HOT TRACKS LISA ROBINSON

L.R. How intentional was the juxtaposition of melodic, catchy choruses with such complex, incredible verses?

Slim not shady, no vice verses. Eminem, the biggest artist of the last decade, is about to unleash Recovery, the follow-up to last year's Relapse. Here, the man talks about his new music.

LISA ROBINSON:Your new songs mark a huge change in direction from Relapse. EMINEM:Relapse was a lot of me relearning how to rap again, since I was doing it for the first time in so long being sober. I was more concerned with the act of rapping and still maintaining my 'bugged out' subject matter. Because of that, I think I lost focus of the actual songs. On this album, it was more about making songs, not just rapping to get reactions to what I'm saying. L.R.Do you feel that you went further in revealing some pretty raw emotions—about love, loss, sobriety—on this album?

E. I've never really been shy about expressing my feelings. It's always about timing with me, like 'When am I ready to talk about this or that?' Right now I think I've resolved a lot of my issues. I'll always have conflict, but I'm kind of comfortable with that. See? More resolution right there.

E. With the choruses, I wanted this album to have some 'replay value.' Like, [on the] last album it's 'O.K., I heard the song, joke's over.' This time I wanted people to want to hear the songs over and over and discover new shit every time. A catchy chorus will obviously make them come back again and hear stuff they may not have caught the first time around. L.R. You've been through some tragic and intense periods in the past few years—what's been your refuge and support system?

E. I've always had a close circle of friends that have stuck with me and looked out for me. And of course I have my kids. If it wasn't for them, things would be very different. I hate to sound corny, but they really were a huge part of me pulling through. I grew up without a father, and I couldn't let that happen to them. No way. L.R.You've told me you don't read; you've had a limited formal education; your background isn't literary. What do you tap into to get to the words you choose? Where does your writing inspiration come from?

E. I did well in English at school and I've always had a pretty large vocabulary. It also probably didn't hurt that by the time I was 181 had probably read the dictionary front to back like 10 times. L.R.Is it possible to reach your level of success, with all the fame, pressure, and demands of this business, and not fall prey to addiction, meltdowns, or worse?

E. I can really only speak for myself, and for me, yes, of course it had some effects on me and my life. The problem is how quickly it happens and how you're expected to just change—like one day you can go to the grocery store and the next day you're supposed to be some gracious public figure? How the fuck is that supposed to work?