For a lot of people Eminem has felt like a permanent feature in music forever.
He burst onto the scene back in 1999 with his major label debut The Slim Shady LP, which went triple platinum. Since then he's made seven more solo albums making him the most successful rap artist ever.
Now it seems that we're not too far away from getting his ninth album and first for what feels like a very long time.
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It's been four years since The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was released, a sequel to his second official album The Marshall Mathers LP, so everyone is pretty much ready for his next project.
Complex reports that Allen Hughes, the director of The Defiant Ones, a documentary about Dr Dre and Jimmy Lovine, let something slip which could potentially mean Em's next album isn't too far away.
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Prior to the premiere for The Defiant Ones Hughes spoke highly of Dre and his work in music, telling Uproxx: "People don't know this: Dre records every day. Literally, he's in there recording songs every day.
"He's like Picasso in that way. He's always painting. Right now he's producing, in the 11th hour, a track for Eminem's latest album.
"So Dre's still real active in music, you know? But I hear what you're saying. It's the truth."
This could really mean nothing in the grand scheme of things if it wasn't for one small detail. He says "in the 11th hour."
Credit: PA
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Now, he could be using the phrase for dramatic effect, or it could mean that Dre is hectically producing additional stuff for Eminem as there's a planned release not too far in the future.
Who knows, but it's good to build anticipation, isn't it?
There's yet to be any formal announcement from Eminem, Aftermath, Interscope or Shady Records regarding the album, so take everything you hear with a pinch of salt.
Besides, he could just be perfecting his birthday messages to fellow rappers, which we recently found out he's really good at...
Credit: Shady Records/Eminem/50 Cent
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He posted a video, beginning with serious boring shit, saying: "First off, I want to say happy birthday," but then he went on to reveal the 50 verse that made him contemplate quitting rapping.
The rapper performed his version of the second verse in 'Places To Go', a track on the 8 Mile soundtrack.
"Picture a perfect picture, picture me in a pimp hat. Picture me starting shit, picture me busting my gat. Picture police mad they ain't got a picture of that. Picture me being broke, picture me smoking a sack. Picture me coming up, picture me rich from rap. Picture me blowing up, now picture me going back. To my momma's basement to live, shit, picture that. Where I'm from it's a fact, you gotta watch your back. You wear a vest without a gat, you's a target, Jack. Hustle hard, money stack, sell that dope, sell that crack. Sell that pack, sell that gat, sell that pussy, holla back. 50 Cent, too much Henny, man, I'm bent, I'm outta here."
He believes that the verse was so good it wasn't worth him writing anymore lyrics, something a lot of rappers say, heaping praise on their fellow musicians.
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It's a good job he didn't quit, and we're more than happy that he's still going to this day. We're still not so sure on the beard, though.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: eminem