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Eminem Unleashes "Berzerk"

Slim Shady returns on Rick Rubin-produced single.

Eminem is back on a fastrack promotional mode and he's not giving fans much time to keep up. MMLP2 — aka The Marshall Mathers LP 2 — was announced Sunday (Aug. 25) via a Beats by Dre commercial with a snippet of the album's lead single, "Berzerk." A day later, the full version premiered on Em's SiriusXM Shade 45 channel.

The typically reclusive rap star slips into his Slim Shady alter ego and spazzes all over the Rick Rubin beat, throwing shout outs to Kendrick Lamar and Public Enemy along the way. As to be expected on a "vintage Slim" track, there's a jab at pop culture figures (this time it's a Kardashian) but also a fastidious, if at times playful, flow, particularly when the beat breaks just over a minute in.

Unlike the singles from his Relapse and Recovery efforts, on "Berzerk" the Detroit MC is fully settled into a YOLO-esque zone, spitting on the chorus, "Say f--- it before we kick the bucket, life's too short to live uncomfortable." 

At 40, Em sounds more than ready to take on younger chart toppers like Drake, Wale and J. Cole, but sales stats alone put him a different category. His two aforementioned releases sold a collective 16 million copies, only 2 million less than the worldwide numbers of 2004's Encore.

MMLP2, executive produced by Rubin and Dr. Dre, drops Nov. 5. "Berzerk" is available on iTunes now.         

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(Photo: Scott Gries/PictureGroup)

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