Anticipation for Eminem’s new studio album Relapse has been building since the fall, when the hip hop superstar first announced the album title and debuted the freestyle, “I’m Having A Relapse,” during an interview on his Shade 45 satellite radio station. The release of “Crack A Bottle” from Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent brought that anticipation to a head. The track soared to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Eminem’s second #1 after 2002’s “Lose Yourself”) and set a Nielsen SoundScan record for opening week download sales. “Crack A Bottle” is a featured track on Relapse. Ten years after The Slim Shady LP, Eminem marks his 10th anniversary with Relapse, yet another surefire collaboration with Dr. Dre.

With the release of Relapse also comes confirmation of something that had been rumored, Eminem is already working on a follow-up album. Fans can expect Relapse 2 to be released in the second half of 2009. “A lot of people were expecting Relapse to drop last year,” explains Eminem. “I was one of them. Then Dre and I went back in the studio in September for a few days, and that turned into six months. We were on such a roll; we wound up with a ton of new music produced by Dre. Putting out Relapse 2 will let everyone get all of the best stuff.”