Hot summer pair: Eminem and 50 Cent

In what could shape up as one of the biggest tours of the summer and one of the most notable rap packages ever, Eminem will join his hit-making protege 50 Cent, Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz, G-Unit and others on the 24-date “Anger Management Tour,” starting July 7 in Indiana.

The lineup packs a formidable sales punch -- the latest albums by those four acts have sold a combined 11.7 million copies -- and anticipation has been sharpened by Eminem’s three-year absence from the tour circuit.

“Both of these artists are very fresh and have not toured extensively,” Billboard magazine senior writer Ray Waddell said of the two headliners. “It could potentially be one of the top, if not the top, hip-hop tours ever if it had more dates.... If it were doing 40 [dates], [it would be the] top hip-hop tour ever. This is a major deal for the genre, no doubt about it.”

50 Cent will miss the first two dates because of the filming schedule for his movie debut, and rapper Ludacris will fill in at those shows. The tour, which also features D12, Obie Trice and Stat Quo, comes to Southern California July 22 at Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista and July 23 at Hyundai Pavilion in Devore.