Eminem [ tickets ] announced yesterday (3/5) he would be releasing two albums this year: "Relapse," which originally had been expected to surface before the end of last year, and "Relapse 2," which is expected to drop before the end of this year, according to a press release.

The artist said in a statement that he thought "Relapse," which debuts May 19, would be released in 2008 but he ended up spending additional time recording. "Dre and I went back in the studio in September for a few days, and that turned into six months. We were on such a roll; we wound up with a ton of new music produced by Dre. 'Relapse 2' will let everyone get all of the best stuff."

The first single from "Relapse" and its accompanying video will be released April 7. However, the album track "Crack A Bottle," which features Em, Dre and 50 Cent, was released last month. The song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and broke a Nielsen SoundScan record for opening-week download sales.

The release date for "Relapse 2" has not been announced.