After a respite, Eminem marshals his energies anew

Now this looks like a job for me / So everybody just follow me / Cause we need a little controversy / Cause it feels so empty without me.

-- “Without Me”

Remember Eminem? “Without Me,” his 2002 hit, is appropriate for another spin now as the impish and provocative rapper makes his way back to the pop music stage. Tuesday finds Eminem back on the new-release shelf at record stores, albeit this time sharing disc space with his old Detroit buddies, the rappers in D12. The fact that Eminem has difficulty blending in with a crowd is mocked in the collective’s new single, “My Band,” which is accompanied by a video that presents Em as an imperious rock star and his D12 mates (Bizarre, Kon Artis, Proof, Kuniva and Swifty) as disrespected sidemen.

“D12 World” is the group’s second disc, following “Devil’s Night” in 2001, which went double-platinum but still was judged by many as a tepid success considering the Midas touch its frontman brought to other ventures. The early word from retailers and radio programmers is that this collection looks to have greater potential.

Side project or not, the release of “D12 World” marks a new cycle for Eminem’s public life. The rapper took a step back after the success of his film, “8 Mile,” combined with his superstar music status to make him the most potent name in youth pop culture (although Britney might argue that point). Now he is ramping up his next chapter. His camp says he will “drop in, unannounced, here and there” at D12 shows as the group launches a club tour, a statement that seems certain to goose ticket sales. By the end of the year, Eminem will have another producer credit as the new 50 Cent album arrives in stores, and the rapper will follow that with his own disc of new material, in late 2004 or early 2005. He is mulling over two film projects, and his handlers say that neither is music-related.

“People may want ‘9 Mile,’ but he’s looking for a new thing,” one of his confidants said Friday. “He’s always moving forward.”