Eminem Releasing "Relapse: The Refill" Instead of "Relapse 2 " in December

Eminem will release Relapse: The Refill — and not Relapse 2 — on December 21st, the rapper announced on his official website today, November 19th. The Refill will include the entire Relapse, plus seven songs that didn't make the album. The DJ Hero exclusive "Taking My Ball" and the Drake/Lil Wayne/Kanye/Eminem collaboration "Forever" will be included on Refill, Rap-Radar reports, with the other five songs being previously unreleased. So essentially, it's Slim Shady's The Fame Monster.

Check out photos of Eminem onstage at the Voodoo Festival.

As Rolling Stone reported in March, Eminem promised not one but two doses of the Dr. Dre-prescribed Relapse would be released in 2009, but with the scheduling of the first installment's Refill, it appears Relapse 2 is now slotted for release in 2010. "I want to deliver more material for the fans this year like I originally planned. Hopefully these tracks on The Refill will tide the fans over until we put out Relapse 2 next year," Eminem said. "I got back in with Dre and then a few more producers, including Just Blaze, and went in a completely different direction which made me start from scratch. The new tracks started to sound very different than the tracks I originally intended to be on Relapse 2, but I still want the other stuff to be heard."

Eminem has reportedly been hard at work in recent months working on Relapse 2, hitting the studio with producers like Just Blaze and Mr. Porter, so 2 won't be an all-Dr. Dre affair. "I definitely feel like I'm in a different space right now. With the last record, I think a lot of it had to do with me getting sober, my eyes being open again. With Relapse, I wanted to prove myself that I could still do it. The zany, loony, ridiculous shit, so a lot of that album is rapid-fire punch lines," Em previously said of Relapse 2. "Now I'm at a point where I'm blessed enough to be in a position where I don't need to put out records, but I want to."

If you're still upset that you won't have Relapse 2 in time for Christmas, you can hurl obscenities at your television when Eminem performs at the American Music Awards on Sunday, November 22nd.

Related Stories:
• Eminem Thrills Voodoo Fest With "Relapse" Tracks and Biggest Hits
• Eminem Teams With 50 Cent, Gets Past "Punch Lines" on "Relapse 2"
• Eminem Confirms Two 2009 Albums: "Relapse" Due May 19th

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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