Swarmz recorded the chorus, along with a verse, and sent it to KSI, who listened to it, but "wasn't too sure about it". After playing it to his girlfriend, who "thought otherwise" and "said it would be a banger", KSI decided to go ahead and work on the song, recording his own verse. KSI "wasn't too keen on" Swarmz's verse, so he decided to not include it on the song and instead include a verse from another artist, which resulted in the addition of Tion Wayne's verse. KSI has said that when deciding which other artist to feature on the song, the decision was between Tion Wayne and British rapper Jay1.
Promotion and release
On 17 April 2020, KSI announced via social media that he would be releasing a new single in the next week titled "Houdini", which will feature Swarmz and Tion Wayne, saying "we about to drop the biggest U.K. banger of 2020". The song was made available for pre-order on the same day. "Houdini" was released worldwide for digital download and streaming via all platforms on 24 April 2020 through RBC Records, under BMG Rights Management. "Houdini" appeared on the UK compilation albumNow That's What I Call Music! 106, which was released on 24 July 2020.
Critical reception
GRM Daily said, ""Houdini" is a polished-sounding single dominated by a fun-filled vibe. Swarmz jumps in first with an infectious hook which is followed by confident lyrics and energetic flows from both KSI and Tion Wayne". Thomas Gillespie of Earmilk said, ""Houdini" is a change of pace from the more American style singles that have come before from KSI. The track is an afro-centric hip-hop club banger that will bar sitting on the charts for weeks to come. UK titans Tion Wayne and Swarmz join JJ on this one and the chemistry is abundant. From the bouncy production and infectious drum pockets to the catchy flows produced by both KSI and Tion Wayne respectively are fantastic. Not to mention, the chorus is by far one of the catchiest and stickiest I have heard in a long time".
Commercial performance
The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 6, making it KSI's fourth UK top 40 single, and his second to reach the top ten. It dropped to numbers 13, 16, and 23 over the following three weeks, before climbing back up to number 15 after the release of KSI's debut albumDissimulation. The song spent a further four weeks in the top 40, before dropping out and spending one more week in the top 100. "Houdini" is currently KSI's highest-charting single in the UK to date. The song spent a total of eleven weeks on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart, peaking at number 5. KSI reacted to the commercial success of "Houdini" on Twitter, saying "thank you everyone for your support. We're consistently breaking boundaries. They're slowly understanding the power of a youtuber. Too gassed right now!!!". On 9 July 2020, Music Week reported that 165,314 copies of "Houdini" had been sold in the UK, making it the UK's 49th-best-selling song of the first half of 2020. On 31 July 2020, "Houdini" received a Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry for exceeding UK sales of 200,000 units.
Music videos
The song's music video was filmed in London in March 2020 and was uploaded to KSI's YouTube channel on the same day as the release of the song. It has 18 million views. The video is directed by British director Kaylum and stars all three artists. A lyric video, created by BWGRX, was uploaded to KSI's YouTube channel on 8 May 2020, two weeks after the release of the song. It has 1.5 million views.
A remix of the song by DJ group Pink Panda was released on 23 June 2020. An audio visualiser video for the remix was uploaded to KSI's YouTube channel and it has over 1 millions views.
