Eminem’s forthcoming album is probably the worst-kept secret in music at the moment. It’s been rumored to be a part a fall takeover by WMG that includes albums from Taylor Swift and Sam Smith, confirmed separately by a collaborator and a producer and there’s even a single with Pink supposedly set to be released at any moment. Just this week a release date surfaced — November 17, a week after Taylor is set to release her new album Reputation — and now we have the surest sign Em is ready to drop an album: he’s going to make an appearance in the BET Hip Hop Awards cypher.
The show’s host DJ Khaled made the announcement on his Instagram Tuesday morning, and Em’s presence in the cypher would follow a pattern he’s established over the past decade. The 44-year-old rapper has made three appearances in the show’s premiere event: in 2009 along with Mos Def and Black Thought, in 2011 with Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse and in 2014 with Yela and the Slaughter again. Each time he was set to release an album soon or had released an album that year; in 2009 it was his comeback LP Relapse, in 2011 it was the collaborative effort with Royce Da 5’9 Hell: The Sequel and in 2014 it was the Shady Records compilation Shady XV.
So, yeah, if Em really is in the cypher it’s because that album is on the way, and soon. Just like we all knew already.
