe Budden decides to sit this one out, expressing a general dislike for the song. He opted out of reviewing the single, leaving the commentary to his co-hosts.

Officially Ice wasn’t a fan of the song itself, but he honestly tried to have a more or less objective view on it and its place in Marshall’s larger plan. He did acknowledge the potential theme of “The Death of Slim Shady” playing out in the music video and the track’s sound.
Ice suggests “Houdini” might be part of a bigger narrative for the album, a deliberate return to Slim Shady as a prelude to its “death” and a shift towards a more “Marshall Mathers” sound. He believes it’s all part of Eminem’s master design.

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 a homage to old records. It almost sounds like a spoof of old him. Even the way the record starts, everything. Again, I’m not a fan of any of these. In the video, he’s got a Robin suit on in some scenes, he got Dre in there, and he antagonises Dre. 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 going 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.

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 a little bit of the dark Slim Shady, this animated cartoony Slim Shady and then go into kind 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.

Let’s point out the irony of people starting to praise Marshall’s recent album for being “real rap” when initially they were complaining of it being overcomplicated, tiring, and lacking the Slim Shady energy. Now, they criticise “Houdini” for embracing that very style.

It all felt like hard work for the hosts, and they spent no longer than 3 minutes stiffly talking about one of the biggest hip hop tracks of 2024. Compared to Drake’s “Wah Gwan Delilah”, which received a full 30 minutes of lively discussion, it really says a lot about the crew’s priorities.

Anyway, this is just one perspective on “Houdini”. Meanwhile, the audience voted in support of the song by streaming and buying it, bringing it to the top of the charts across the world.