RELAPSE COMING IN EARLY 2009
Eminem's latest album, "Relapse," is now headed for an early 2009 release, the Detroit rapper announced during the live three-hour sendoff to MTV's daily video countdown show, "TRL," on Sunday evening. Chatting to former "TRL" host Carson Daly on the phone from the Detroit studio where he's working on the new album, Em said, "We're looking at first quarter next year, which is probably, you know, January, February." The album was previously gunning for a late 2008 release. Em said he's "real close" to finishing "Relapse," his first studio effort since 2004's "Encore." He said he's recorded nearly 100 songs in the last couple of years, "but now we've just got to go through everything, pick the best ones and, you know, put it out." Daly asked what the feel of the new album is and where Em is drawing inspiration, but Em declined to answer, saying only that its title, "Relapse," had multiple meanings. "People just gotta hear it," he said. Along with *NSYNC and Britney Spears, Eminem was one of the stars who helped make "TRL" something of the "American Bandstand" for the Gen-Y set. Sunday's star-studded finale marked the end of a 10-year run for the show. Eminem's video for "The Real Slim Shady" was honored on Sunday as the No. 2 video in the program's history. Reminiscing on when fans filled Times Square for his appearances on the show, Em said, "You try to make sense of it all, and you do the best you can with it." "The vibe of everything was always great there," he said. "I feel like they're kind of tearing down my home." Kid Rock was another Detroit star who was launched into the stratosphere thanks to his exposure on "TRL," and his video "Bawitdaba" was named No. 6 on the show's all-time countdown. Rock appeared in the flesh on Sunday's show, and entered the "TRL" studio puffing on a cigar and drinking a cup of champagne. "If it wasn't for 'TRL,' I don't think I would have had this launching pad for my career," Rock told Daly. "I always said if my music got to the people that I think they would respond, and this was the place where it did get to the people." Sunday's "TRL" finale also included appearances by Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Beyonce, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and more. "TRL," whose letters stood for "Total Request Live," premiered in Sept. 1998. Due to waning ratings, its cancellation was announced in September.
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