Los Angeles (E! Online) – The real Slim Shady is not only standing up, he's coming back. And, most important, setting a date for his ever-elusive resurgence.
Eminem has at long last pinned down May 19 for the release of Relapse, his first new studio album in more than four years.
As the announcement has been such a long time coming for loyal fans—the album was first announced last fall and originally slated for release by Christmas of last year—Eminem is offering up a double dose of good news for his long-suffering music minions, confirming recent reports that Relapse will be quickly followed by another new album, the aptly if rather unimaginatively titled Relapse 2.
"A lot of people were expecting Relapse to drop last year," Eminem said. "I was one of them."
"Then Dre and I went back in the studio in September for a few days, and that turned into six months," he said of his album's delay.
"We were on such a roll; we wound up with a ton of new music produced by Dre. Putting out Relapse 2 will let everyone get all of the best stuff."
That album is currently without a firm release date, but is due out by the end of the year.
In the meantime, Eminem and regular cohorts Dr. Dre and 50 Cent—who did his part to hurry the album's release by pledging not to release any solo material until his mentor had secured a release—joined lyrical forces last month on "Crack a Bottle," the debut single off Eminem's forthcoming album.
The track, unsurprisingly, shot to the top of the Billboard singles charts. As if Eminem would settle for anything less.
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(E! Online)
