Eminem aims for old-school Slim Shady magic on new single 'Houdini'

Eminem has taken a nostalgic, self-aware step back in time with his much-awaited new single.

“Houdini,” released overnight, is a catchy throwback song built atop the Steve Miller Band’s 1982 chart-topper “Abracadabra” and Eminem’s own “Without Me” — with a breezy lyrical flow we haven’t heard from the Detroit rapper in quite a while.

As the prelude to his forthcoming album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace),” the four-minute track serves up vintage Eminem with a hearty side of Shady: silly, self-deprecating, politically incorrect for shock value’s sake and spiced with clever, multilayered wordplay.

“'Cause I have zero doubts / That this whole world's about / To turn into some Girl Scouts / That censorship bureau's out to shut me down,” he raps midway through.

The “Houdini” music video, which also hit early Friday, offers its own retro flavors, complete with appearances by the blond-haired, white-shirted Slim Shady of old, who acts as a foil of sorts to the current-day, 51-year-old Marshall Mathers.

And like the song itself, it’s packed with references to Eminem’s previous work — including 2002’s comic book-styled “Without Me” video, with Dr. Dre at his side again. The colorful clip also features cameos by comics Shane Gillis and Pete Davidson, along with the rapper’s three children.

“The Death of Slim Shady,” announced in an April commercial aired during the NFL Draft in Detroit, is due for release this summer. It's his first album since 2020's "Music to Be Murdered By."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Eminem aims for old-school Slim Shady magic on new single 'Houdini'