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Eminem says shows with Jay-Z won't be a competition

DETROIT (Billboard) – Less than a week before the start of his Home and Home tour with Jay-Z, Eminem is tight-lipped about his plans for the stadium shows, which commence September 2 for two dates at Detroit's Comerica Park and move to New York's Yankee Stadium for shows September 13 and 14.

"I don't want to give anything away," Eminem told Billboard.com. He does, however, allow that his song selection "will probably be all over the place" rather than concentrating on his latest album, "Recovery," which has achieved double-platinum sales and spent seven nonconsecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200. "Hopefully it'll be songs that everyone is familiar with."

The hip-hop star -- who will be performing with a nine-piece band that includes Denaun Porter of D12, DJ Alchemist and "Lose Yourself" co-writer Luis Resto on keyboards -- added that he "won't even allude to" possible guest appearances at the show. Rumors have revolved around everyone from Rihanna, his duet partner on the current Hot 100 No. 1 "Love the Way You Lie," to Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Drake. Nor would he say if he and Jay-Z plan to perform together, although he promised that there won't be a battle attitude between them.

"Nah, I don't think it'll be anything like a competition," Eminem said. "For the most part me and Jay just want people to come out and have a good time. We want them to enjoy the music."

Eminem is also slated to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 12 in Los Angeles and has a concert lined up for the Epicenter Festival on September 25 in Fontana, Calif. Plans for other shows or a tour, however, remain up in the air. "I haven't really planned too far ahead," he said, "so we'll see."

It has been determined, however, that the next single from "Recovery" will be "No Love," a collaboration with Lil Wayne. "I did a song with Wayne called 'Drop the World' for his ('Rebirth') album," Eminem notes, "and we had just agreed to do an even swap, so I wanted him on my album. I kind of waited, and when Just Blaze had finished that beat we jumped on it."

Eight years after his star turn in the film "8 Mile," Eminem said he would "definitely like to get back into" acting. Producers of the new ABC police drama "Detroit 1-8-7" have made public overtures toward him, but there are no commitments yet.

"As busy as I am with the music and recording albums and things like that, I've kind of taken an obviously long break" from acting, he said. "If there's a role, something that actually hits me that I feel like, 'Yo, I've got to do this, this is crazy,' then I'll do it. But I haven't had any scripts or anything sent my way that feel like that yet."

Eminem, Porter and Alchemist were judges for the final round of the Red Bull EmSee: The Road to 8 Mile national rap competition, held Thursday night at Detroit's St. Andrews Hall. The winner, an 18-year-old Detroit MC named FowL, gets the chance to record at Red Bull Studios in Santa Monica, Calif., with "a headlining producer" who has not yet been named.