Eminem hints at 'Recovery' tenth anniversary celebrations

Eminem’s seventh studio album, Recovery, turned ten this week. The rapper acknowledged the anniversary on social media, posting a 30-second clip of Recovery‘s best moments.

The post caption included a quote from the Recovery track ‘Cinderalla Man’ – “music is my time machine” – and came with a promise there’d be “more coming Monday!” Last month Eminem honoured the 11th anniversary of his sixth album Relapse on social media, however it went no further than a quick post on the anniversary of its release.

This announcement feels different. The new video was specially created for the tenth anniversary and includes snippets from the singles ‘Not Afraid’, ‘No Love’, ‘Love the Way You Lie’ as well as ‘Cinderella Man’. It wouldn’t be the first time Em’s commissioned a reissue to tie in with a significant anniversary. The Slim Shady LP was rebooted in December 2019 in honour of its 20th anniversary. The reboot included ten new tracks and gave rise to a triple-length vinyl edition.

Although Recovery isn’t as highly vaunted as The Slim Shady LP, it was an enormously popular record upon release in 2010. The singles ‘Not Afraid’ and ‘Love the Way You Lie’ both went to number one in the US. The latter featured vocals from a 22-year-old Rihanna, which helped the single shift more than six million units.

The album’s third single, ‘No Love’, features Lil Wayne and was produced by Just Blaze. The track prominently samples the ’90s Eurodance song ‘What Is Love’ by Haddaway. I’ll let you be the judge of whether it’s aged well or not.

Lyrically, Recovery focused on Eminem’s path to sobriety. The liner notes included a dedication to “anyone who’s in a dark place tryin’ to get out. Keep your head up… It does get better!” It’s perhaps Eminem’s most earnest album, and also keenly interested in attaining crossover success.