Like teens on Depop, Eminem is combing through his Y2K archives for a new look.
On Friday, the rapper released “Houdini,” the first single from his upcoming album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).” The song continues where his 22-year-old single “Without Me” left off, riffing on a similar beat and self-referential lyrics about how the world has changed while he remains the same spitball-chucking troll as always.
“My s— may not be age appropriate / But i will hit an eight year old in the face with a participation trophy,” the 51-year-old rapper jibes on “Houdini.” A fixed point in a turning world as ever.
The video digs out his same costume from “Without Me” and calls in favors from his Bush-era peak for cameos. Dr. Dre announces that a time portal has opened to 2002 and a digitally de-aged old Eminem is on the loose, with today’s grayer 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg playing along with the bit.
Em has company from the embattled-white-guy-celeb group chat: Pete Davidson, in bleach-blonde regalia, makes light of his recent arrest for menacing the roadways of Beverly Hills, while comedian Shane Gillis commiserates with a fellow semi-canceled superstar.
Eminem’s forthcoming album will likely execute his longstanding alter-ego Slim Shady (as seen in a recent fake obituary released in the Detroit Free Press). “Death of Slim Shady” is his first LP since 2020’s “Music to Be Murdered By,” which spent a week at number one at release. A release date has not yet been announced.
