Last Friday, Eminem released his 62nd single, Houdini. Reviews were lukewarm to woeful. “Eminem loses the magic,” ran the headline in the New York Times, while website Stereogum went for the more straightforward “Eminem’s New Song ‘Houdini’ Is Really, Really Bad”, criticising everything from the “stilted” rapping to a lyrical joke about the incident when Megan Thee Stallion was shot in the foot by her fellow rapper Tory Lanez.
The public’s response was quite the opposite. A week on, it is the most-streamed song in the UK and guaranteed to become Eminem’s 11th UK No 1. It is both his fastest-selling single in 22 years, and on track to become the UK’s fastest-selling single of the year by anyone, including Taylor Swift.
