One gets the sense that D12 and Shady Records are gearing up for a big year in 2011. Eminem just released a fire-y single with his old friend and current labelmate Royce Da 5'9" called "Writers Block" that gained a decent buzz on the internet. And Royce's Slaughterhouse group, which is signed to Shady Records, are consistently keeping themselves relevant and building hype for their LP dropping later this year. Even label signee Yelawolf just killed at SXSW and is on the cover of XXL this month.
Interestingly enough, the artists on Shady that seem to warrant the least amount of buzz are the founders, D12 but they're in the process of changing that. They released a slightly risque video a couple of weeks ago that featured fellow Detroiter Trick Trick as a sign that they don't want to be disrespected. And as of yesterday, they dropped a new mixtape entitled The Return of the Dozen Vol. 2 that they're selling online for $1. In my opinion, that isn't entirely different from giving it away for free, except their trying to train their audience to spend money on good music. Go ahead and fork over that greenback and download the mixtape here.
Also, it was announced yesterday that Eminem will be headlining the three-day Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal, Canada this July. That's after he headlines Bonnaroo in June and before he heads to England to headline the V Festival over in London. Sounds like Marshall has a busy summer ahead of him.
