Eminem Slams Reports He's Retiring

LATEST: Eminem insists he plans to continue with his rap career, despite reports he's set to hang up his microphone.

Last week (ends17JUL05), reports emerged in the rapper's hometown of Detroit, Michigan, quoting sources close to the star as saying he planned to bow out of performing following his current Anger Management Tour.

The WITHOUT ME rapper's show at Dublin, Ireland's Slane Castle on 17 September (05) was billed by some sources as his last ever live appearance.

But Eminem, real name MARSHALL MATHERS III, tells MTV News, "I'm not retiring. When I say I'm taking a break, I'm taking a break from my music to go in the studio and produce my other artists and put their albums out. That's called taking a break for me.

"When I know my next move, I'll tell everyone my next move. Not some reporter who writes a story about 'This is Eminem's last album'. I never said (Encore) was my last album. I never said anything yet. I don't know what I'm doing yet. Nothing is definite, you know what I'm sayin'? Nothing is written in stone.

"I know that I'm not gonna be rapping forever, I know that much. As long as I feel like I got the energy in me to do it, and the spirit, and I can do it, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna always make music, whether I'm just sittin' behind the boards and producing and making beats and puttin' my other artists out there, or if I do decide to do another tour or make another album. When I start doing that, people will know."