For Mark Foster’s next trick the Foster the People frontman has cooked up a triple-headed remix of songs titled “Houdini.” In an Instagram video posted on Tuesday (July 2), Foster explained, “alright, so there’s like two ‘Houdini’s on the radio right now, one from Eminem, one from Dua Lipa,” while sitting at a keyboard in a recording studio.
“Thought it’d be fun to bring in our OG ‘Houdini’ from our first record and, you know, mash the three of them up together,” he said of the beat-heavy track that was the fifth single from Foster’s 2011 debut album, Torches. Dua Lipa released her “Houdini” in November as the lead single from her Radical Optimism album, while Eminem dropped his song of the same name in May as a preview of his upcoming album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), which is due out on July 12.
Foster’s remix video then pivots to the band leader at a computer cueing up Dua’s song while playing keyboards and triggering the beat from his group’s track as he mixes in some Slim Shady. “Kinda cool, right?” he said of the resulting mash-up he dubbed: “Houdini x Houdini x Houdini” aka “Battle of the Houdinis.” He then presented the final mix, with Dua singing over the booming Foster beat and Eminem rapping as Foster danced around the studio to the result.
Eminem’s “Houdini” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 100 singles chart, while Dua’s topped out at No. 11; Foster’s OG take reached No. 37 on the Billboard U.S. alternative airplay chart.
Watch Foster create his mega-“Houdini” mix below.
