Ya Heard: Eminem provides insight into his 'Relapse'

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."

Slim Shady is back after a three-year hiatus from the spotlight and he is being very honest with XXL magazine concerning his state of mind during his absence.

Em will be featured in the June issue of XXL sharing his thoughts on the current state of hip-hop as well as his emotions following the loss of his best friend, Proof of D12, to gun violence in 2006.

In what has been released of the interview thus far, Eminem states: "Everyone felt his loss, from his kids, to his wife, to everyone. But, for some reason, in hindsight, the way I felt was almost like it happened to just me. ... Maybe at the time I was a little bit selfish with it. I think it kind of hit me so hard. It just blindsided me. I just went into such a dark place that, with everything, the drugs, my thoughts, everything. And the more drugs I consumed … and it was all depressants I was taking …the more depressed I became, the more self-loathing I became…"

As for the state of hip-hop, Em said: "… Without naming any names, it just felt like hip-hop was going downhill. And it seemed like kinda fast. You know, in them three years, it was like eve-rybody just cares about the hook and the beat; nobody really cares about substance. But with this new T.I. album, with this new Lil Wayne album of recent, it seems like things are looking a lot better now. You can appreciate Lil Wayne using different words to rhyme and actually rhyming words that you know. Or T.I., where you hear [it] and you're like, 'Whoa, ah, I wish I would have thought of that!'"

So much of what was said there is very true; come to think about it, in the last three years how many good albums have been released? Let's see … "Graduation" … "Carter III" … "Paper' Trail"…and… I can divide, that's a one hot album every 12 months. Terrible!!!

Ayo, shout out to Eminem and his new album 'Relapse' which is scheduled to be released May 19th. Also be on the lookout for the entire Eminem interview in the June issue of XXL which will hit newsstands on May 5th.

Nas, Kelis, and baby seem to be doing fine

I guess all the rumors and accusations of extramarital affairs and a pending divorce aren't true after all. For months now, there has been gossip concerning a sex tape involving Nas' boo boo, Kelis, and some small time NYC hip-hop dude. The tape is said to feature the rapper dude videotaping a naked Kelis as she sleeps following what was insinuated as a sexual episode by the person on the other side of the camera. To make matters worse, it was then rumored that the two lovebirds were in the midst of breaking up even though Kelis is pregnant with the cou-ple's first child. The couple has been missing in action since the promotion of Nas' 'Untitled' album last summer, so of course the speculation began to grow legs.

When the Illmatic one spoke to MTV last week all seemed hunky dorey as he shared that Ke-lis' pregnancy is going along smoothly.

Sounds all good to me and I sincerely hope that is the case. Until I hear anything different, I guess I should say congratulations to Nas and Kelis on their soon-to-be baby boy and a fruitful celebrity marriage. 'Til next week…Peace!!!

Dennis Winn can be reached at 703-200-4928 or YaHeard40@gmail.com.