Eminem Ends Retirement On The Re-Up

When a raw mix tape originally made by DJ Whoo Kid as a street-level introduction to new artists on the Shady Records roster turned into a fully produced album featuring the whole Shady crew, Eminem decided to executive produce and release it as Eminem Presents: The Re-Up.

"Instead of putting it out there rough and unfinished, I thought we should add some other new tracks, make it a real album and put it in the record stores to give these new artists a real boost," says Eminem of the Dec. 5 release.

The entrepreneurial rapper produced the majority of the tracks, while The Alchemist (Mobb Deep, Snoop Dogg, Nas) was also involved in the production of a few tracks. Eminem seems to have put his rap retirement rumours to rest as well, as he performs on almost half of the songs on the compilation. Lead single/video "You Don't Know" features Eminem, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and new Shady artist (and former Renegadez member) Ca$his.

Other new Shady artists joining the likes of Obie Trice, D12, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Dr. Dre on the LP are Atlanta artists Stat Quo and Bobby Creekwater. None of the tracks — with the exception of Stat Quo's "Billion Bucks" and Trice's "Cry Now" remix, which have both appeared on previous mix tapes — have been released before.

The album will feature previously recorded vocals from slain D12 rapper Proof on "Forgive Me" and "Blast That." There's also a track dedicated to Proof rapped by Eminem and featuring D12 called "Last Words (R.I.P. Proof)." But Eminem emphasized that The Re-Up isn't meant as a tribute to his late friend.

"The D12 album and those unreleased songs with Proof are coming. But The Re-Up is about these new artists and these new songs. It isn't fair to them or to the memory of Proof to mix them up."

Here are the songs on Eminem Presents: The Re-Up:

Eminem featuring DJ Whoo Kid — "We're Back"
Eminem — "Let Me Speak"
Eminem featuring Bizarre — "Things Need To Change"
Obie Trice featuring Akon — "Snitch"
Eminem — "I'm Lazy"
Busta Rhymes featuring Nas — "Rough Around The Edges"
Eminem featuring D12 — "Last Words (R.I.P. Proof)"
Rick Ross featuring Jay-Z and Young Jeezey — "Hustlin'" (Remix)
Obie Trice — "Cry Now"
Stat Quo — "Twirl"
Obie Trice — "Pistol Pistol" (D12 Remix)
The Alchemist — "The Interlude"
Obie Trice featuring The Alchemist — "The Word Is Out"
D12 featuring Eminem and Proof — "Blast That"
Lloyd Banks featuring 50 Cent — "My House"
Dr. Dre — "The Interlude (Part Two)"
Busta Rhymes featuring Eminem — "I'll Hurt You"
All of Shady Records — "The Interlude (Part Three)"
Swifty and Kuniva — "Freestyle"
Obie Trice featuring Eminem — "Emulate"
Trick Trick — "Freestyle"
Proof featuring 50 Cent — "Forgive Me"
Eminem featuring DJ Whoo Kid — "We Out"