Eminem to Blame for Dr. Dre ‘Detox’ Delay

Rapper/super-producer Dr. Dre's long-awaited 'Detox' album has seen more delays than we can count on one finger but if you're wondering who is partially to blame, it's Eminem. The Detroit rapper and longtime Dre collaborator said in a recent interview with BBC radio that Dre was working on 'Detox' but switched gears to push Em's release.

"He's recorded a lot of material," Em said. "I think that more so than anything, before his album, he basically put aside, he was working on his record for a good time period, I would say probably a year and some change straight. He basically put that on hold once we got on the road with my record, which I'm extremely grateful for."

In an interview last year, labelhead Jimmy Iovine confirmed Em's new release as being the reason for the 'Detox' delay. "We only tried to put [Em] out this year to replace Dr. Dre," he said. "But we got into a quagmire. What happened was, I lost Dr. Dre to Eminem."

Business aside, Dre's family tragedy may have contributed to the album's setback. Last summer, his son Andre Young Jr., was found dead of an apparent drug overdose. The 20-year-old took a lethal combination of heroin and morphine and was found unresponsive by his mother in their Woodland Hills, Calif. home. Although Dre never publicly spoke about the tragedy he did release a statement via his representative Lori Earl. "Dr. Dre is mourning the loss of his son," she said. "Please respect his family's grief and privacy at this time."

Em's 'Relapse' album was released on May 19 and his expected to debut atop the charts, selling over 600,000 units in its first week. 'Detox' has yet to receive an official release date.