In a pair of commercials during the MTV VMAs, Eminem announced the name of his eighth studio album, along with its intended release date.
The new album will be called MMLP2, which presumably stands for Marshall Mathers LP 2. It will be released on November 5, 2013, which is a little over two months away.
The video above is the first announcement that was made during the VMAs on Sunday night. The album will be produced by Eminem’s mentor and long time collaborator Dr. Dre, as well as Rick Rubin.
Half announcement video, half commercial for the headphones Beats by Dre, the video also features a snippet of Eminem’s new single, “Berzerk.”
The second is another commercial for Beats by Dre, and once again features the song “Berzerk,” which will be dropping on Tuesday, August 27. In the video, Eminem is sporting his trademark blond hair, which we haven’t seen for quite some time.
If the album is indeed called Marshall Mathers LP 2, it’s safe to assume that Eminem will be going back to his roots for this next record. The song “Berzerk” does harken back to those earlier days when his Slim Shady persona was more prevalent. There’s no word yet whether the blond hair was simply for the commercial, or if it will once again be a permanent fixture.
Earlier this month Eminem’s first song released in two years debuted with the Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer. The song is called “Survival,” and you can hear it below.
The Marshall Mathers LP debuted in 2000 and has since sold over 21 million records worldwide. This is the record that put Eminem on the map for mainstream audiences, having given us hits like “The Real Slim Shady,” “The Way I Am,” and “Stan.”
Many fans consider The Marshall Mathers LP to be Eminem’s best album, and so it’ll certainly be interesting to see how MMLP2 is received.