Eminem’s ‘Relapse’ Pushed Back to 2009

Last week, in a move that surprised no one, Eminem announced that his forthcoming album 'Relapse' has now been pushed back to "early 2009." After having spent "years working on the album," he told MTV's TRL (RIP, please) that all he had left to do was finalize the tracklisting with Dr. Dre, which could take...forever.

We have high hopes for the album, especially after the book release party for 'The Way I Am,' where Em revealed the album title, along with a new freestyle, that sounds like a return to form. But then he added that the album would be released as part of an Aftermath/Interscope "three-headed monster," between 50 Cent's 'Before I Self Destruct' and Dre's 'Detox,' which left us expecting his release date to fall sometime between now and the end of the world. Also, back to back, the titles read like an episode of 'Celebrity Rehab.'

From what we've heard from a source, the album features twelve Dre beats, thus far, and DJ Premier was tapped to produce a song on the album, so hopefully those will all make the cut. 'Relapse' will be Em's first release since 2004's 'Encore.'