On his new single, "Crack a Bottle," Eminem boasts, "I redeem my name, and haters get mushed." He's not kidding. Featuring a horn-fueled Dr. Dre beat and cameos by Dre and 50 Cent, the cut is Eminem's first hit single since 2006 and is sparking buzz for the rapper's long-in-the-works fifth album, tentatively titled Relapse. Spurred by a strong listener response on radio, Interscope rush-released the song on February 2nd. And after selling a record-breaking 418,000 digital copies in a week, "Crack a Bottle" shot from Number 78 to Number One on the Hot 100.

"It's been a long time since people have heard Eminem, and they're really curious," says E-Man, assistant program director for Los Angeles' Power 106, the first station to play the track. "He sounds more mature, but he still has that classic flow. Everyone is saying, 'It's good to hear him again.'"

The song's success also comes as good news to Interscope, which is looking to Eminem, Dre and 50 Cent (the latter two have long-delayed CDs of their own) for big hits. "It's a great moment for the label," says Interscope exec Steve Berman. With a chart-topping single, the pressure is now on Eminem to finally wrap up Relapse. (A late-spring release date is being discussed.) "With Dre and Eminem, the album's never done until they turn it in," says Berman. "They always work on it until the last second."

[From Issue 1073 — March 5, 2009]