Joell Ortiz and his Slaughterhouse crew are 90 percent done with their followup to last year's Welcome To: Our House, but right now he and the whole of Shady Records are focused on the impending release of Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP 2, which officially drops Tuesday.

"MMLP2, it's fantastic, man, just the idea of it, to go back to that concept where Eminem was Slim Shady," Ortiz told XXL yesterday. "He's having some fun with this project, as you can see with 'Berzerk' and 'Rap God.' I'm just happy that he's excited. The fans are gonna like this album, I'm sure of it."

The album, the successor to Em's 2000 Marshall Mathers LP, has all of Shady's artists on deck supporting the cause. "Em's album isn't gonna come and go, it's gonna be around for a while. We're here to support everybody and anybody who is on the label when they drop, and now it's Em's turn. We're recording and stuff, but the whole focus is on Eminem," he said, before talking about the first time he heard the original MMLP. "I just remember being like, "This White boy's nice!'" Ortiz said, laughing. "I'm just being real, I was in the hood like, the hype is true, this guy is incredible. You could see it, too, what the response was around the nation—I mean, around the world—so I'm not the only one who felt that way."

In addition to the Slaughterhouse record—which doesn't have an official date, though the group is routing a tour—Ortiz has been in the studio working on an album and a mixtape, though he hasn't put a title or timetable on either. "I'm the most excited I've ever been in my entire career," he said. "I'm constantly working on records, concepts, things of that nature. I've developed as a human being, too, so my story's changed: I've been on my health kick, I've lost a ton of weight, I don't smoke, I don't drink. It's a clearer mind, and I feel like I'm getting better. Part of being great is feeling great. I conquered that part, and now when I'm in the booth I've acquired that same formula."

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