Eminem’s ‘Houdini’: Why it’s not empty without him anymore

A master of his craft, Eminem is known to be a workaholic, who obsesses over his lyrics and delivery and comes up with tasteful wordplays, some of the best in hip hop history. Puns, double (even triple) entendre, complex rhythms, multisyllabic rhymes, you name it and the rapper has nearly perfected it. Apart from his technical prowess, Eminem also found global success in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to his transgressive lyrical content and “White-trash” angst. The rapper revealed the underbelly of the poor suburban White underclass of Detroit where he grew up, but it was his ability to shock through his music that drew controversy and turned ears.

He has, time and again, been accused of homophobic and transphobic lyrics since the beginning of his career. And time and again, Eminem claimed that he never really equated slurs like “faggot” and “queer” with homosexual. These words, he has often claimed, used to be thrown around in rap battles in his time. He was also criticised as recently as 2018 for using the word “faggot” for rapper Tyler, the Creator in his song Fall. Though he apologised for “taking things too far”, it’s a transgression that Eminem knows far too well. At the same time, he is openly friends with Elton John, a famous gay artist. He has even supported gay marriage, and said in an interview, “I think if two people love each other, then what the hell? I think that everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable if they want.”

Eminem is also infamous for being misogynistic and drawing violent images in his songs. If you’re curious, pull the lyrics for most of the songs from The Marshall Mathers LP. He created an alter ego, Slim Shady, to channel all his rage towards the world.

But the times, they are a-changin’, and listeners today are, for lack of a better word, more woke. Thanks to the Internet, the audience, especially younger listeners, is more sensitive to minority groups (women, queer folk, people with disabilities) and concerned about political correctness. When Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar dropped Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers in 2022, the internet was quick to point out that he deadnamed (refer to someone who went through gender reassignment with their former name) his uncle in the song ‘Auntie Diaries’. Nothing escapes the social media glare. Not even your old tweets. But Eminem took a while to adjust to that.

His shtick (of being controversial for controversy’s sake) is a little too old for a new world. It is also unpalatable. Once an indomitable force in the rap industry, Eminem has failed to capture the zeitgeist that he used to do so well in the past. Even if one excuses Eminem for his several faux pax, macabre and shock value don’t seem to move people anymore.

In ‘Houdini’, the rapper uses a sample of Steve Miller Band’s ‘Abracadabra’ and tiringly rehashes the hook (and video content) of his old song (‘Without Me’) with ample verbal gymnastics. Whether you’re a stan (Internet slang for fan, interestingly inspired by an eponymous Eminem song) or not, the song is a chartbuster — thanks to a loyal fan base. But Eminem has notoriously dipped his hand in the nostalgia cookie jar far too many times now. This begs the question: Why can’t the rapper stop invoking his past self to make new music? When will this shtick get old? What’s underneath all that pretentious angst? And, will the real Eminem please stand up?

aditya.vaddepalli@expressindia.com