Detroit homeboy No. 1 Eminem will release his fourth album, "Encore," on Nov. 16, reports People.com.
It's his long-awaited follow-up to 2002's "The Eminem Show." Of course, if the thing leaks out on the Internet, an earlier release is the usual strategy.
Interscope Records said there were no details about the material or collaborators. Interscope says it will contain all new songs.
"The Eminem Show" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 9.2 million copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. Eminem's 2002 soundtrack to his hit film "8 Mile" also reached No. 1 and, of course, earned him an Oscar.
He'll be a busy fella. In April, the rapper, 31, released a second album with his group D12 and last month announced that he and his Shady Records had teamed up with Sirius Satellite Radio to launch a hip-hop music channel set to go live this fall.
"Once upon a time not too long ago, the feds wanted all my music off the air," he said.
"Now we'll be on Sirius 24 hours a day, playing the best hip-hop not just from Shady Records, but from everywhere."
The rapper's last two studio albums, 2002's "The Eminem Show" and 2000's "The Marshall Mathers LP," each sold in excess of 9 million copies to form the bulk of his SoundScan-era total of 23.8 million. He also became a box-office force with the semi-autobiographical "8 Mile."
"He's reached an interesting moment where too many people like him," says "Tracks" editor Alan Light. "That was the risk of "8 Mile." He really did cross over into full mainstream success, where you had op-ed writers saying, 'He's OK.' To do his job, Eminem has to be adversarial and controversial. He needs to pour gasoline on the flame. So the question is, how hard will he come out swinging?
Rapper fires lyrical shots at the President on "Encore"
Due out November 16th, Eminem's hotly anticipated Encore marks a strong return to the rapper's Slim Shady persona. On September 14th in Los Angeles, Interscope president Jimmy Iovine hosted a listening party for retailers, during which he played several Dr. Dre-produced tracks.
"The cuts we heard were very political," says one record-store buyer. "Eminem's distaste for the Bush administration is pretty clear."
Among the tracks is "Encore," featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, and the first single, "Just Lose It," which hits radio September 27th. The video, due on MTV as early as October 5th, features Eminem running naked down a Los Angeles street and dressing as pop icons like Pee-wee Herman.
There are tentative plans to release the album with a limited-edition bonus disc, which may include songs that were leaked on the Internet last year.
The music industry has high hopes for Encore. Some retailers say it's a good bet that the CD will be one of the few to sell more than a million first-week units in the post-file-sharing era. "I think it's possible," says Kevin Cassidy, executive VP of retail operations at Tower Records. "Prior to 8 Mile, Eminem was a premier rapper. Now he's a premier artist."
There are tentative plans to release the album with a limited-edition bonus disc, which may include songs that were leaked on the Internet last year.
This was R. Kelly's trick with his Chocolate Factory album
...I dunno, this may be interesting. I'm wondering what he's actually saying about Bush. From what I remember there was some hooplah about him threatening the president in a leaked song, so hopefully he doesn't go too far... I'll listen out...
I'll listen out...