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It Sounds Like Eminem’s New Album Is Almost Done

CHICAGO, IL - AUGUST 01: Eminem performs at Samsung Galaxy stage during 2014 Lollapalooza Day One at Grant Park on August 1, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Eminem hasn’t released a solo album since 2013, but it looks like that’s set to change. The Defiant Ones director Allen Hughes and trap house innovator 2 Chainz have done recent interviews that pretty much confirm Shady is working on his ninth studio album.

Hughes sat with Uproxx to talk about his documentary, which premiered on HBO Sunday night. Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are The Defiant Ones‘s main subjects and Eminem himself makes an appearance, so it wasn’t too hard to ask about Eminem material. Amazingly, the interviewer didn’t have to push all that hard for Hughes to spill the beans (emphasis ours).

One of the stories you tell in this film is, in a way, about the death of the music industry. The first three parts are about all of the great things these moguls did in music, and the fourth part is about them transitioning out of music and selling headphones via Beats By Dre. And that made me sad. It’s a testimony to the business acumen of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, that they could make that pivot, but the larger story feels tragic to me. Did you sense the movie going in that direction when you were making it?

Dre still records. 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.

2 Chainz, on the other hand, talked about Eminem with DJ Drama on Shade 45’s Streetz Iz Watchin’ radio show. Chainz said he recorded with Eminem after being connected through D-12’s Denaun Porter. 2 Chainz was initially asked to do a hook and some ad libs, but he eventually upgraded himself to a spot on the remix, and beyond that, a credit as the official featured artist—no remix required. (They even recorded together at Rick Rubin’s house.)

“I tell him straight up… Eminem, what would you need a remix for?” Chainz said. “Remixes are used to carry records to No. 1 spots. When have you ever did a remix for someone or for yourself?” Watch him talk about the experience below at the 17:35 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMiwFOL9qVQ

For his part, Eminem hasn’t said much about this new album since first confirming there was one on the way last October.

Eminem’s last album Marshall Mathers LP 2 dropped in 2013; his last solo loosie “Campaign Speech” dropped in October. The former was hailed by a few as a return to form, while the latter, like the Democratic campaign, landed with a thud. Eminem most recently appeared on fellow Detroit native’s Big Sean‘s I Decided. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vMiwFOL9qVQ%3Fecver%3D1