Eminem is currently gearing up for his 12th studio release, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), and teased the “end” of his shock lyric persona of Slim Shady not long ago. On the new track “Houdini,” the Detroit wordsmith harkened back to his earlier days with a familiar bop but sparked criticism for making Megan Thee Stallion the butt of one of his jokes in rhyme form.
The track “Houdini, ” produced by Eminem and longtime collaborator Luis Resto, takes its sampling cues from the Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra” hit along with Slim’s tracks, “Without Me”, “My Name Is” and “Just Lose It.”
In one portion of the track’s first verse, Megan Thee Stallion has her name inserted with Em connecting her shooting incident using a layered simile as he’s known to do.
From “Houdini”:
And I don’t gotta play pretend, it’s you I make believe
And you know I’m here to stay ’cause me
If I was to ever take a leave, It would be aspirin to break a feve
If I was to ask for Megan Thee Stallion if she would collab with me
Would I really have a shot at a feat? (Ha!)
It’s obvious where Em was going with the ending bar, referencing the Houston rapper’s foot injury after she was shot by Tory Lanez in 2020 after a star-studded party event. The line didn’t go missed by the Hotties and other observers who felt the swipe at the expense of a Black woman’s pain was over the top.
Eminem, in his Slim Shady persona, has never spared anyone’s personal business when it comes to his rhyme schemes and this time is no different. However, Megan Thee Stallion is one of the most beloved stars of her time so the reactions to the lyric came in hot.
We’ve got reactions from X, formerly Twitter, below.
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Photo: Christopher Polk / Getty