Recovery (Eminem Album) - Background and Production

Background and Production

In a press release, Eminem explained that he and Dr. Dre had recorded a considerable amount of music while recording Relapse (2009), thus, "putting out Relapse 2 will let everyone get all of the best stuff." According to Angela Yee's Shade 45 interview with Eminem on April 23, 2009, Relapse 2 was to be a continuation of Relapse. During the interview Eminem also confirmed "It's extremely close to being finished, it just depends on how many songs I want to put on it." He called into Shade 45 and said he was in the studio finishing up the album. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2009 to 2010 at several recording studios, including Allure Sound in Oak Park, Michigan, 54 Sound and Effigy Studios in Ferndale, Michigan, Black Chiney Studios in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, Boi-1da Studio in Ajax, Ontario, Canada, Playhouse in Parkland, Florida, Avex Honolulu Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, Encore Studios in Burbank, California, Sun Studios in Temple Bar, Dublin, and Shake 'Em Down Studios in Queens, New York City.

When premiering his debut single, "Not Afraid", Eminem also let listeners know that "there were not any skits on the album" (so the album would contain more songs than his previous studio albums). He described a song titled "Insult to Injury", in which Eminem performs in his normal voice, as a sequel to "Underground," the final track from the previous album, Relapse. A song on the album "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" featured his rap group D12. Bizarre of D12 said the new song shows the group's strength despite the death of founder Proof by stating: "We're still family, but everybody's got their own situations going on," he added. "No matter what y'all do, you can't hold D12 down. We've been through a lot of shit, but we're still gonna come back and recover."

As for guests on the album, Eminem had said back while the album was still titled Relapse 2, he worked with both Dr. Dre and 50 Cent on the album. D12, Royce da 5'9", Lloyd Banks and Cashis had been speculated as possible features on the album. However, none of these artists are actually featured; Recovery only featured guest appearances by rapper Lil Wayne and solo singers Kobe, Pink and Rihanna. He decided to include Pink on "Won't Back Down" after recording his parts first because he "felt like she would smash this record". On the bonus track "Session One", Eminem features supergroup Slaughterhouse, signed with Shady Records. DJ Whoo Kid heard some songs from the album. and bombasted that "The Warning" is a diss record to Mariah Carey, and was not as intense as the entire album would be, saying the album is 'maniacal'. Eminem appeared on Shade 45 with DJ Whoo Kid where he stated that a track with 50 Cent, in which the two rap together on verses, existed. He also confirmed both Just Blaze and Mr. Porter as producers of the album.

In June 2009, Eminem said that he expected the release of his new album during the fourth quarter of 2009. It was slated to be the second Eminem album released in 2009, after Relapse, but was pushed back to 2010. In November 2009, he stated that he would re-release Relapse, with extra songs, to hold fans over for the release of Relapse 2 in 2010 and was voted as the most anticipated album of fall 2009 by XXL. In an interview with Billboard, he said that he would listen to his previous releases like The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show and Encore, and would "ask, 'Why don't my music feel like this anymore?'" He later recorded material that could constitute three or four studio albums and stated that; "I must have gone through 200–300 beats, for the album and chose 100 of them and recorded it."