Eminem not ready for 'Relapse 2,' pushes seven-track 'Refill'

Eminem

Credit: Aftermath

Nobody can be particularly surprised by this, but Eminem's "Relapse 2," the follow-up to this year's "Relapse" the First, will not be released in December, as originally intended. The rapper decided to "start from scratch" on the album after meeting with Dr. Dre, Just Blaze and other producers, and will now release it next year.

"[We] went in a completely different direction," he said in a statement on his website, noting, "The new tracks started to sound very different than the tracks I originally intended to be on 'Relapse 2,' but I still want the other stuff to be heard."

The "other stuff" includes seven bonus tracks to be included on "Relapse: Refill," a re-release of "Relapse" that includes five previously unreleased songs. The album will drop on Dec. 21 and boasts also the songs "Taking My Ball," which is on the "DJ Hero" video game and "Forever" featuring Drake, Kanye West and Lil Wayne, included originally on the "More Than a Game" soundtrack.

Stars like Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Britney Spears are all planning deluxe, reissue or expanded versions of their previously released albums to take advantage of the holiday shopping season.

As for Dr. Dre's "Detox," his swan song, his conceptual sign-off and final follow-up to 1999's epic "2001"... we expect that to never ever happen.

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

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After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.