Staying on top of album news for partners-in-rhyme Eminem, 50 Cent, and Dr. Dre continues to be a confusing endeavor, but here are some new, hopefully enduring details: Eminem’s album should see the light of day before Fiddy’s; a video for the trio’s hot collaborative single, “Crack a Bottle,” should emerge within a few weeks; and “Crack a Bottle” will appear on Em’s album, not 50’s. And are there firm release dates for any of this stuff? Of course not.
Let’s start with 50, and the news that the release date for his forthcoming album, Before I Self Destruct, has been pushed back yet again. For 50 Cent fans it might not be that big deal — after all, his just-released video game Blood on the Sand contains 18 of his unreleased tracks (not to mention a score from Swizz Beatz).
But the news on Fif’s next album may be of particular interest to Eminem fans: The Queens-bred rapper revealed the reason for the delay is the prioritized release of Eminem’s Relapse. “Expect Em’s album to come out first,” Fif told Howard Stern yesterday, adding that the track “Crack a Bottle” — which set a download record when its official version was leaked online last month and also went on to hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart — would likely be featured on Em’s record, despite the fact it was initially planned for 50 Cent’s.
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Meanwhile, in a blog post yesterday, Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg previewed the video to “Crack a Bottle” with a promotional still and the promise that the video “will be ready for the world within a couple of weeks.” The photo depicts a dirty vagrant slumped on the street and clutching a bottle wrapped in a paper bag. Rosenberg also adds that the video, directed by Syndrome (Estelle’s “American Boy” and T-Pain’s “I Can’t Believe It” videos), will be “bananas.”
So, naturally, Gwen Stefani will like it.
What’s still not clear, however, is whether or not any concrete dates exist on this mysterious release calendar. “Because Dre is mixing Em’s album, Em will be completed entirely before we get a chance to finish up the pieces that me and Dre did together [for my album],” Fif explained to the Associated Press yesterday, adding, “Right now I’m on a train, and the Em-choo-choo-car goes first.”
Is it just us, or is this whole Eminem/Dr.Dre/50 Cent album release calendar beginning to feel like one of those “if Train A leaves the station” math problems? Perhaps if we draw a picture it will help us figure out when Train Em’s album is coming out — because we know checking Amazon.com won’t be of any use.
