Eminem is returning to his roots, releasing an EP with a rapper he first collaborated with in 1999. Marshall Mathers and Royce Da 5'9" will issue a set of new songs under the name Bad Meets Evil, due on 14 June.
Eminem and Royce met as hip-hop prospects in Detroit, joining forces for one song on Eminem's major-label debut, 1999's The Slim Shady LP. Later that year they released a three-track single as Bad Meets Evil. Royce even appeared on the first version of Renegades, a duet with Eminem that later appeared – minus Royce's verses – on Jay-Z's 2001 album The Blueprint.
But as Eminem's star rose, Royce struggled to make a mark – none of his four albums entered the Billboard top 100. In the mid-noughties he was best known for a feud with Eminem's D12 crew, with whom he traded a string of dis tracks. They settled the beef a few years ago, setting the stage for this Bad Meets Evil comeback. Earlier this year, the odds improved: Royce's new group, Slaughterhouse, signed to Eminem's record label.
"Royce and I started hanging out again and inevitably that led us back into the studio," Eminem said. "At first we were just seeing where it went without any real goal in mind, but the songs started to come together crazy, so here we are." The as yet untitled EP was mostly produced by D12's Mr Porter, with guest appearances by Bangladesh, DJ Khalil and Mobb Deep's Havoc.
Eminem's most recent LP, Recovery, was the bestselling album of 2010.
