Eminem has really been putting effort into the rollout of his new album. The Death of Slim Shady was announced the day of the NFL draft, and came complete with a mock true crime show about its titular character. An obituary was printed in Em's hometown of Detroit, and now, the rapper has enlisted the help of magician David Blaine. Eminem released a promo on social media in which he Facetimed Blaine and announced the release date of his upcoming single.
The promo is a little more complicated than that premise might sound. Em rings Blaine up and gives him his due as the greatest of all time (magically speaking, of course). The magician then suggests they team up on something. Eminem asks how far they could go with magic, and Blaine responds by walking up to a table, drinking a glass of wine and then eating the glass. Eminem looks unimpressed. He's got something more ambitious in mind. "Well for my last trick," he tells Blaine. "I'm going to make my career disappear." The magician is dumbfounded, but Eminem hangs up before he can explain. We then get a hard cut to a release date for the single "Houdini."
Eminem's New Single Will Drop On May 31
"Houdini" will be released on Friday, May 31. The promotional material for The Death of Slim Shady, and the title itself, suggested that Eminem would be laying his alter ego to rest. His comments towards Blaine suggest that the album may mark his last, however. The rapper has been open to the notion of retirement in the past. He walked away from music for five years in the 2000s, and he admitted he was unsure how much longer he could rap during a 2010 interview with Vibe.
"I don't know how much longer I have in this game," Eminem told the outlet. "I'm always going to love hip-hop. But how much longer am I going to still do it? I couldn't give you an answer. But the day that this is not better than the last will probably be the day I stop." The rapper claimed he would always record his raps, but would cease to put them out after a certain point. "I know it always makes me feel better to lay things to tape, and -- 'lay the tape.' See, I'm old school," he noted. We may be looking at the final stage for both Eminem and Slim Shady. If so, then "Houdini" will mark the beginning of the end.