Eminem pokes fun at album leak in comical PSA

Rapper Eminem has urged fans to avoid downloading his new album for free in a comical new public service announcement (PSA) after The Marshall Mathers Lp 2 leaked online six days before its official release.

The hip-hop star was due to unveil the project next week (begs04Nov13), but the full tracklisting for the disc began surfacing on illegal file-sharing sites on Wednesday (30Oct13), forcing Interscope Records bosses to rush-release the album stream earlier than anticipated.

Now Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, has recorded a funny message for devotees calling on them to shun the leaked songs so he can benefit financially from their retail purchases.

In an audio post on his website, he says, "Due to a massive amount of bootlegging and constant downloading, people are no longer buying CDs so that we can get paid for our f**king work. They're just continuing to get songs for free... putting music retail in a tremendous slump, causing artists such as myself to get make money for record sales and be forced to tour, causing more stress, arguments with my wife, not being able to see my kids, drink more, take more pills, punch more people in the face, hate the world and end up in rehab!

"This has been a PSA in an excuse to vent by Marshall Mathers. Not that I wouldn't have done the same thing if I could get music for free when I was a kid, but now that I rap for a living, buy my god damn CDs!"